Jim:
An issue with putting in a garden for food security is that your neighbors or passersby know what a tomato or broccoli looks like and may feel inclined to help themselves. While not so much of an issue on a farm, in a subdivision, this could be a problem. Consider putting in a second garden full of what other people would consider weeds. Does your neighbor know what nettles look like and that they are edible? The starving hordes could just pass by your bounty with no need to fight it out . – SF in Hawaii
JWR Replies: You’ve raised a good point. There are lot of edible plants that look like weeds or wildflowers. A few that come immediately to mind are burdock (edible roots), wild dock (edible leaves) camas (edible bulbs), dandelion (edible leaves), chicory (edible roots, leaves and seeds), and arrowroot (edible roots). Of these, only the dandelion is fairly well-known to be edible. You mentioned nettles as one possibility. Nettles don’t have have much sustenance value, but they are a good natural source of calcium and iron. They are also a good “barrier” plant to keep intruders away. With any of the aforementioned plants, the trick is: don’t plant them in rows. In a mixed jumble planting, they will indeed be overlooked as “just some weeds.” Further, most people wouldn’t recognize potato plants. Quite a few of those–or perhaps also carrots or turnips –would be overlooked if mixed into your “weed patch.”