I don't. At least not where I used to live. Too many folks figured it was a free marketplace. Here, not enough sun.

Probably depends upon the neighborhood as to how much might be lost.

I grow herbs in the front yard: peppermint, spearmint, rosemary, and thyme. I have a dwarf lime (has never set fruit, only couple years old). I've also grown zucchini, but I kept forgetting to water it b/c I'm not used to doing much watering in the front yard :-( and the zucchini didn't make it.

For your situation, you're probably thinking along the right lines w/stuff that stays green. Good luck!

I only grow alliums and herbs out front, but I do have some edible flowers like nasturtiums and pineapple sage too. I usually leave the bulbs and just trim the scallion or garlic leaves for cooking.

I have an avocado and plum trees in the front yard, and each year have some fruit stolen. From your previous experience with trying to grow edibles in the front yard, I would only do so if you can put some sort of barrier in front of your edibles. Try planting something like taller shrubs that would hide the edible foods without blocking the sun they need.

I have 7 wooden tomato boxes awaiting plants. Never had no trouble from people, only squirrels.
I currently have a nice stand of fava beans in the front yard, mainly as a cover crop and for compostable material after I cut them down.
And I planted some fingerling potatoes in the front also. Took them a while to get going, but they are looking good now. Most people couldn't identify a potato plant so no worries about thieving there.
What gets me is I sometimes have people picking wildflowers from the front yard. Very rude, that is!

I have a Noir de Spain Mulberry tree in the ground, and 3 persimmons and a fig in pots in my front yard. I haven't had a problem with theft, but my neighbors have had their peaches and oranges stolen.

Carla in Sac

I grow blueberries in my yard here in midtown Sacramento and I've never had any fruit stolen, probably because most people think you can't grow blueberries here and don't realize that's what they are.

The only edible in my front yard is a lemon tree. My neighbors always ask even though I gave them permission to take what they need. The Postman also has permission to take a few lemons when he needs them.

wanda

Before you get too excited, be aware that last year in Sacramento, a couple who turned their front lawn into a vegetable garden had their garden declared a "public nuisance" in violation of city code section 17.68.010, which states that front yards "shall be irrigated, landscaped and maintained." They were told to get rid of their garden or pay a $746.00 fine. The Sacramento Bee carried the story Jul. 2, 2008. I'll include the link to the article, but it may not work if you're not a Bee subscriber. Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Bee story

Sue, there was a very public follow-up to that story; the city council eventually changed the city code. I am posting a link to the city's current regulations.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sacramento Landscaping Requirements

Persimmons, tomatoes, asparagus, peppers.....

Sheesh! I'm glad to hear that reason won out over idiocy in Sacramento. Still, I'll bet it's asking for trouble to grow veggies in the front yards of some neighborhoods.

Todancewithwolves, your garden is heavenly. The proportions of your raised beds are perfect for that spot, and it looks like you live in a lovely neighborhood.
Renee

I would only grow things people weren't likely to steal. I have a fig tree that hasn't had any fruit stolen off it yet, probably because most people don't even know what a fig is or that it has to be completely ripe to be edible. Avocados would probably almost certainly be stolen as they cost so much in the store. Theft is a big problem for the commercial growers.

I tried growing some squash in the front yard flower bed last year but it does not get enough sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sacramento Garden Forum - All Welcome

Our front yard is fenced and covered in privacy flowering vines. I grow all sorts of veggies, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, potatoes, oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruits, peaches, figs, herbs, corn, amaranth, kale, peas, okra, beans, melons, squash......My latest project is squash on the side bed that runs along the driveway. The driveway is not used, so I got squash growing there, I figure (hope I am right) they can ramble on the asphalt as long as the root part is on fertile ground. Nobody (human) can see in, so my thieves are of the 4 legged type, mostly squirrels.

I wish I could, but alas our HOA probably wouldn't like it! I do try to grow lots of flowers for the hummers and butterflies. Mostly natives or drought tolerant. I plan on putting a raised bed in the back when we redo that. I miss not having fresh tomatoes or green beans. Love to see all your gardens, wish I had a bigger yard.

Toodles,

Laura ")

We're on a corner. In the side yard I have 2 tomatoes, turnips, carrots and onions.

I grow rabbit, squirrel, snail, bird and in general critter food. At least that is what they all think! I grow grass
(lawn) and shrubs, lots of flowers (roses, snap dragons, pansies, lavender, marigolds, gallardia, etc) The critters all think it is their personal feasting area. I grow all my veggies in my VERY contained and fenced garden out back.

Christine

We live in a neighborhood with all kinds of problems. So the only food in the front yard is a pineapple guava tree. The fruit is green, so it isn't very noticeable.

I have rosemary and garlic in front. This season just put in onions, radishes too. Gonna put some of the tomatoes out too. Had to move the onions to the front because of gophers! I plan on having more and more edibles in the front. We have 2 cherry plum trees as well as a dwarf lemon. Would love a fig tree.

Have you read this book? I have it and would love to do a whole front yard garden but DH says no.
The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping: Home Landscaping with Food-Bearing Plants and Resource-Saving Techniques (Paperback)
by Rosalind Creasy (Author)
Clare

I grow rasberries and all the kids of the neighborhood know that they can pick a few every time they come by

Todancewithwolves...lovely pics...lovely front yard...love the garden boxes...It's so awesome to see pics of garden boxes 'exploding' with greens....Ours are starting to look really good as well..I'll have to learn how to post pics...

I have always wanted to grow tomatoes in my front yard but figured that once they ripened, I would come home to an empty plant and my house covered in tomatoes. I was thinking of planting a zucchini this year as the fruit is somewhat hidden under the plant.

A fews years ago I had Tomotoes and gourds in my front yard and to my suprise they were left alone.....

I grow lots of greens in the front, near our front door, in one of my flower beds, about 30 feet by three feet, facing directly south. Three or four varieties of mustard greens, three varieties of Swiss chard, Chinese cabbage, collards, turnip greens, and three varieties of kale. Also have lots of onions and garlic.

Lately I've had problems with bugs, mostly on the collards. Haven't seen any bugs on the mustard greens or Chinese cabbage though.

Any suggestion what I might spray to get rid of the bugs? I've noticed butterflies lighting on the greens. There are tiny green things on the underside of the leaves. I still get enough greens for myself to eat that don't have any bugs though, but I'd like to keep the greens growing for at least another six months, or maybe longer. I have Swiss chard in the back that is going on two years!

- Riding 4 Life
http://vj4him.blogspot.com/

I spray BT for the little green things. I have to go to a real nursery for it, and it is expensive, but I would not have a vegetable or ivy geranium left without it. I use it in a little squirt bottle so I can avoid the milkweed and passion vines.

Front yard gardens can be great if you can fence in your front yard and get a large dog. We only planted tomatoes and squash in the front because it's shady, and because DH built me a beautiful raised veggie bed for Valentine's Day 2 years ago. :)

Tomatoes, of course. Also, I have a peach tree, a loquat tree and an olive (the olive is just two years old now, though.) And I have a couple of big artichoke plants this year - they are great architectural plants in the yard (and very yummy!)

My backyard is all concrete (a previous homeowner put it in - someday I will ripe it all out and make a sweet little garden back there!) so now I am confined to the small front yard, alone. And I gotta have tomatoes.

I do lose a bit to the occasional self-helping, passer-by (despite my little fence) like I lose a little to the possums. My neighbor, who also has front yard vegetables, always grows his red-ripe tomatoes in the backyard and his green and yellow-ripe tomatoes in the front so that the passers-by will think they are not ripe yet.

Only a few herbs (oregano, thyme, rosemary, parsley) and blueberries. No one knows what a blueberry plant looks like around here so no one takes them.

I've tried to grow various other things in my large raised planters but the snails are just too brutal in my front yard.

My back yard is mostly concrete so I have a container garden.

Pomegranite, plum, lettuce, spinach, strawberries instead of grass ( its dense and green and looks nice. Low also so I don't have to mow ). I also grow thyme instead of grass in the parkways. Chard is very nice along with carrots and people don't know it's not an ornamental. One time I grew sweetpeas on the street side of a trellis and sugar snap peas on the house side and nobody knew. Thornless blackberries are easy to wind into a tree and of course blueberries in a big fancy pot look fantastic. I have a rosemary hedge right out in front next to the sidewalk surrounding a rosebush, and some cilantro mixed in with the marigolds. If you mix some flowers in, nobody seems to know you are really growing veggies. I grew tomatoes once, but suggest cherry tomatoes only because if you get some stolen, there will still be some for yourself. I've got a neighbor with a lovely row of asparagus that others think is a fancy fern planting. Potted lemons and tangerines are fantastic in a fancy pot and look elegant. I had to take the tangerine to the back after all the fruit got stolen one year. Curious that no one ever steals lettuce!!!! I sow it all year and think its so pretty. It never gets too big and obvious, because I am always eating the largest plants.

My top picks would be
Strawberries
Blueberries
Fruit trees
Chard
Lettuces
Carrots
Herbs
Anything you can sow and get a quick crop from seems to work fine with bedding flowers ( such as radishes and some herbs >