A decoy garden is a small, plainly visible and well-kept plot of lower-value crops placed near the base, so that a thief who finds it takes what is there and leaves without searching for more. It works only on a passing stranger, costs real food, can bring a thief back next season, and must never be poisoned, trapped or hidden among hazards.
Part of Defensive Agriculture
A decoy garden is a deliberately visible plot whose purpose is to be found and to absorb attention that would otherwise go to the real food.
What A Decoy Does And Does Not Do
The parent article describes a small, visible garden near the base that is obviously cultivated, stocked with lower-value crops. If it is raided, the attackers find a garden, take what is there and leave, not knowing about the primary production sites hidden elsewhere.
That works under three conditions:
- The thief is a passer-by, not someone who knows you. Neighbours and locals know the land and what you grow.
- The decoy looks like all there is. It must be productive enough to look real, not suspiciously small or poorly kept (parent article).
- The hidden production is actually hidden. A decoy next to an easily followed trail to the real plots only adds a step.
It does not make the base safe. A thief who finds food once may come back for more, a raid that strips the decoy is real loss, and anyone who suspects you are hiding food will look.
Method: Plant A Decoy Garden
Step 1: Choose the site. Visible enough to be found by casual observation (parent article), near enough to the base to be watched, and far from the paths to the hidden plots. Do not let the route to a decoy lead past a satellite plot; see Hidden Garden Placement.
Step 2: Choose the crops. The parent article suggests crops that are time-consuming to harvest: small grains, root crops that must be dug. Pick crops that take effort to carry off and are not your seed stock or main calories; see Camouflaged Crop Selection for what to avoid planting visibly.
Step 3: Keep it up. Weed and tend it, because a neglected decoy tells observers nobody depends on this garden.
Step 4: Watch it. A decoy near the base is easy to watch; use it as the place where you notice strangers. See Watch and Patrol Scheduling.
Step 5: Count the cost. A decoy sized at some share of your food is that share given away if it is taken. Size it so that losing it hurts but does not threaten the winter.
What A Decoy Must Never Be
- Poisoned. Poisoning crops harms your own people, children, livestock and neighbours who might eat them. It is not deterrence.
- Trapped. Concealed pits, stakes, snares or wires injure whoever walks in, including your own children and animals. Deterrents work when they are seen: a visible fence, a dog, a watcher.
- Your only visible garden. If the decoy is all anyone sees, it is the one they raid.
Common Mistakes
- A decoy too small to be believed. It looks like a trap.
- A decoy of crops you cannot spare. It is real loss.
- A trail from the decoy to the hidden plots. It leads to them.
- Forgetting that locals know the land. The decoy fools strangers only.
Do not treat or booby-trap a decoy
Never poison, spray with toxins or set hidden hazards on a decoy garden, however angry a theft makes anyone. The people hurt will be children, livestock and neighbours, and a poisoned crop that a thief carries off can reach people far from you. The only safe decoy is an honest one.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Harvest Timing Strategy — when the harvest is exposed
- Combine with: Raid Mitigation — where the decoy fits in the whole plan