Colorado just lifted a ban on collecting rainwater, so that's a plus... I guess. Self-reliance comes in many forms and I think we are actually seeing it become more easy to achieve though I am talking about things like water/power and not really herbs and food. I guess I would use a different strategy so for me it would be solar + long range electric car with hunting and fishing gear ready to go.

It kind of looks like this garden was in the front of the house? Property value is a tricky thing, neighbors can easily think something is dropping their value and start making calls to the right people to mess with it. I really don't think there is some crazy agenda here though I have seen other things that look pretty strange coming from different levels of government.