I have.
Within walking distance of my house there's a small scruffy patch of unused land which has been totally neglected by the council and everyone else for at least the past 25 years. For as long as I have known it has always been overgrown with nothing there apart from brambles and stinging nettles which have never been trimmed back.
A few years ago I visited with a trowel and a bag of broken up pieces of Jerusalem artichoke (it's actually part of the sunflower family but has an edible root that tastes like artichoke hence the name). To plant them I just stuck the trowel into the ground, lifted up a small divot of soil, popped a piece of Jerusalem artichoke underneath then let the divot flop back down on top of it. Using this method I managed to plant about 20 of them around the edge of the patch of ground in less then 5 minutes.
The patch of ground now looks much prettier than before. During the summer months there are now several 5 foot tall yellow sunflowers growing which regularly get visited by bees. Despite never having done any maintenance for several years it's nice see them still growing well whenever I drive past.
I chose to plant Jerusalem artichokes because you only need to plant them once and then without ever needing any maintenance they will grow really easily and produce lots of pretty yellow sun flowers. They will come back year after year on their own too. In fact the biggest problem with them is that they can grow and spread a bit too easily so be careful to plant them well away from other peoples gardens, any kind of farmland or anywhere else where there is a risk that they could spread to and take over an area if you're not careful.
As I mentioned earlier the roots of these sunflowers are edible too and make a tasty alternative to potatoes if boiled or fried. Also when left in the ground over winter they will stay good and ready to eat right through any frosts and well into March or April when there's little else around growing to eat.