Well, furry critters are one reason for the fence. There also seem to be snitches who can open my bar pull and use glass shards to cut off squashes. Oh well. These things are to be expected. Other gardeners here have lots of stories. I just thought I'd wait with the lock until I needed it. My sister noticed that two or three zucchinis disappeared yesterday, so I added a little pad lock to the gate. Just another aspect of community gardening.
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So far I've been lucky, but I need to do this too.
We aren't allowed to have a gate higher than about 4-5 feet, so it will always be possible to jump over it, but I need to at least build something strong and put a lock on it just so it's clear my vegetables aren't free for the taking. My garden is also in a spot where it might be tempting to take a short cut and walk through it, and it would be better to discourage that if possible.
We do have a perimeter fence, and my fellow gardeners seem pretty respectful of each other's gardens. According to the rules, we aren't allowed in other gardens without permission.
Whay would anyone steal vegetables? That seems so strange to me. At least all you lost were zucchinis!
This is something I have always wondered about community gardens. I can imagine why people would steal vegetables - someone once broke the back window of my car, it seemed, just to take my umbrella out of the back seat, so I'll believe anything. I just tell myself, if they need my umbrella bad enough to steal it, I guess they need it more than I do, but still ..
I have seen photos of Japanese community gardens where they literally grow in containers on street dividers, and have wondered what that code of conduct is like.
I live near many acres of commercial agriculture. I walk by the corn and pumpkin fields often. I remember once considering in passing what would happen if I took a pumpkin out of one of the fields. It was a few days after Halloween and there were still a bunch in the field that didn't look like they were going to be used. Of course I didn't take anything, however, and about 2 days later they plowed right over all those leftover pumpkins, pulverizing them anyway.
Let's hope the people were hungry and actually needed the squash.
I don't really mind a bit of vegetables missing here and there. It is very prolific now. Especially if someone is hungry or if they really appreciate fresh vegetables. But I get curious about who is sneaking into the garden.
I will probably have extra zucchinis very soon, but these were the first of the year. I think my plants were among the earliest in the gardens.
I have heard stories about a group of non-gardeners who came to the gardens regularly - with baskets - last year and helped themselves. I have heard of missing cut flowers, perennials plants, compost, tools and vegetables.
It would be nice if there was a way to share my extras. I can't leave them out as the sun is much too hot. I give away a lot of produce.
Maybe I will leave a sign on my gate someday saying what vegetables are in oversupply and to come on in and help yourselves. Zucchini, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes... They all get to be too much later and I am not big on preserving.....
I think that's a lovely idea to have a sign. You could have one side of a laminated sign with a version of "help yourselves" and the reverse with "closed for picking just now" ... placed inside your fence so that no one can take your sign! Who knows what people do.
It's funny, at least if people take vegetables, I guess it's nice to know someone is eating them, if you aren't going to use them. They took the time to risk being caught, if that makes sense. But it stinks if they are eating them instead of YOU when you would like them.
Together, a neighbor and I have been looking into preserving for the first time. We'll have to see how that goes.
I don't grow that much vegetables but every now and then, I notice that somebody has been in my allotment picking raspberries and strawberries. I don't mind so much about the fruit missing as I do about the fact that the thief/thives tend to break flowers, branches etc.
we're not allowed to have "real" fences so there's not much I can do about it but I've been thinking about putting up a sign that says "help yourself. please donate if possible" and put a piggybank next to it. I have a hunch that the people eating my fruit aren't the onces that can't afford it...
That is so sad - why do communities always have these problems?
I've had pots of flowers stolen, or the occassional child who picks a flower or two, but veggies? It makes me wonder a little bit about the economy, the high cost of produce at the grocery and the state of food pantries etc...
I hope the veggie thieves truly needed the food....and that they appreciated the fruits of your labors :)
Wow! I wondered why there were so many locks on the plots down there - I figured it was just for protecting the tools/equipment that some people left there.
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