Allotments 4 All
Allotment Stuff => The Basics => Topic started by: wahaj on September 03, 2006, 21:12:07
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Ok maybe i shouldn't be telling you guys this....but um what the heck.
Sometimes when I'm at a garden centre and i see a plant i like that's seeding....sometimes um.....i pinch some seeds.....um....la la la la.
no honestly i know it's really bad of me....but i find it so tempting to just reach over and shake a seedhead into a bag.
in my defence i don't see it as stealing because i always see them going around cutting them off and throwing them away! i asked one lady before taking some because she was cutting them off and she said no! even though she was going to throw them away.
i just think that if it's gonna end up in the bin.....why not take it anyway?
i don't them from plant that have nice seed heads. like i don't do it with alliums because i know some people like them.
ok....i'm done.
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wish i had the brass neck to do the same........sooooo tempting.
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What ya like ;D ;D
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you go for it.
I'm always at the garden centre admiring plants deciding which one to buy when a stem accidently breaks off... well i may as well take it home and try to root it rather than throw it away ;D .
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you go for it.
I'm always at the garden centre admiring plants deciding which one to buy when a stem accidently breaks off... well i may as well take it home and try to root it rather than throw it away ;D .
haha love it! i tell myself the same thing when i um...do that sort of thing. my boyfriend always raises an eyebrow and asks me....so what did you nick from the garden centre today! and i get so defensive.
to be honest i find most garden centres treat their plants like dirt....atleats you're giving them a loving home!
that's my story and i'm sticking to it!
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Why we are all being honest . Sometimes when i walk into my local Asda I put a magazine inside a folded newspaper and tell the cashier i paid for the paper when i came in.... :-[
Although i do spend loads a money on shopping in there. So i pretend it's a special offer that only I now about ;D
Sorry ASDA :'( :'( :'(
I promise to try to remember to pay for them in future :'(
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Why we are all being honest . Sometimes when i walk into my local Asda I put a magazine inside a folded newspaper and tell the cashier i paid for the paper when i came in.... :-[
Although i do spend loads a money on shopping in there. So i pretend it's a special offer that only I now about ;D
Sorry ASDA :'( :'( :'(
I promise to try to remember to pay for them in future :'(
:oi thought i was bad!!! :P
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got caught picking and munching ripe blueberries (they were gorgeous!) in a garden centre this year. Next year I'll know where to go to get fresh fruit! Hee!
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got caught picking and munching ripe blueberries (they were gorgeous!) in a garden centre this year. Next year I'll know where to go to get fresh fruit! Hee!
lol. sometimes when i'm buying grapes i test one....la la la la la.....
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My Dad always munches on grapes and cherry toms in the supermarket before buying - to test the quality, you understand.
I've always thought of it as "grape and pillage".
Lizzie
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lol. sometimes when i'm buying grapes i test one....la la la la la.....
And why not? I blatantly taste anything tasteable that's sold loose - like on the olive counter in Sainsburys and Tescos. How else would I know whether I will like it or not? ;)
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lol. sometimes when i'm buying grapes i test one....la la la la la.....
And why not? I blatantly taste anything tasteable that's sold loose - like on the olive counter in Sainsburys and Tescos. How else would I know whether I will like it or not? ;)
true. i mean i used to live in pakistan and it was always the norm to try something before you buy it. it was considered foolish not to...but here it's mostly frowned upon and people gasp if they see you!
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if I'm buying grapes in the market, I always go round tasting them and go for the sweetest. How else can you test them? But it's only accepted in certain places unfortunately. Namissa comes from Sierra Leone, where it's taken for granted.
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Some of the plants you see in Garden Centres are a disgrace - cruelty to vegetation, in my eyes. So if some seeds drop off or a root disappears it a just a rescue service. :o :D busy_lizzie
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here it's mostly frowned upon and people gasp if they see you!
But it's only accepted in certain places unfortunately.
Ah well, I'm not sure that's true. I have never been refused when asking to try, say, cheese at the deli counter in supermarkets. Tasting a grape or an olive etc is no different. As long as you don't abuse it, I see no reason to be furtive about it. Perhaps people assume it's not allowed simply because most people act so guiltily about it.
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A personal response....
I don't have any problem with tasting fruit/veg etc before buying provided it is completely in the open and "TASTING"!!!! as opposed to snacking ;) :o.
I don't have any problem with taking seeds or a broken branch or a leaf cutting off plants at public gardens and parks. Bear in mind that garden centres are doing it for a living so I would only do it if I were buying too.
IMHO if you conceal something and pretend that you bought something elsewhere that qualifies as theft / shoplifting, so I don't do it.
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8)
Ahem. Have been known to "try" a few fruits/veggies etc in supermarkets before. Then I read about peanuts/pretzels left in bowls on bars. When subjected to analysis they were found to have unacceptable amounts of um...nasties in them.
Stopped me in my tracks!
;)
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8)
Ahem. Have been known to "try" a few fruits/veggies etc in supermarkets before. Then I read about peanuts/pretzels left in bowls on bars. When subjected to analysis they were found to have unacceptable amounts of um...nasties in them.
Stopped me in my tracks!
;)
yea but that's different isn't it cos....people have drinks in a bar and they go to the loo constantly...and come back without washing their hands.
i think the grapes in tescos are gonna be safe :)
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I always take a few sedum leaves (different varieties) when wandering round garden centres, they can withstand being in ones pocket on the journey home without the fear of them drying out ;D/shades x
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omg i didn't realise us gardeners we're all a bunch of thieves!
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I think Dan can safely rename this site 'Kleptomaniac's Anonymous' ;D ::)
I have also tasted a grape or two but then I generally buy them - if they're decent ;D If you go to a farmers market there are always tasters!! So why not the bigger chain stores.
When it comes to plants - my dad (who infected me with this dreadful gardening disease), always says that 'stolen plants' always grown better than bought ones!" Now before everyone gasps with shock - he means a little piece of plant or a seed head here and there never hurt anyone. In fact I have known him to raid the dumpsters and get some fantastic plants that others have tossed. I've also been known to 'find' the odd piece here or there when out walking the dog! (and they do grow better) ;D ;D
Hi, my name is Jitterbug and I'm a Kleptomaniac....... ;D
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hehe true. i actually saw someone having their roof done today and they were throwing away old blue slate in their skip. if it's still there tommorow i'll ask them if i can take some to make a path in my garden.
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we went past a house a couple of years ago,skip outside with a beautiful rose bush in flower in it :o :o, we asked, they said yes, and we carried it home :)
It's flowered ever since :)/shades x
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I think the asking is crucial.
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The Orchid House at Singapore Botanic Gardens would stop you lot in your tracks :o Because it's the home of such a wide and rare collection of orchids the CCTV cameras are focussed on every plant & the walkways are heavily patrolled.
Tasting food in shops & markets? Of course! Thank the lord the days of having to have whatever the stallkeeper wanted to offload from the back of the display are well gone 8)
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this thread was for you all to shout at me about what i'm like! not to tell me you're all the same!
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I can not tell a lie, it was I. :-\ I can't do it - never have been able to. If I am working and wanna take a cutting from something, I always ask. If I accidently break or chop of the wrong branch, I can't bin it, I have to take it home and try to propogate it. I do try before I buy on the deli counter, but I don't buy much fruit or veg so never have there. I am ravaged with guilt at the thought of taking something without asking. In our local garden centre, the old plant pots are free to take....but I still ask. I could never shoplift or steal. I travelled to the West End on the tube (oh the lovely Northern Line) for nearly 10 years, and I saw my own fair share of pickpockets and tealeafs and I didn't like it then, and don't like it now. Honest Em, that's me! ;D
My sis when little filler her sweetie bag at the pick and mix counter, and whilst she was waiting for me to fill mine, she ate all of hers! She decided to go round again!!!! :o My darlings Nan had an especially sharp thumb nail especially for the taking of cuttings when out walking. ;D
Rant over.......sloping off to bed now....cream crackered!
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I can not tell a lie, it was I. :-\ I can't do it - never have been able to. If I am working and wanna take a cutting from something, I always ask. If I accidently break or chop of the wrong branch, I can't bin it, I have to take it home and try to propogate it. I do try before I buy on the deli counter, but I don't buy much fruit or veg so never have there. I am ravaged with guilt at the thought of taking something without asking. In our local garden centre, the old plant pots are free to take....but I still ask. I could never shoplift or steal. I travelled to the West End on the tube (oh the lovely Northern Line) for nearly 10 years, and I saw my own fair share of pickpockets and tealeafs and I didn't like it then, and don't like it now. Honest Em, that's me! ;D
My sis when little filler her sweetie bag at the pick and mix counter, and whilst she was waiting for me to fill mine, she ate all of hers! She decided to go round again!!!! :o My darlings Nan had an especially sharp thumb nail especially for the taking of cuttings when out walking. ;D
Rant over.......sloping off to bed now....cream crackered!
lol my boyfriend's the same. he said the only time he stole something was a fruit off a stall but then felt really bad so he walked back up to put it back...but then the stall person saw him and told him off as he thought he was stealing.
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When it comes to plants - my dad (who infected me with this dreadful gardening disease), always says that 'stolen plants' always grown better than bought ones!" Now before everyone gasps with shock - he means a little piece of plant or a seed head here and there never hurt anyone.
my mum said the same thing about heathers, and that they'd only grow well if they were 'stolen' or given to you as a present.
i'm obviously missing out on lots of 'free' plants, but i'm with EJ, B&Q didn't charge me for a box of christmas lights when i was pregnant with my second son, my husband grinned all the way to the car thinking 'mad pregnant wife just spent over £100 on decorations but at least i've saved £25.' i took them back in and paid for them. maybe i'm unlucky, maybe superstitious, but anytime i've done something 'dodgy' it comes right back and slaps me in the face. i'm away to the shed to tell you why.!!
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My current wheelbarrow was a 'freebie' from a well known DIY store. We'd gone iot to look for one and get some other stuff as well (as you do). We found the weeelbarrow we wanted (at a good price I might add), and decided to use it to carry some of the other stuff we were getting. Get to the till to pay, cashier does all the barcode zapping, etc pay by credit acard and away. it wasnt until backin the car on the way home, looking through the bill that we realised we hadnt been charged for the wheelbarrow!
Clearly the cashier (weekend schoolie type) hadnt though to check the barrow for a barcode or had thought it was a trolley!. We hadnt tried to deceive or anything, the cashier just didnt do their job properly.
It was a nice barrow too. Tip bar on front, pneumatic tyre, the onl problem was the colour - a nice bright orange!
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I'm with EJ on the shops bit, but I do admit to the odd bit of 'borrowing on a permanent basis' of cuttings etc. (Could never nick the whole plant though).
Funny lot, us gardeners. Most of us will happily walk out of B&Q with a cutting in our pockets, but wouldn't take a pickling onion from anyone else's plot!
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i guess it's knowing that a garden centre is making it's millions on plants that have been grown on machines and packed and thrown on the shelves without any love or care. and if they don't sell...they'll probably get kicked around and then get thrown away. so in a way that's how i justify taking seeds from them.
i'd never do it to any allotmenteer....because so much time and effort by a single person has been put into it. it's hindering someone's personal achievement....where as a garden centre would probably not even notice.
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I always as for a taster when I come across a real ale I haven't tried. But I am dead honest me. To bloody honest most of the time - tis that that gets me into trouble - apart from software and book copyright theft that is. :-[
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Clang, there's a pub in Greenwich Village, NY, which sells real ales which is MECCA to a real ale lover - they sell about 30+ different ales & give you a taster ('bout half-a-pint?) of each and every one you want.....we needed to be surgically detached from the place ;D
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Just packing my ruckie for our start of Ridgeway hike, now missing my little secatuers.(confiscated at airport,forgot they were tucked in back of bag).
But we shall feast from the hedgerows and any other place that looks likely with no conscience at all. ;D I shall also take little poly bags for seed collecting too.Don't like to miss an opportunity.
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now missing my little secatuers.(confiscated at airport,forgot they were tucked in back of bag).
LOL - I can see the headline, "terrorist hijacks plane by threatening to do some pruning!". My 83 year old aunt had her tweezers confiscated recently. "83 year old granny says land or I'll do your eyebrows".
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My friend from the US and I had a grand old time wandering around Oxford, nicking seeds last year! Haven't seen much out of them tho - the wages of sin??? :P
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Oooooh I'm hoping for great things Squashfan,but will I remember a) whats what, b) to take them out of my trouser pocket before they hit the washing machine. ;D ;D
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i bought a leopard lily plant from b&q for 10p today! 10p!!!!!!!! and it's perfectly fine! no wilting.....or anything.....
felt like a steal to me!
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My friend from the US and I had a grand old time wandering around Oxford, nicking seeds last year! Haven't seen much out of them tho - the wages of sin??? :P
Where did you go, the Botanical Gardens? Just don't bother nicking Oxford Ragwort seed!
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Just packing my ruckie for our start of Ridgeway hike
Watch out for this character
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:)
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Didn't see one of those,Greyhound ;D Walked fromOverton Hill to Cuckhamsley Hill. Had a great weekend, but no seeds or cuttings. Plenty of crab apples and a few eaters,some plums and blackberries.
If this is your stamping ground then I envy you. ;D
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You didn't come quite as far as our bit, then. Yes, we're very lucky - especially as we can't see Didcot Power station from where we live either!
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Ha ha! Plenty of views of that wonderful sight!. Maybe nearer to you next leg. We like to do long weekends, starting where we finished last time.Mileage depends on B&B accomodation and we like to smell the flowers along the way ;D (or look at Iron Age hill forts ;D ;D)