I went to the lottie Friday only to find that someone had helped their selves to a couple of cabbages, a cauli and the last of my sweetcorn they all seem to have been cut or snapped off properly, about ten weeks ago someone had taken carrots and beetoot and had even taken time to trim the tops off, an inside job one suspects. >:( >:( >:(
Sorry to hear that Kev, how low can people get. We had someone going after gooseberries on our site in the summer, also an inside job. We need to set up lottie-cams!
sorry to hear of this i know i would be pi ss ing mad >:( if it happened to me. hmm! i wonder is there a way to booby trap veges :-\ ???.
rotten sods, put a sign up, ck..these plants have been sprayed with a fungicide, might work ???
:'( :'( :'(
Duke
Hello
That's taking pee, Some people have nothing else to do - properly someone promised they would veg on there plate there crops wasn't good as yours so they nick yours instead :( we can't seem to keep anything these days if it's not bolted down it walks.
Cheers
Brogusblue
Having been on the receiving end of veg theft myself, it is not nice I know. With the price of food these days, I am sure we will have an increase of veg from our plots on a regular basis. On our site we have an increase of veg thefts every Christmas :(
i too had the same problem this year but i caught them!! after they had been around our allotments for i while takeing fruit & veg, 5 of use dealt proper justice to them, ;D
sorry to hear of your loss Kev,Don't let it get you down ;)
I was one pumpkin short this morning - and it's not as though I've grown huge ones - we use them for eating, not haloween rituals.
At my site few year back we had a few thieves.
We caught them in act had them arrested. They got fined £500, 3 days in jail and 5000 hours of community service not single theft since then. There is sign state we prosecute thieves.
We have it happen all the time on my allotment site,this year so far Ive have had a row of spuds go,cabbage go,black Berry's go,runner beans go,and half my Bramleys go. All an inside job.
It amazes me that no-one else ever sees thieving going on (assuming you are on a fair sized site)...or maybe they do and just don't like to say. Have you asked around Corny? I think Manics has the right idea ;D
Its a crying shame the society we live in,
maybe an idea : is to put an old web cam up and promote that it is linked wireless to you home PC, and use a ruse that you let people no you got some good shots of wildlife, IE a munk jack running about, or a rabbit got in and it let you find the hole,
may not work but the idea may send signals round the plot, so your not actually accusing anyone, just the idea that you put it up for your wildlife interest.
I have done it and people no i am into ornithology, plus my crops seem to have not gone walk about.
regards
Steve
I sympathise...hope you still have plenty of stuff that they didn't take.
Some nice person climbed over my gate and picked all my pears a few weeks ago. On the one hand, at least they didn't take any of the crops I had actually put effort into growing, but on the other hand, the pears weren't ripe yet and so they would have ended up throwing them all away....what a waste.
And on the 3rd hand, my gate is about 8 feet high and has big spikes on top (not put there by me, were there when I got the plot), so there's a reasonable chance they would have injured themselves in some way getting in or out....every cloud ;)
Why do people do it? Especially when they are too thick to know whether what they are taking will be edible or not. Grrrrr!
I went to the lottie this morning and found some toerag had helped themselves to all of the pears off my tree about 30 and 3 caulies and all my broccoli, i went down to get some pears for some chutney but just came home pissed off. these people who steal from allotments have no idea that we rely on our crops and dont do it just for the hell of it. have asked people whose houses look over the allotment if they saw anything but nobody saw a thing, we have had signs put on the gates to lock them when on and off the lotties so they either climbed over or came through the houses round the allotment. >:(
I am thinking some spiked plants are in order get them covered in something like cod liver oil or even something that works quicker to make them ill :)
Am I alone in thinking that if just a few things are taken then it could be that people are just hungry and desperate?
G x
Someone took all the gooseberries off one of my three bushes this year. There one day and gone the next. Someone told me gooseberries get stolen every year on our site some specifically targets them. This was the first year that I had a reasonable gooseberry crop....I mean would have had.
That's exact.ly what happens on my site Kea. Someone targets gooseberries every year. Weird or what? Not the easiest fruit to steal - mine were under nets held down by scaffolding poles and the thorns are evil. Someone must have wanted them really badly.
I don't think people are hungry and desperate, I think they are just greedy, lazy, thieving *fatherless children*. Allotments are pretty easy targets and most people don't consider it as bad as car theft, house theft. Hope my one pear is OK.
the biggest thieves are other plot holders
TGG - how did you effect their arrest?
we had their pictures from the several cctv cameras and several trip line trap cameras.
plus the fence paint on there clothes and hands was dead give away when they were caught.
But what really did them in was one of the thieves dropped his wallet on one of the plots he stole from which had his name and address in it.
Its not only fruit and veg. A few years ago i was growing sweet peas with my runner beans. Someone had the flowers but left the beans?
I'm not aware of any crops that have been stolen from out site, but do know that two plot holders had their green houses stolen recently!
??? I'm presuming they were stolen for the scrap metal as I can't see them taking them apart bit by bit in the dark...
Stupid thing is, we have a gate that is locked at the top of the road... so unless someone had left the gate open or they had a key - They would have had to carry all the frame bits away :o
I put a sign up warning that pesdicides are used, and that eating the veg straight after use could be unhealthy - well words to that effect ;D The chav's fell for it and i've had no bother since. Well i do use a bit of Deris.... ;D
Although i have had some melons nicked and used as footballs since. >:(
Georgie it's a thought (and not a nice one in these modern times) but I don't think that is what's happening here there's too much of it going on and it hasn't been limited to these "lean times" either. There are people out there who just want what others have and can't be bothered to send the time and effort themselves. They are the 'Takers' who shall no doubt be judged by someone higher sooner or later ...
Quote from: cornykev on October 05, 2008, 11:08:14
I went to the lottie Friday only to find that someone had helped their selves to a couple of cabbages, a cauli and the last of my sweetcorn they all seem to have been cut or snapped off properly, about ten weeks ago someone had taken carrots and beetoot
Sorry about that, Kev, I didn't have time to go to Asda on the way home.
28 replies and only one gag, Sam I'll be round for dinner later. :-* Jim's right the biggest thieves are fellow plot holders, but when plotters leave or get thrown off whats to stop them coming back with spare keys, I'm pretty sure Enfield council won't change the lock every time someone leaves, I reported it to the Secretary or whatever he is, all he said is yes others have had stuff taken. If someone had broke in there would be signs of it and I greased the two fences along my side and don't think their coming in that way, others have had bits and bobs missing so I think the culprit thinks a bit here a bit there and no one will notice, guess again I count the runners every night. ;D Tony it did get me down, but I have other stuff but how long will it last, I rarely see other lotties so no one else to ask about it as I only ever see 6 or 7 of them, I work all day so pop over after work or on a Sunday so I never bump into many of them, the OH is going to make me a sign to put up, I'm thinking all thieving feckers will be scarecrowed or certain plants have been injected with poison take your chances make my day. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: jimtheworzel on October 05, 2008, 23:21:09
the biggest thieves are other plot holders
Quote from: TheEssexYorkshireman on October 06, 2008, 13:09:48
Georgie it's a thought (and not a nice one in these modern times) but I don't think that is what's happening here there's too much of it going on and it hasn't been limited to these "lean times" either. There are people out there who just want what others have and can't be bothered to send the time and effort themselves. They are the 'Takers' who shall no doubt be judged by someone higher sooner or later ...
If that really is the case then I can understand everyone's anger. I just find it hard to believe that folk can be so mean spirited. :(
G x
I got your seeds today Georgie will PM later. ;D ;D ;D :-*
sorry to hear that you've had produce taken, cornykev. unfortunately we have a similar situation on our site: apparently there are a couple of people who are known to be light-fingered but it seems that it's just tolerated as "the way things are". I always take my camera with me so the minute I see anyone stealing I'll be straight down to the council with photographic evidence. I've lost sweetcorn, strawberries and runner beans, others have lost a whole tree's worth of plums, the odd tool here and there, and a greenhouse that was on an untended but rented plot mysteriously disappeared then reappeared on a neighbouring plot with a For Sale sign on it...
I think there's a bit of an unspoken "old boys" network where everyone knows who's responsible and turns a blind eye. I've been told more than once to make my fence higher so that my veg doesn't go missing. somehow it's worse when it's fellow plot holders, it makes you suspicious of everyone and reluctant to stand chatting over the gate in case they're busy checking out what's over your shoulder :(
It's only going to get worse. I estimate that since my 2 boys started secondary school they've had about £500 worth of stuff stolen at school right under their noses some times. A couple of weeks my younger son put his bag and fleece down beside him for a few minutes when he went to pick it up the fleece had gone, probably into to a rubbish bin they don't take stuff like that to keep just to annoy. That's £30 worth gone only 2 weeks into the school year now I'm having trouble finding a replacement. Every week they come home with empty penicil cases and need new pens, pencils, erasers even maths sets and calculators...no point complaining to school they don't give ****. I feel like I supply the entire school with stationary....but then i know other parents finding the same. Oh yes then it's my child who gets a point deducted for not 'having the right equipment for the lesson'.
So in a few years when these kids grow up they will think it's ok to help themselves.....as long as it's not from a shop it's not stealing!!!!....It's finding.
Quote from: jimtheworzel on October 05, 2008, 23:21:09
the biggest thieves are other plot holders
Sad but true,some plot holders seem to think its part of having an allotment to go round and help your self,other plot holders do not help,with there "well on a site this big you are going to get the odd bit nicked,theres not a lot you can do about it is there". Well i know what i would do.
we have 180 allotments on the site and stuff is getting nicked all the time in very large amounts
never good at growing leeks but this year i was till some t**t nicked em all
jim
I now have two signs up on my runner bean uprights.
One is a skull and cross bones with the wording : all crops have been sprayed with arsnic go on take a chance and make my day.
The other has a picture of a burglar with a swag bag with the wording : all theives will be scarecrowed with a scarecrow picture underneath.
I suppose the council will have something to say about it, feck um. ;D ;D ;D
we have been hit again this time sprouts and jan king cabbage some one is supplying a local shop
the gate keys to this site fit every site in preston...we have around 8 sites
jim
Quote from: jimtheworzel on October 17, 2008, 11:41:56
we have been hit again this time sprouts and jan king cabbage some one is supplying a local shop
the gate keys to this site fit every site in preston...we have around 8 sites
jim
What the police say?
i dont think they care they remind me of the 2 in
last of the summer wine
i appreicate it can seem like a game with calling the police and being ignored but if enough people make the call then this drives the stats up and they have to do something.
Your right its probably one or two people doing this but more than just you is being affected if all the thefts are reported then this makes a massive blip on the police stats which is afterall what they react to.
we actually had a local CSPO on the beat at our site last weekend, handing out cards with contact phone numbers and email addresses to report any crime, apparently they'll be visiting regularly :o :o :o