I think a lot has to do with how accessible the garden is, how densely populated the area is, and whether any gardeners are around. One small community garden (20-30 tiny plots) has a fence (more symbolic than functional) and a locked gate, with fruit trees outside the fence and along the edges inside the fence. It's behind some stores and is surrounded by parking lots. Most years, the side of the plum tree facing the parking lot is picked clean when no one is around. It's tall enough that ladders are needed. So this involves some advance planning. or someone who carries around a ladder. This year someone made a simple sign informing people that it's a community garden and "please don't pick," and the plums weren't taken, so I wonder if the pickers thought it was an abandoned tree. It is common for fruit trees in private yards to go unpicked around here! (And a nonprofit, Village Harvest, organizes people to pick and then donates the fruit.)
Gardeners who have been there a long time tell me it used to be unlocked, but locks were added after too many vegetables went missing. Though the fence wouldn't keep out anyone determined to get in, as far as I know vegetables have not been stolen since the locks were installed. It's rare to see any other gardeners there, no matter what time of the day I go. Even at the biggest gardens (2-3 acres), it's common to feel as if you're the only person working in the garden. I tend to work at the garden for a few hours at a time whenever I can, but I've observed most people come for 10-30 minutes. Anyone visiting the garden might get the impression that no one is watching. There are "please don't pick" signs in several languages at all the gates, but many plots look untended. One day someone stopped on the other side of my garden (didn't see me), clippers in hand, and looked like she was going to pick some flowers. So I walked over and chatted. Turns out she was looking for something for butterflies to eat when they emerged from their cocoons. I told her they won't eat cut flowers, but since I was getting ready to cut back some yellow yarrow, I cut an armload and gave it to her. She looked embarrassed! It's possible people who are hungry are stealing from the garden, but if someone took a tomato or three, I wouldn't notice. It does get noticed when everything in a plot gets picked clean, and that's not hunger, that's greed. It happened to several plots at the big garden a year or two ago. My neighbor had a dozen plants full of bell peppers. None were left. Tanya Palo Alto, Calif. On Tue, Sep 10, 2013 at 10:24 AM, Jama Crawford <[email protected]> wrote: > This has been an interesting thread, and I'm sympathetic to those who > believe that not all theft is motivated by need. We don't have much of a > theft problem because our garden is on rural private property. It has > happened - but it is a rare occurence. But we do have a practice to harvest > some excess and put it in a location outside the garden (in this case a > barn) where our friends can take surplus items. Cucumbers, summer squash, > spindly heads of garlic, and other items land here. We also sell excess > produce at a steeply discounted price to benefit the garden as a whole, an > affordable fresh produce solution for people of limited means. > > I'm not sure if these two practices have any meaning in your setting but > thought I would toss them into the mix of ideas. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://list.communitygarden.org/pipermail/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org/attachments/20130910/375a4801/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
