I don't believvvee it!!!

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sally wright
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Dear All,
got a new one for you.

got down to the plot today to find that someone had snipped off all the flowers on my courgettes, the little .".*.#.+.*.".#.+.".*. so and so's

I think they wanted them to stuff, but they won't get any more because I went round and snipped off all the male ones I could find and the points off all the female ones. They are the parthenocarpic ones so they will still grow. I left the bits in a heap on the path next to them.

Regards Sally Wright.
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oldherbaceous
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Dear Sally, it is upsetting that people feel they need to stoop that low for their own gain....I would far rather give them stuff, than for them to steal... let's hope by you doing your snipping, that it stops them.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
tigerburnie
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Indicative of todays society, I used to have rasps and a tayberry on the border fence between me and my neighbour, went out one day to find her filling a bowl with my fruit(and not just the ones on her side of the fence), there's now a tall beech hedge between us.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
robo
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Wouldn't it be nice to catch one of these scrum bags in the process of robbing ,I know how you feel I've had things taken in the past ,what's annoying is these are fellow plotters ,people who you are no doubt friendly with , I had potatoes robbed a few years ago I was told who did it and he was selling them in a certain pub he is no longer a member of our allotment to say we had words was an understatement
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JohnN
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Tb: I'd have handed her an empty bowl and said "Thank you so much, when you've finished just put half of them in my bowl".
Trouble is you might have lost the bowl as well!
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Pa Snip
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and people scoffed when I ended up marking my bean cames with luminous yellow paint this year !!!!!!!

Unbelievable what people nick nowadays.

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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retropants
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yes, agreed. at least my thieves haven't been back for the remainder of my garlic and sweetcorn plants. still fuming about that.
Monika
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In the village where my OH lived many years ago, one allotment holder had trouble every year with his tomatoes being stolen, so one year he planted only yellow varieties and nobody took them! Problem solved.
Westi
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We've had stock nicked off site this year as well, but definitely kids as they are taking unripe stuff as well so it is just collecting in the dark with a weak torch. Pulling up potato plants & not realising there are more spuds in the ground than just the few that hold onto the roots. Took all my strawberries, ripe & unripe, let some chickens out ,(some got taken by a fox).

I can see the committee camping out soon, probably not with the police this time though as minor damage compared to the antics of the last lads that took interest in chickens. RSPCA prosecuted those no hopers & one is apparently in a mental health institution as considered dangerous.
Westi
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Primrose
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Sadly theft from allotments is all to common these days. I,d be looking for a nearby local gastro restaurant who serve stuffed courgette flowers as a starter and ask them where they get their supplies from.
This and vandalism was the main reason we gave up our allotment many years ago. My sister in law had all the sweet peas being grown her wedding table decorations stolen from her dadss allotment two days before the wedding. There wasn,t a single flower worth picking left.
I know what I'd do to these thieves but sadly it,s not printable on here.
sally wright
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Dear All,
clutching a piece of wood firmly I think I might have sorted my thief as I picked 6 courgettes last night. They were about three days smaller than I would normally pick but I got them and not some toe rag!

If that hadn't worked I was going top get some uber hot chilli oil and paint the flowers with that.
Regards Sally Wright.
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Primrose
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Maybe spray the flowers with a green aerosol paint! That would fox them ! Or smear them with human effluent if you wanted to be really nasty.
Are you the only person on the plot who has suffered Sally?
sally wright
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Dear Primrose,
I am not the only one who is suffering but I want the discouragement to be subtle and not bring down vengence onto any one plot holder (ie me!); by using the chilli oil the deed is not visible and traceable but it makes it quite clear that their theft HAS been noticed and will not be tolerated. It may be applied to my pole beans later in the season.....
Regards Sally Wright.
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Primrose
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yes Sally I can see your point. How exactly will you apply it to your pole beans though without your own taste buds being affected because presumably if you apply it to the actual crops, it will be.
robo
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Could you not borrow a stealth camera ,I bought one when we were having trouble but I could not decide were to place it the only trouble was I kept thinking if the scrotes spot the camera I would be well out of pocket but you can buy cheap ones
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