Kitchen Garden Forum

Well I've had two 1/2 plots on the left of me vacant for ages which made me a wee bit angry as had to deal with their free parsnips & stuff, but now have newbies on both plots. Back half has great growers as he does gardens for a living & it is his wife & mother that tend the plot!

Now front half? The Mrs walked on my plot & started picking up bricks I use to weigh down envionmesh & netting? Dooh? What are you doing? 'Need some weights'? Ah! So do I & this is my plot & my bricks? Then next can you water my plot, (think that's 4th request)! Oh no I work full time & can not water your plot on Thursday - thought of mulching? Then neighbour on the right who was working in her greenhouse & unseen found Mrs on her plot eating her raspberries? Then right neighbour tells me she saw them cutting my dahlias & thought I'd given permission?

I was gracious for a bit & thought maybe dementia but the Mrs blatantly harvested some of my yellow raspberries in my absence & Mr stated they were really nice! Permission needed - bloody right! And obviously now not thinking dementia as told me in detail about needing to get to Spain to get her business sorted & pleased to share what post code she lives in! Rich then & thinks has a right - or do I go back to the dementia diagnosis?

And in conversation it would appear growers on the other side of the path have also lost crops! Thankfully right side grower is on the committee & alerting them. Weird indeed to think this is normal behaviour for some because they have no land of their own, even if a £1 million+ home? Hmm - move a block back & you can get some land & not trespass on mine!

Westi get your fella to have a whisper in his and her ear ,something like "if you set foot on my plot I'll break your fingers you thieving barsteward " it worked for me when I was getting my spuds pinched a few years ago

When we had an allotment there was one person who periodically put up a notice saying something like "Beware, the ground has just been sprayed with highly toxic chemicals - so do not attempt to walk on this plot". He never ever had anything pinched.

Dear Westi, sorry to read about that, it must be very annoying......I bet they would be fuming if it was the other way round.
Sounds like they need an official warning.

Actually i'm going to have a go at someone that lives behind my allotment, as he has started climbing over the fence, then coming down my allotment path to talk to people....not like me but, he accused me of doing something I hadn't done and then didn't apologise....I pay rent for my plot, the same as he pays rent for his garden and he wouldn't want me cutting through his garden....so he is on my hit list...

Sadly this sort of thing is all too common.

The plot I complained on here about over last couple of years was taken back off the tenant, split into two and re-let.

The keeness soon wore off and in both cases the half plots are now being looked after by the aging parents, one pair of whom went back to Spain for four months and their son, the actual plot holder, has done nothing other than let all their hard word run to seed. Drives up, leaves engine running on car, parks often on the main trackway, has a fag and buggers off.

This sort of behaviour is pretty intolerable. I!m afraid it need a really tough committee to deal with it.. it,s called stealing and trespassing and I know the police often seem that they can,t be bothered to get involved in such apparently minor seeming cases but your committee should encourage them to get involved and to your local paper if they won't.

The trouble is like most things in life, all the nice people don't want to cause trouble, and the nastier people know this and take advantage of it....

I'm sure the committee will deal with it as 2 of the plot holders who have had stuff taken around me are committee members & they were pretty miffed (& indeed total shock & awe in the case of lottie right who caught her red handed)!

Trouble is when I let loose my tongue & language does get away from me, so I avoid that (unless Mr Westi has done something totally stupid). But I am brewing for a ding dong as this individual is ruining my perfect time on lottie as the minute they turn up I find myself on edge & am constantly monitoring them rather then get on with my work, not to mention the inane questions! Yesterdays was - 'Do I cut the foliage off the parsnips yet'? Doh! Buy a ruddy book & learn - or better still go to Spain & stay in Spain!

Westi, I've got one at the side of our plot it's one of the new plots the council have recently fenced in ,the first time I met him he said " I've had a heart attack I can't do any work" I said so have I but just do a bit then rest it's surprising what you can get done , since day one he turns up with a guy he is paying to work his plot for him he just sits and gives orders then pesters me all the time asking silly questions never bends his back , but I won't see much off him over the next few months we have had bad news today regarding my wife's cancer so I doubt I will be down the plot much

Sorry to hear about your wife's cancer robo. All the very best of luck for you both!

Sincerely, Westi

Sorry Robo - wishing you both the very best.

Very sorry to hear your news Robo. Life seems very unfair sometimes. We can't change what happens to us but we can change the way we try and deal with it. Look after each other !

So sorry, Robo, and very best wishes for a good outcome!

So sorry Robo. remain positive.

Thank you all for you thoughts yesterday was a dark day today we have had a phone call that gives us a little bit of hope but it's a long battle for my wife