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There is an old guy at my site, who if he was a younger man I'd have no time for, as he's not very bright. However as he is in his 60's I say hello and given advice when asked and also gave him a load of autumn raspberry plants last year. He does love a freebie, without checking quality etc.
Anyway a few weeks ago I told him he could have a batch of summer raspberry plants, if he was happy to dig them up himself. He was very happy with that and said he'd dig them up last Saturday. For whatever reason he didn't get around to digging them last week (not a problem), but when I popped down this afternoon, he'd removed them as agreed.
Unfortunately he'd also took 2 of the 3 remaining bags of horse manure that I had sitting on top of a bed next to where the raspberries were. When we discussed him helping himself to the rasperries, he commented on how lovely my manured beds looked and where did I get it from. (He is not a driver and is not happy to pay for a manure delivery). At no point did we discuss him helping himself to my 3 remaining manure bags, so I was very disappointed to see that he had helped himself and is very likely to deny that he did.
So I immediately went to his plot and like the fool he is, he'd failed to add it his compost bin or even spread it around on his plot. So my 2 black bin liners of manure were stacked up on his plot, he'd even pinched another bin liner from my plot, as my bags were full of holes (deliberately). In fact it was because they had holes that I immediately knew they had been removed, because he'd left the manure lumps that fell out onto my path, so I noticed the manure lumps before I noticed the rapbberries had gone. When I looked in the new bin liner, yep my holey bags were inside.
Got my wheel barrow and took them back to my plot and spread the manure (was fresh in Nov) on the old rapberry patch, which was always my intention and why they were sitting on top of the next bed. I did this so he couldn't easily come back and take the bags away again, plus I added some wet leaves on top of the manure. I'll have to use this new bed (scaffold boards at the ready) for some spuds this year, not happy, as I always like to totally clear the ground of stones and break up any clay lumps, prior to me creating a new bed. But now I've decided to give the bed a good going over later in the year, after a crop of spuds or some flowers. Which will be a bigger job than it would have been, as I'll have to remove the manure before I can dig up the earth and stones.
By the way, my scaffold boards were safe, as he has several waiting to be used on his plot. In fact that was one of the things he asked my advice about, how best to set out his raised beds.
My plot has had it's fair share of theft and damage, as I'm next to the public footpath and road. But I today as soon as I saw those few bits of horse manure on my rasperry pathway, I just knew that the theft was from a fellow allotmentee.
You give an inch and they take a mile. Very disappointing.
Anyway a few weeks ago I told him he could have a batch of summer raspberry plants, if he was happy to dig them up himself. He was very happy with that and said he'd dig them up last Saturday. For whatever reason he didn't get around to digging them last week (not a problem), but when I popped down this afternoon, he'd removed them as agreed.
Unfortunately he'd also took 2 of the 3 remaining bags of horse manure that I had sitting on top of a bed next to where the raspberries were. When we discussed him helping himself to the rasperries, he commented on how lovely my manured beds looked and where did I get it from. (He is not a driver and is not happy to pay for a manure delivery). At no point did we discuss him helping himself to my 3 remaining manure bags, so I was very disappointed to see that he had helped himself and is very likely to deny that he did.
So I immediately went to his plot and like the fool he is, he'd failed to add it his compost bin or even spread it around on his plot. So my 2 black bin liners of manure were stacked up on his plot, he'd even pinched another bin liner from my plot, as my bags were full of holes (deliberately). In fact it was because they had holes that I immediately knew they had been removed, because he'd left the manure lumps that fell out onto my path, so I noticed the manure lumps before I noticed the rapbberries had gone. When I looked in the new bin liner, yep my holey bags were inside.
Got my wheel barrow and took them back to my plot and spread the manure (was fresh in Nov) on the old rapberry patch, which was always my intention and why they were sitting on top of the next bed. I did this so he couldn't easily come back and take the bags away again, plus I added some wet leaves on top of the manure. I'll have to use this new bed (scaffold boards at the ready) for some spuds this year, not happy, as I always like to totally clear the ground of stones and break up any clay lumps, prior to me creating a new bed. But now I've decided to give the bed a good going over later in the year, after a crop of spuds or some flowers. Which will be a bigger job than it would have been, as I'll have to remove the manure before I can dig up the earth and stones.
By the way, my scaffold boards were safe, as he has several waiting to be used on his plot. In fact that was one of the things he asked my advice about, how best to set out his raised beds.
My plot has had it's fair share of theft and damage, as I'm next to the public footpath and road. But I today as soon as I saw those few bits of horse manure on my rasperry pathway, I just knew that the theft was from a fellow allotmentee.
You give an inch and they take a mile. Very disappointing.
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