Mother begs thieves to stop raiding her garden after neighbor's free farm stand sparks confusion

Fox News

5 days ago

A woman has gone viral on Reddit for her rant against others who are apparently "stealing" from her private garden when they visit a local farm stand set up near her property — with over 17,000 reactions to her post to date and plenty of comments as well.
And "before anyone says, 'Just build a fence,' we can't afford it right now," the woman said high up in her post.
Wrote the woman, who did not reveal her location, "My neighbor set up one of those pantries/farm stands where people can take items [grown] in their garden, [plus] pantry stuff, donated stuff, etc."
The woman added, "In theory, it's a great idea, especially [when] people are struggling to make ends meet (my family included)."
The problem, she said, is that "people started coming into my yard to pick things in my garden."
She said she's "put up signs saying not to do it. I installed rabbit fence around the garden. I've angled a tarp so you can't see what's there from the road. People just hold their kids over the fence to pick tomatoes and beans or jump it."
She described having "an argument" with a person about it.
"I yelled, 'Hey, stop. Those are not for you to take.' She told her kid to move faster and then tried to run away."
The Reddit poster said she then "caught up to her" and the woman asked her what the problem was — "why am I so angry? Am I really that upset about a couple of tomatoes."
"Can you really not afford to share?"
The Reddit poster said she replied, "I am upset that you are stealing from me."
The woman sharing her story on Reddit said she approached her neighbor about moving the garden stand "to the other side of their driveway so it's next to the other neighbor's house. They don't have a garden out front."
But this didn't work, apparently.
She said the neighbor replied, "Can you really not afford to share?"
The woman on Reddit said people weren't taking her vegetables "because they're starving, they're taking my tomatoes because they want them."
The neighbor, however, allegedly said they'd all have to "talk about a solution together that will benefit the whole community."
Wrote the woman in her long post, "I feel like I'm losing my [expletive] mind here."
She asked others if she was wrong for asking her neighbors to please move their free farm stand to another part of their property so that her own garden wasn't affected.
People are "stealing from me," she emphasized. "This is food for my family."
"I don't know why the signs we already have aren't enough."
In an edit later on, the woman added to her post that she's been thankful "for the responses" that have come in about her dilemma.
She also said, "It looks like signs are the best option for now. Going to make signs indicating heavy use of pesticides and repeating that they are stealing food from the mouths of hungry children. I don't know why the signs we already have aren't enough," she added.
"Maybe more will help. I'm sure they won't."
She also said she's going to "scour Craigslist" for free fencing to see if that helps her issue.
Many users on Reddit told the woman she was not wrong for the way she feels.
"They are literally volunteering your garden as the community veggie resource," said one person. "That's why it's next to your garden. It is incredibly inappropriate."
"Be as aggressive as you need to be with the hose."
Wrote someone else, "I also have a food pantry stand on my property as well as a 'mini lending library.' It would never occur to me to leave my stand open if I knew my neighbors were being robbed or otherwise inconvenienced."
This same person added, "Your neighbor is at fault, and if he doesn't move his stand, I suggest you do so or call the police the next time people steal from your property."
Commented another individual, "I do recommend that as soon as you can afford it, build a fence. I know you said you can't now, but that is the best step you can [take] to keep people out of your garden."
The person also suggested, "In the meantime, be as aggressive as you need to be with the hose. And if anyone trashes you in a neighborhood chat, fire back that you didn't sign up for making your garden part of this community garden thing. Add that perhaps when your garden produces more than you need, you'd be happy to share — but right now, thieves are preventing you from even getting the produce you need yourself."
Said someone else, "No one is entitled to your hard work."