It's a strange strange (did I mention strange) world

Grindley

I've been growing tomatoes in my front (urban) garden in Dublin. This evening I (as usual) ignored knocks at my front door. Looking out though I saw this middle aged man. After getting no reply from his knocks he proceeded to harvest many tomatoes off my front garden tomato plants. I suppose it's a compliment to my gardening. If he had asked he would have been welcome to the tomatoes anyhow - I've had a glut that I have struggled to keep up with. Considering how cheap though they are in supermarkets, I am a bit surprised. G

celticbhoy27

how was he going to ask, if you don't open your door :pac:

Grindley

If I open the door I'm invariably faced with a scenario that doesn't appeal to me - someone either wants me to contribute financially to some cause or wants to sell 'jesus' to me. I've learned the joy of avoidance. G

pwurple

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

how was he going to ask, if you don't open your door :pac:

Lmao, agreed! The only strange person here is the one who peers out his door or from behind his net curtains at a guy who tried to talk to him about his tomato plants!

kylith

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

how was he going to ask, if you don't open your door :pac:

The door not being answered is hardly an invitation to help yourself to someone else's produce though.

zagmund

While it's not an invitation to help yourself, it is a reflection on the way society is going these days that the other bloke may well have a post elsewhere on boards.ie saying "there's this bloke down the road who has all this food growing in his front garden and which appears to be going to waste. Rather than steal stuff from his house, the other day I waited until I saw him at home and then rang his doorbell to ask if he would mind if I had a few. The strange thing is, even though I knew he was there he didn't answer the door. I shouldn't have, but I took the stuff anyway. I bet if we had talked he would have told me to help myself. Why don't people answer doors any more?"

As regards the cost in supermarkets, it's not all about cost. We bought leek seedlings a while back and have them planted to grow over the winter. They didn't cost much - maybe €10. When you compare it to the cost of a couple of leeks in the supermarket, we probably paid more for the seedlings than we would pay for fully grown items in the veg section, but there's value & benefit to be had from the fact that we grow them ourselves. Mind you, if someone makes off with my leeks I'll be pretty annoyed.

z

kylith

zagmund wrote: »

While it's not an invitation to help yourself, it is a reflection on the way society is going these days that the other bloke may well have a post elsewhere on boards.ie saying "there's this bloke down the road who has all this food growing in his front garden and which appears to be going to waste. Rather than steal stuff from his house, the other day I waited until I saw him at home and then rang his doorbell to ask if he would mind if I had a few. The strange thing is, even though I knew he was there he didn't answer the door. I shouldn't have, but I took the stuff anyway. I bet if we had talked he would have told me to help myself. Why don't people answer doors any more?"

Or he may have knocked on the door to be sure that no-one was home to see him rob the veg and been unaware that the OP could see him. Or, if he knew for a fact that the OP was home OP could have been sitting on the loo when he knocked on the door for all he knew. Even if he was confident that OP would have given him the veg your story boils down to 'Rather than steal from him I knocked on his door, and when he didn't answer I stole from him'. The fact that I know for definite that she'd happily give me her last penny does not mean it's ok for me to take a fiver from my mother's purse.

I agree that the OP should have answered the door. I'd certainly have opened it to ask him what the feck he thought he was doing when he had his hands full of my vegetables. The right thing for him to have done would have been to drop a note in the door asking the OP to contact him and let him know if he could have some of the tomatoes.

celticbhoy27

kylith wrote: »

The door not being answered is hardly an invitation to help yourself to someone else's produce though.

Agree wholeheartedly, the op did however say he would have given him some if he'd asked. My question was, how was he supposed to ask if he doesn't answer the door

mister gullible

The OP doesn't have to open his door if he doesn't want to. It's his own private property. And stealing is stealing even when it's in Dublin.

eyescreamcone

Imagine if someone tried that caper on in America?

eyescreamcone

Or Mayo?

Grindley

I am often out in my front garden and approachable. I think the guy was actually someone trying to sell me something else (religion, a charity, a different utility company etc.), and 'helped himself' to the tomatoes when he thought I wasn't home. I posted this post as a humorous one, and don't intend to be moralistic other than to say that I personally wouldn't take something without the owner's consent. He was knocking on my door after 6.30pm. Where I live has many senior citizens - who don't need to be tempted to open their doors in the evenings to strangers. My tomatoes though are very tasty (and prolific) and I hope anyone who sampled them enjoyed them (and may be encouraged to plant their own next year). G

martinn123

maybe he will come back next week, and knock again.

When you do not answer, he will leave a jar of tasty Tomato Relish on your doorstep...........enjoy.:D

miss no stars

Lol, just answer the door in future rather than sitting inside wondering when they'll stop knocking! If it's not something you're interested in just say "No thanks" politely and close the door.

Amalgam

What variety did you grow, Grindley?

Grindley

Lol to Martinn123 above - a sense of humour is a blessing.
The variety of tomatoes I grew were Gardener's Delight - the seeds of which were sent to me by the very kind 'Technophobe' who posts on this forum. What a harvest - with still many to pick. This is my (real) first year growing tomatoes and I've learned a lot. Next year (God willing) I will have to think of a better way to support them - they bore so much fruit that they collapsed onto the ground due to my inadequate support of them. I love gardening. This weekend I harvest another of my containers of potatoes - one of the Sarpo's - do you's out there still have much to take in from your gardens? G