Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Rant: Stealing From Community Gardens Is Pretty Low.

There's a small town named Owen Sound, about 3 hours north of where I live. Usually, news about things going on there don't really make it down here, but this news item caught my eye. A community garden, behind a church, no less, was robbed of its prized vegetables last week. Some of the items included a 200 pound pumpkin, some squash and watermelon. To add insult to injury, the garden has been managed by the Canadian Mental Health Association. The garden has been used as a tool to help people with mental health disorders gain independence, self-confidence, and employable skills. They have been tending it since 2008 and watching this year's crop grow since May.

Canadian Mental Health Association Leisure Links co-ordinator Teresa Pearson and community gardener Jack Lloyd survey the community garden project’s pumpkin patch in Owen Sound on Thursday after thieves made off with the fall crop of pumpkins squash and watermelons.

To move a 200 pound pumpkin is not a spur of the moment prank, and must have been planned well in advance. To do this to anyone is pretty low, let alone to a community project. If you happen to see someone trying to pawn off a giant pumpkin, or a load of pumpkin pies Crime Stoppers is 1-800-222-8477, and the local Owen Sound Police is 519-376-1234.




Let me know what you think should happen to the people who did this.

1 comment:

  1. I think the thieves should be jailed, what they did was worse than just stealing money. And the damage is really more than just losing the crops. I once had a variety of small veggies growing by my fence. One squash plant had a big, green sweet squash...I knew that someone will definitely be tempted to steal if I don't pick it first. But I didn't want to pick that nice, big plump squash unless it's ready for cooking. One day, the thief thought it was ripe enough. I was sad to see the squash gone because my family and my neighbors were waiting for it. After losing the squash, I kept hoping that whoever stole it...REALLY NEEDED it or at least, gave it to families that really NEEDED FOOD. That plant gave me another sweet, bigger squash (but I managed to hide it with its big leaves) and my neighbors and my family finally got to enjoy it.

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