FAIL.

As previously mentioned, my friend Shayna and I decided to learn how to garden this past summer by signing up for a plot in a community garden program. Unfortunately, an endeavor once full of hope and excitement turned into a pretty major disappointment. Why? Garden thieves.

After a few months of tending to our garden we noticed that things were starting to go missing. We kinda expected a few things to go missing here and there, but everything started to go missing. Whole plants stripped of their fruits! Immature and unripe plants completely harvested of their mini peppers and beans! Tiny green tomatoes plucked from their vines! Whole parsley plants chopped at the base! We fantasized about setting traps and getting revenge.

You could argue that maybe the food went to someone in need, but the few people I have encountered in the plots grabbing things took no measure to hide what they were doing and made no apology when approached about it. I know that Shayna and I would have been pleased to share our harvest with those in need and would have happily donated a portion of the fruits of our labour, but we've had no real opportunity to harvest anything for ourselves. It has been so sad to see months of activity (not to mention our start up costs) disappear completely. It started feeling useless to tend to things, so we both started neglecting the garden. Now we'll just go by every now and then to check on the squashes and see if the beets are coming along.

Next year I will resort to building some raised beds in my yard and try to make the best of the indirect sunlight. I'm sure all community plots work differently, and ours is in a location off a major street with heavy traffic that surely makes it appealing to passersby. At least we were a good team and learned something new! I know we'll both take what we learned from this year into our gardens of the future. Our highly guarded gardens of the future, ha.

On a less disappointed note, check out these homemade Oreo's I made the other day! Recipe from Smitten Kitchen.