Let me preface this post by saying that I should be studying for a test right now, but I need to get this off my chest or I won't be able to concentrate on anything else! Yesterday, as I left for school, I walked out the front door and paused to take a look at my tomato plant. It's been warm the past week or so which has prompted my plant to put out some new flowers. I had hopes that these would be the last tomatoes of the season. When I returned from school however, the plant was gone! That's right. GONE. Pot and all. The only thing that remained was a wet ring of dirt on the cement where the pot had been sitting all summer. Who could do such a thing?
Before last night it had never crossed my mind that someone would approach a front porch and steal a potted plant. Especially my tomato plant seeing as how it was about 4 feet tall and had tomato caging in the pot (also stolen) which would make it difficult to carry. At first I thought that maybe one of the other tenants in the building thought it would be helpful to move the plant inside as the weather turns cooler. So I walked down to the basement and looked around all of the common areas of the building and could not found it. Then just to be sure I checked the dumpster in the alley. No plant there. Where could it be? Did someone randomly take it?
Apparently this happens quite often. I found several yahoo discussions on the topic and people even posted that certain municipalities had given it a name: midnight landscaping, because the thieves tend to come during the night. Even Gayla Trail is not immune to plant burglars. She posted a blog about it here. (I love the sign that her husband made for her and stuck in the garden after the incident.) She mentions in her post that fellow gardeners can sympathize with the feelings of sadness over a stolen plant. After all we invest time, energy, money and love (yes, love!) into tending for our plants. I definitely felt that sadness along with thoughts about how rude and selfish the person is for taking it.
Some of my anger was directed towards the thief, but I also found myself angry about not having my own fenced in yard/garden area and being forced to grow plants in the window/front porch in the first place. I know that the time will come when I will be able to have my own garden space and I am trying to remain patient, but this pushed my buttons! How could someone? For what reason? All questions running through my mind about the integrity of mankind... Like I said above, fellow gardeners will understand!
In any event, the tomato plant is gone and I have to accept that. I just hope that it went to a good home. This probably won't stop me from gardening on the front porch, but I may warn my neighbors to be on the lookout (as there are other tenants who also keep potted plants on the front porch). I'm also attempting to take this energy and transform it into motivation for finding a home with my own fenced in yard. Some day...
Side Note: Just out of curiosity I may leave a note in a common area of the building addressing the other tenants to ask if anyone perhaps moved it indoors for me? Or if anyone happened to see someone taking it? I don't really understand why someone in the building would take it in, but stranger things have happened.
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