How do I deal with my elderly neighbor who steals vegetables from my garden?

Question

Today he stole several tomatoes from my garden. He's not a nice man and his wife is a busy body. Should I just let him die a thief and ignore it or go talk to him?

Answer 1

Honestly if I were you, I would probably let it go.  Most gardeners I know have way too many fruits and veggies to eat themselves and give them away anyway.  A lot of elderly people have trouble feeding themselves and paying for their medical care and that could be behind his stealing.  It's not that I think it's ok, but if it were a case of them having a hard time financially, I would probably ignore it unless I only had very few of my own and couldn't spare any.  Older people are often cranky and that's just how they are a lot of the time.  I'm sure a lot of people would disagree with me.  If it bothers you that much, you could leave them a nice note and stick it in a bag with a few veggies to send the message that it's not ok with you.  I wouldn't think you would want to make a big deal about it and you have to pick your battles.  

Answer 2

Confront him.  Ask him to stop.  If that doesn't work call the police.  Consider taping it and then going to the police with the evidence.

Answer 3

Confront him about it. Young or Old it doesn't matter stealing is a crime. If he wants to eat fresh veggies, let him grow his own garden.

To solve all problems I would just build a fence around your property.

Answer 4

I would play a funny prank on him, like put plastic tomatoes on the vines or something.  

Answer 5

I have several suggestions.

If you see him out there, ask him very loudly "Hi Mr. Jones, is there something I can help you with?"

Put up a fence so he can't just walk over

Tell him if he would like to have some of your tomatoes to just ask you

When he and his wife are outside, go out near your garden and shreik at the top of your lungs  OMG, there's a HUGE snake in the garden, and run inside and slam the door.

Let your dog outside when you see him in your garden

Ask him if he's lost and point towards his house and say "You live over THERE."

If all else fails, call the police.,,he IS trespassing AND stealing both of which are crimes.

Answer 6

Put some kind of enclosure around the garden, Like a cage with a lock. Or, even better, leave a note in your garden. Tape it to a tomato "PLEASE DO NOT STEAL MY VEGETABLES, THANKS". Then, you do not have to confront him face to face and he should get the point.

Answer 7

Wow, what an ordeal! I guess it depends on his age- is he really really old? Could he be doing this just because he's going senile? Depending on the situation, I would most likely ignore him - unless you catch him red handed, in which case you could confront him by offering to give him some tomatoes if he likes them so much. Vegetables are a good thing to share- a good thing to go around, maybe they don't have enough money to buy the vegetables that they want or need. Either way it's good karma on you, whether you like it or not you're contributing to their good health.

Answer 8

Deal with the situation with how you feel is appropriate. He's not allowed to steal at all.

Come up with a stylish conversation and say loudly:

"Hi there, do you need something?" - if you see him doing it again.

Another option would be make a fence.

I'm sure they'll get embarrassed and stop doing it again.

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

Electric fence

Answer 10

tell them  to  stop

Answer 11

Well, If I were in your situation I think I would handle it this way.....chances are you have a decent amount of veggies in your garden (like Michelle mentioned), so I would go over to your neighbor and say "Hi Mr. X, I noticed the other day you took some tomatoes. If you like I can give you the extra vegetables I've got when I have too many to use"  This way you're calling him out (he now knows that you know) on what he did, but still being a nice neighbor about it.

Then again I tend to cut the elderly some slack, maybe I shouldn't but I do :)-

Good Luck!

Answer 12

Plant more veggies, next time put them in a nice basket and leave them on his step before he steals them. A little kindness goes a long way, especially with jerky old people.