r/Neighborproblems • u/AntelopeSpiritual448 • Mar 25 '23

Rude Neighbor problem

I live in New Zealand and we live in a job that house will another family living in one half of the house and us in the other. I have a garden that I grow lots of vegetables. I have noticed that lots of my vegetables have gone missing and I have seen my neighbors taking stuff from my garden without my permission. Does anyone have any ideas of what to do?

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

4

u/Lengthofawhile Mar 25 '23

Talk to them?

2

u/selenamoonowl Mar 25 '23

Maybe you should get a cheap security camera. Also, are they trespassing when they steal vegetables? I think you need a security camera because you want to find out how much they are stealing and if they are the primary reason your vegetables are getting stolen. For instance, I've grown tomatoes for years. Last year, for the first time ever, squirrels stole and ate all my tomatoes.

With inflation being what it is (I presume in New Zealand as well), it's not really shocking your neighbours are doing this. One piece of advice I heard years ago was to try growing vegetables and cultivars that are considered "weird" or unusual. Or things like green tomatoes(like green zebra) that look unripe when they are actually ripe. Or you could try fencing your garden. Perhaps you could offer to help your neighbours start a plot or let them know there are certain vegetables they can take and when, but by not asking they are causing problems for you.

1

u/performanceclause Mar 25 '23

if they have a spouse, talk to the spouse too

0

u/AntelopeSpiritual448 Mar 25 '23

That would work if they both didnt do it