I'm dumbfounded and at a loss for words! OMG
Kris

Hope you find some restitution.

I suspect Yankees...

Absolutely shocking! I would never have thought anyone would steal plants on such a scale.

I hope the loss does not set you back too much (either financially or emotionally.)

Bets

I'd post a notice on craigslist and any other local online ad sites, kijiji.com etc. with the same descriptions you gave. Decent honest folks will not buy from someone they suspect has hijacked your plants, and in fact may turn them in for you.

what a huge bummer!!

We also can hope and pray that IF they grow them for themselves, that the horn worm eats every plant to the ground and that these plants become infested with stink bugs and leaf footed bugs and that NO tomatoes grow for them. Oh ya and that these plants get blight (whatever is the worst kind they can get). yah, that's what I hope will happen if they try to grow them. CURSED are these stolen plants and if any tomatoes do grow for them, I hope they get the runs after eating them.

Thank you all for the very kind comments. As I was primarily growing my varieties for seed, I made a special poitn of planting two of each variety before beginning any selling of the extras. This way I will have plenty of seed for my own use and distribution to others later. I firmly believe that things balance out in the end for everyone, so I choose to let whatever happens to whomever be handled In the natural scheme of things. That said, I wanted to warn everyone that giving out personal information such as your address needs to be done with a bit of discretion ...and a record kept. However, even giving a phone number today carries a certain element of risk. As prices continue to skyrocket, more jobs are lost, and more and more people feel the crunch, crime will surely rise. Having read "One Second After" I really do believe that even the basics, such as food in a garden, could well be targeted. Not doom and gloom, but maybe just a sanity check as Georgia now has the highest unemployment in the nation and home invasions are on the rise.

Perhaps you could post a wanted add on Craigslist. If the thieves are dumb enough, they will contact you saying what
wonderful plants they have available for you to come by and purchase..... Just bring your local sheriff's deputy with you.

I would be so ticked! I'm glad you had some set by for yourself.

nothing lower on this planet than a thief

Wish your garden grows well this year and have a bountiful harvest. Sorry to hear of your loss.

George

This doesn't surprise me since I've had people help themselves to the tomatoes once they started to ripen. So this year, when times are hard, it's no surprise they're completetly selfish and take the whole plant. They'll either have all the tomatoes off of them or they'll sell the little plants.

It's bad enough dealing with all the little 4 legged varmits out there - to have to deal with 2 legged ones too!!

Beth

That's crazy! Where were your seedlings located when they were taken?

I'm normally pretty laid back and calm, but I think I'd be hunting this/these individuals down...lol

So sorry for your loss!

nothing lower on this planet than a thief

WHAT? You think a thief is lower than a child molester?
I agree it's low but get your priorities straight.

Maybe we can get these guys to help track the culprit down. href="http://s349.photobucket.com/albums/q373/suddensam_2008/?action=view¤t=underwear.jpg"; target="_blank">

So sorry to hear that your plants were taken. That would tick me off!

Though it is hardly relevant to the thread, I have to set the unemployment issue straight, since I live in the epicenter of unemployment. Michigan "enjoys" the highest unemployment and has for some time. Link below to the gov't's Bureau of Labor Statistics site with the facts.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bureau of Labor statistics

At least no one was injured .

I believe in your style Mensplace,I'ved used it for years.Why have hate pollute your soul and revenge take over your heart when you can let it go and have peace knowing things will balance out in the end.
Even though , like Taz said , child molesters are the worst of the worst and it's hard to feel neutral on that.
The thing now is what are you going to do to prevent this from happening again?
Hope all goes well from here on out.
Gene

I feel bad for your loss, Mensplace. As the season goes on, there will be many more posts like yours...happens every year and as times get harder, there will be more garden theft. When DH and I moved to the mid-west several years ago, one of the things I noticed was hardly anyone had fences around their homes/yards. The area we moved from was rife with theft and vandalism and very few homes were without fences(and security lights and dogs, etc). We are in a small rural town and people garden right next to alleys, streets and sidewalks. Many get their tomatoes stolen. I haven't yet, but I'm always freaked out about it. Luckily, our apartment building is a good deal back from the street, but I do have to deal with the 'deer highway' on the next lot.
I hope you find out who took your plants, but if you don't, remember what they did will come back and bite them in the rear one way or another. Good luck with the rest of your plants and good harvest!

Well... at least they had their priorities straight and stole the tomatoes instead of the nasty power tools. :)

My seedlings have been in my front yard on warm days for weeks and I thought nothing of it. I would be very upset if I came home and they were missing. But not as much as the one year my lovely neighbor (and I KNOW who it was) harvested my peach trees for me while I was at work.

mensplace, I am sorry that you had theives steal your plants, but know this, what goes around comes around.

If they don't answer in this life, they will answer in the judgement.

....So mensplace, any leads? And just curious...where were you keeping your seedlings when they disappeared? Were they near the road or something?

That is a crime and should be reported as such. Those people who turn the other cheek are part of the problem and will only encourage more theft and dishonesty. You just can't give crime a 'free ride', and not expect it to get worse.

It is not a big enough crime to require an investigation, but it will make law enforcement aware that that kind of crime is occurring. I remember a few years ago when men in a truck would back into a yard and remove all of the landscape plants and be gone without the neighbors knowing it was a 'pick up' instead of a delivery, or a hired lawn service. All crime needs to be reported.

I have moved all of my plants from the driveway to the front porch, where they now are just outside my bedroom window. This was certainly not the first theft here and probably won't be the last. Like Alabamanicole, I had once been waiting for some fully ripened pears only to go out to harvest them and found the entire tree stripped. We are living in curious times today, a time where theft is almost socially acceptable and even encouraged among the young. Too, between the city police, county police, state patrol, sheriffs, and school police, I have never seen so many law enforcement officers and vehicles, yet crime continues to spiral out of control while violent crime rises daily. Yes, I do see this as just another sign of the times and the police are overwhelmed. Most of the folks who come to my home have been overwhelmingly friendly and possessing nothing but good intent, but I doubt if I will be selling plants next year, it's just to much of an invitation for those with other intents. Now, when I hear folks walking on my front porch without knocking or ringing the bell, it makes me mighty nervous. The trouble is not one of whether or not I have reported this, but more an issue of our most fundamental values, social mores with family and community, and even our institutions no longer teaching or upholding the historical, fundamental values that were once the framework of our country and its people. This affects us all, but the concept of placing the load on the police as society declines and traditional constructs are lost, leads inevitably to a big brother state, not one of a country of, by and for the people. The problem is US...and has been throughout the history of great nations. The solution must come from within, but maybe things like shoplifting, thefts, home invasions, disrespect, and a generalized anger are simply a sign.

I don't think it's really a sign of the times. There are low-lifes everywhere and in every time. We repeatedly had problems with people stripping our fruit trees when I was a kid, too, and that was way out in the country like the house where my peaches got stolen. My garden also got raided from time to time out there. Sad thing is, I had plenty to share and would have been glad to if I'd been asked. The problems ended when I started practicing with the shotgun behind my house. :-/

My new suburban neighbors and my former ultra-urban neighbors are far politer and more honest than when I lived in the country.

Since we can't hire any of the previously-offered individuals, including this one, to dispatch the thieves,

{{gwi:1312217}}

it struck me the other day that if there were a way to use poison ivy to protect my garden, that would be great! We have huge healthy plants. In another thread a few weeks ago, someone suggested planting stinging nettles around the garden to keep 2-legged varmints from going much farther.

If you could manage it, you might install a motion-triggered camera to take some pictures of your night visitors or even unwelcome daytime visitors. You could also post a sign saying that trespassers will be prosecuted.

I'd keep an eye out for "guerilla" gardeners. I realize that a lot depends on context, but a lot of what I hear from and about these people online and in the newspapers gives me the impression that many of them are not very considerate with regard to private property, and have strong feelings of entitlement which might extend to your tomato plants.

Keep an eye out for people discussing guerrilla gardening in your area, and maybe drop in on their operations if they mention them openly.