RESTON, VA: During the construction of the two community gardens at Hunt Woods Park last May, Reston residents found thousands of dollars stolen from plants and other items stolen by thieves. Now is the time of harvest, and if those same gardens begin to grow vegetables, the thieves will strike again.
“Many tomatoes are dead,” said Molly Oboil, a government contractor who volunteered to work as a garden coordinator for the Reston Association. “Someone here, two fully grown squash is missing. I took the pepper.”
On Friday afternoon, the sun was blazing as he walked down the hunting grounds of Hunter Woods Garden 2.
In May, night thieves rode the 8-foot-tall fence around the gardens with new plantings, tools, and wooden boards.
Friday was a very different scene from the spring, when most gardens were littered with garbage or fresh green plants. Now the tall sunflowers are trampled under the weight of their seed-filled faces, and the rows of flowers glow brightly in the middle of the green.
Occasionally, Oboil bends over and pulls out leaves to reveal tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, or bitter lemons.
For more than two years, gardeners who pay an annual fee to the Reston Society to carry out community plots have been robbed of their fruits at night in the absence of anyone else.
We have surveillance cameras all over the place. A neighbor moved the camera from the fence to the post to monitor the garden bed. She was the one who stole about $ 2,000. One of the things they stole last week was an oily pumpkin.
News of theft in the spring helped raise awareness among gardeners about the problem. Ra has obtained permission from the Design Review Board to install an 8-foot-high fence around gardens and install gobe lights on gardens, Oboil said.
The visiting lights helped, Obol said. She was driving at night and she saw the lights on. But that did not stop thieves from stealing vegetables.
A representative from Weller Development Company, who owns Reston National Golf Course, contacted Odol for assistance.
“He wanted to see if the boss had read the patch and if there was a way to help the gardeners,” she said. He goes, we really don’t have such plants, so we can’t give you men’s plants, but can better safety be important? I’m sure I’ll help you if you want to work with RA.
Although Obol did not hear from Weller about safety, he offered to provide some of the surviving plants for the gardeners.
“Someone in the gardeners said, ‘Hey, we noticed. Is there anything we can understand?’ I think it’s good for gardeners to know that he is willing to say no.
As Oboil continues to roam the gardens, she shares stories about various gardeners who have been victims of night robbers.
“This lady was her first year last year,” she said. She made dahlias around the outside and dahlias are now blooming. Well, last year, in September, someone came, shook everything, left the stems and took all the bulbs.
Related:
Late thieves robbed 2 community gardens back
Reston community gardeners should consider the risk of theft
Do you have a story idea? Please contact me at michael.oconnell@patch.com with any steps, tips or questions. Follow me on Twitter @BossOfTalking And stay up to date with the latest news from Reston on Facebook @ Digital Michael.