Since this incarnation of my blog is new, and since it's now being indexed by Blogger such that people who don't know me might actually read it, I'm going to preface this story with the explaination that my husband and I have a large plot in the community garden at Fermilab. This is our third year on the plot, and up until now we've had minimal problems with stuff munching the plants. We never even put up a fence, and the most we've lost is some tulips (our munchers will weave their way between daffodils to eat the tulips) and peas. Then, this year, all hell broke loose. The first sign of problems was two days after I had put out 5 tomato plants that I had raised from tiny heirloom seeds into 18"-tall plants, when only one was left standing. The others had completely disappeared, except for a couple of leaves on the ground. I have this clear picture in my head of a magician saying "abracadabra," a puff of smoke, and two leaves fluttering to the ground, because it was as if these plants magically disappeared. And they were tomato plants. I've never heard of anything liking tomato plants. I took a closer look around and found evidence that everything was being munched: sunflowers, beans, peas, poppies. So we started putting up fence. More precisely, we filled in the gaps in the sections of fence that were already there as parts of other gardeners' defense systems. Well, yesterday after work we went out to water, and there were 2 (2!) bunnies in our garden. When they saw us, they ran for what had been a gap in the fence, but that we had plugged on Saturday. The fact that they couldn't get out what was clearly their "usual route" was a good sign. The fact that they were on the WRONG SIDE OF THE FENCE was not. In their terror, they tried to climb up the new fence, but couldn't (also a good sign). Eventually, they regrouped and found a hole in an older section of fence to squeeze through. We've patched the hole, but I'm sure they'll just find another. I know they've camped out in the long grasses in the untended plots on either side of ours. I'm so mad at the club about this. Last year, nobody tended the north plot. I complained, and nothing happened, even though there is a rule that if you fail to tend your plot you can be "blacklisted." So this year, I begged the president of the club to give the plot to the north to someone else--there were so many people wanting plots this year, they plowed up a whole bunch more land to make 25 new plots--but he refused. So whoever didn't tend the north plot last year must have come up with the $5 to renew his ownership. Why would he do that? Why pay for a plot you have no intention of using? Granted, the fee is chump change, but why bother? I kept complaining to the president about the fact that none of the plots surrounding ours had been tended (this year, the east and south plots have been abandoned too). He told me I had to wait until June, and then complain to the vice-president. I was upset to have to wait so long: the higher the weeds got, the tougher it was going to be mow them (which I was going to have to do) and, the plot to the south was entirely populated with thistles (waist-high thistles). I was sure that if nobody had done anything by mid-May, nobody intended to. However, two weeks ago, somebody finally cleans out and mows the east plot, and figure I was wrong about people starting their gardening before mid-May. June comes, and I email the vice-president. As of yesterday, I had heard nothing back. Then last night Josh was making a trip to the trash bin over by the president's plot and seizes the opportunity to complain to him about all the untended plots and how they're harboring furry fugitives. The president tells Josh to tell the vice-president, who happens to be standing nearby, about the problem, as its his responsibility to deal with delinquent gardeners. The vice-president says that he'll email the people who have leased the plots, but he doesn't have a copy of the plot map. So Josh walks back over to the president (who's standing about 25 meters away) and gets the map and brings it to the vice-president. The vice-president tells Josh that he will contact the plot owners, and if he gets no response, mow the plots. I'm surprised at his vow to mow, because I was sure I was going to have to mow the plots. It's then that I realize that nobody is going to garden in the east plot, but that somebody else has complained about it not being tended, and the vice-president has cut it down--two weeks earlier than I was allowed to, even though I've been trying to get it done since March!!!