Moral Dilemma

[chayjay]

The situation is tricky. At the moment I have no proof but I believe someone has planted things on their plot they have stolen from a school allotment garden.

It isn't my business really what someone has planted on their plot but what they have planted is very similar to something that has also been planted on the local primary school's garden area.

This person 'manages' the school garden. So it's possible they have just bought themself something from the same supplier when they ordered for school.

It might all be perfectly innocent but I am in a dilemma. I know in the past they have hinted heavily about acquiring things from school - things that I would never describe as 'wastage' unless people really order 100m extra of weed control fabric etc.

Am I just putting too much thought into this?

Do I follow it up? And who with?

I have spoken about this in a very general way to one of the mums whose kids attend this school. She says there was already some hoohar about kids having to pay money to plant stuff and then there wasn't enough stuff to plant. Which has probably heightened my suspicions further.

[binley100]

Oh dear.........tricky one ... How chatty are you with the person? Could you casually say , 'they're looking good , wouldn't mind some of those , where did you get them ?' kinda thing

[zazen999]

What sort of thing? Do you mean they ordered 50 strawberries but only 25 made it to the school - or do you mean they ordered 25 and took the extra that may have been sent which should have gone to the school?

I often plant things from my school gardens, but then they were my seeds in the first place, any excess either gets given to a different school or, if it's the end of the season and the alternative is that they get composted, they will find a place on my plot. I'll always make a donation to their sales account for them though - even if they were my seeds to start with!

[taff]

I assume the school is paying for this stuff, so someone is signng the cheques, or approving the items for purchase. Find out who that is then go see them first. Or just go to the headmaster/mistress and have a word.

[zazen999]

Nah - invite the head [or the person who signs the cheques] over to your plot and casually wander over to theirs...

[Jeanied]

Hmmm - tricky. I have never heard of kids having to pay for stuff in the school garden - what with all the vouchers the big supermarkets have been giving for encouraging the kids to grow their own. Like Zaz I have taken in stuff to the gardening club that I have grown from my own seeds, also from swaps with other grapes and a fabulous donation including a seed collection from our very own Kiwirach (star of our gardening club!) who was giving up her plot.
I would ask for a confidential discussion with the head.

[BarleySugar]

When I ran our school garden the stuff in my plot was very similar to that at school, mainly because we had no budget, so I donated spare plants to the garden and we grew my seeds to sell the plants to make some cash. One of my club members bought in plants from home, otherwise that was it. Having no budget I didn't need anyone to authorise expenditure, but I could see it would be possible to 'over order' especially if the person in charge was not a gardener and therefore did not be aware of what was needed.
However, it is a tough one, as any of the scenarios suggested are plausible, and there may not be any wrong doing involved. If the person has donated to the school fund she wouldn't necessarily publicise the fact either. I know I am very trusting and tend to think the best of someone though, and you must have some real concerns to have posted here, so I second the advice to discuss with the head. I would think this would be better than trying to investigate in a round about manner, which could stir up rumours and gossip about the garden manager. If it were me I would welcome the chance to vindicate myself, rather than perhaps becoming aware of talk but not knowing why.

[Two_Sheds]

The plants on my allotment are identical to the plants in my school gardens: because I buy all the seeds & sow them all.

I also (shhhhhhhh!) eat most of the produce from the school gardens, because the children don't want the veggies (apart from peas).

[Feral007]

When our local school started the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden scheme they were ordering thru a seed/plant company. Because you had to become a member of the seed company to buy thru it there was talk about whether parents could order some seeds (and pay for them) thru the schools account. I don't know how it finished up as I couldn't be bothered with it - I just got my seeds elsewhere.

If the kids were short of plants I'd be wondering myself, but if they had plenty of stuff I would probably just forget about it.

[Bigmallly]

Welcome to the vine Chayjay, only you can make any judgement as to what to do. There may be a simple explaination. If you have no proof of wrong doing, I would ayre (?sp) on the side of caution. Good luck with your decision.

[Newton]

You mention specifics. Weed control fabric and strawberries! If surplus has turned up they might see it as a perk! Which it clearly isn't.....but they might need this pointing out to them for future reference rather than starting a police investigation.

[chayjay]

If it were seed grown plants then I would not have even blinked.

It is commercially grown trees and bushes.
About 10 trees and 20 bushes.

[veggiechicken]

Do you know the source of these trees - who supplied them to the school? Could they have been supplied by a company that promotes growing trees in school grounds and may have donated them? If so, is the school garden large enough to accommodate all of these trees? If the gardener had not used them on their own plot, would they have gone to waste?
Do you have a personal link with the school, or any of its teachers, governors or are you a parent? If so, it should be easy to find out the source of the trees. I would establish the facts, and be very confident of the facts, before any attempt to malign the gardener.

[taff]

I'd go with invite the head to look at your allotment, but also, ask if they access to any more of the trees that the other gardener has because you fancy some

[Bigmallly]

If it were seed grown plants then I would not have even blinked.

It is commercially grown trees and bushes.
About 10 trees and 20 bushes.

As you have metioned they are going onto a plot then I assume they are fruit trees & bushes. Just pass comment "Nice looking trees, which company did you use? I could do with some".........I would imagine you will then know if they are legit or not.