In a Fog

We returned from the south a week ago, and I still haven’t caught up with my emails and duties. It feels like the world (fate, the gods…?) is determined to stop me. Bastard.

The day after we got back D. went to harvest his second early potatoes from his raised bed at the allotments. When he got there he found no potatoes to harvest. They had all been taken.

As the person who manages* the allotments I set about trying to find out what happened.

I found out.

I did this by looking at the evidence and asking anyone if they’d seen anything. This led to one possibility: that a young volunteer had taken them. I’ve rarely spoken to this volunteer, he’s shy and anxious so has never turned up when we’ve arranged to meet (at his instigation) and other volunteers manage him (we are all volunteers!), but we have had a lot of correspondence on Messenger. Thus I sent him a message:

Hello Peter** did you clear potatoes from raised bed 14?

He responded: I only took potatoes that I planted in April in that bed.

And from there we continued:

Me: But that was someone else’s bed, and he planted and grew the potatoes.

Peter: I’m sorry but I put potatoes in that bed in April as there was nobody using them.
I planted potatoes in that bed in April there was nobody using those beds I knew of.

Me: He planted his spuds in that bed, and the one beside it, on 22 March. It may have looked like no one was using it, but someone, a rent paying allotment holder, was.

Peter: Well I’m sorry how was I supposed to know

Me: Please don’t take other people’s raspberries and blackcurrants.*** You need to ask before assuming a plot is not being used, all the raised beds are rented this year.

 

That afternoon one of the volunteers who supervises/guides Peter found him tearing up his plants and saying he was never coming back. The next day I got an email from this volunteer saying, amongst other things, that I owe Peter an apology for my disgraceful behaviour. Later he responded to a Face Book post about the loss saying Peter had permission to use that bed. But from who?

How can I keep track of who has which plot/bed/space if someone else is giving permission to use them? Surely it’s that person who owes Peter an apology?

Or, was that exchange problematic: do I sound aggressive or unfair? Could I have worded my question, and my responses to his answer in a gentler way? Or should I not have asked him at all (I actually did email the angry volunteer (let’s call him George) who manages Peter two days before contacting Peter himself,  but got no response. If he’d said he’ll deal with it and get back to me I’d have left it; I have no need of confrontation)?

I replied to George’s email accusing me of ripping Peter away from his haven immediately, trying to explain my position but four days have passed and he has said nothing more. Other people have given me their full support, including the Chair and other site users, but I don’t feel this can be resolved if George won’t engage.

We have a board meeting tonight and Peter’s other overseer should be there, hopefully he’ll be a bit more communicative even if that involves giving me a hard time. But, quite frankly, I’m on the verge on taking all the paperwork involved in this, dumping it on George’s doorstep with a note saying that as I’m so crap and he’s so brilliant the job’s his, and never going to that damn place again†.

Apologies if this is muddled and ranty.

*Basically this entails allotting plots, raised beds, and polytunnel spaces to people who want them; sending those people each an agreement form to complete and sign; sending invoices; keeping a record of who has what plot/bed/space; and helping to make the site a nice place to be.

**Not his real name.
*** He’d posted on his FB page that he would have lots of raspberries and blackcurrants soon, and I know he doesn’t have any canes/bushes of his own on site.

†Unfortunately I’m hindered in this by not wanting to trouble the Chair who has worked incredibly hard to save the charity from extinction and is a very good person indeed.