Taking care of someone else's garden

[countthestars]

Say you were going on vacation for 2 weeks and the garden needed to be watered every other day + picking of veggies. What would you expect to "pay"?  Assume this is a home garden, maybe 6'x4'.

[raangoli]

I would let the person keep the veggies. If I will be gone for two weeks, I bet that those fresh veggies will not be so fresh once I am back. If they are traveling far/out of the way, maybe I'd give them some money for gas, too.

[Deleted]

I hate weeding so if there is any of that involved I would give money.

Besides that assuming it is a neighbor or someone close by I would let them have all the veggies since they won't be any good by the time you get home anyway. Gas money if they have to drive out of their way to get to your home.

[Deleted]

I usually have my parents take care of this, so I don't pay them. I think all the harvestable veggies is sufficient payment. You could also bring back a small thank you gift from your travels.

[mbcdefg]

Who is tending the garden ... a kid? A person who would be coming after work? A retired person? SAHP?

Where do they live? On your block, within walking distance, within driving distance?

I think whoever does it should get their pick of the vegetables. For me, a payment would depend on how much of an inconvenience it might be for them. I'd give someone $20+ for driving and needing to go out of their way to help you, but I'd possibly give less (or something like a bottle of wine, box of candy, or a vacation souvenir) to someone who's just walking over from the neighboring house and spending five minutes tending it.

If it was a kid, I'd probably let them take vegetables back to their family and then get them a little something on top of that - $10, candy, a toy or souvenir, etc. - since the kid likely isn't the one prepping the vegetables.

Sorry. I'm really bored today.

[mich1]

All of the veggies and if they had to travel a distance, then money for gas.

[Susie]

If I was going to do this, it'd be like my next door or across-the-street neighbor, it would take them an extra 5 minutes total, and any produce that ripened while we were gone would totally suffice.

[countthestars]

This isn't actually me. I just saw it on Facebook.  This person seems to always be asking for favors and she annoys me, but I was wondering if I was being BEC or if you also thought it was weird.

"Ok, I need some help. I'm looking for a local friend to take care of my veggie garden while I'm gone (first 2 weeks of august). You'd need to water it every other evening or so and pick veggies when they're ripe, so you'd need to live close to the me (I live XXXX). And you can have half of what you pick! I have kale, squash, cherry tomatoes, and green beans. Anyone interested or able?"

I feel like if you're asking someone to come to your house essentially 6-7 times you would not specify that they can keep HALF OF WHAT YOU PICK!!!

ETA: No takers so far - lol.

[Deleted]

My parents always let people have their pick of the garden when they are OOT.

She's not growing anything that will be at it's prime by the time she gets home and asking someone to drive to her house every other day is kind of a PITA. It seems stingy to expect someone to do all that for a handful of vegetables.

[Deleted]

Wow what a generous person! What is the garden babysitter supposed to do with the other half - let it rot in her kitchen or on the vine? So bizarre!

[mich1]

Jul 23, 2014 11:18:51 GMT -5 countthestars said:

This isn't actually me. I just saw it on Facebook.  This person seems to always be asking for favors and she annoys me, but I was wondering if I was being BEC or if you also thought it was weird.

"Ok, I need some help. I'm looking for a local friend to take care of my veggie garden while I'm gone (first 2 weeks of august). You'd need to water it every other evening or so and pick veggies when they're ripe, so you'd need to live close to the me (I live XXXX). And you can have half of what you pick! I have kale, squash, cherry tomatoes, and green beans. Anyone interested or able?"

I feel like if you're asking someone to come to your house essentially 6-7 times you would not specify that they can keep HALF OF WHAT YOU PICK!!!

ETA: No takers so far - lol.

Veggies don't hold for 2 weeks, so what is she hoping to gain?  If she does get someone, all she will have is a batch of rotted veggies.  Why waste them?

We went out of town the day before we were to pick up our first CSA box.  I told my neighbor that she could pick it up and keep it if she wanted.  The veggies would be past their prime when we got home and we were only going to be gone a week.

[BeagleMama]

I agree "half" is crazy. What is the picking-person supposed to do, just leave a bucket of the other half of ripe and rotting vegetables by the back door?

[gardengal]

I'm also gonna say this person's problem could be solved with a soaker hose & a timer from HD

[mainelyfoolish]

Depends on who you have doing the work. If it's a neighborhood teenager, I would definitely pay money. If it's an adult friend, I think offering all of the veggies would be ok payment.

[mainelyfoolish]

Jul 23, 2014 12:03:20 GMT -5 Dig Ophelia said:

I don't know how serious she is about half, but I think if I wanted some free veggies, I would do it anyway.

Then take it all home and eat the evidence.

"It's so weird! I don't understand how none of those vegetables ripened while you were gone!"

[Pom]

We share all our produce with our neighbor friends. While we were gone, the garden water was on an auto timer, but they came and gathered and enjoyed all the goodies while we were away, added some water to the pool and swam in that too. I think they were sad when we came home, lol.

[aurora]

I have both watered gardens for others and had them water for me. Never any money exchanged. For most veggies, we pick and eat whatever is ripe. However, I wouldn't say pick all of the kale or lettuce plants, leaving them with bare soil.

[abramos]

How far does this person have to go to water your garden? Is it a neighbor?
If I was close by, then being paid for all the veggies would be fine by me.
If I had to go out of my way to water the garden, then maybe $20 to cover for gas + the veggies.

[AAM2012]

Jul 23, 2014 11:18:51 GMT -5 countthestars said:

This isn't actually me. I just saw it on Facebook.  This person seems to always be asking for favors and she annoys me, but I was wondering if I was being BEC or if you also thought it was weird.

"Ok, I need some help. I'm looking for a local friend to take care of my veggie garden while I'm gone (first 2 weeks of august). You'd need to water it every other evening or so and pick veggies when they're ripe, so you'd need to live close to the me (I live XXXX). And you can have half of what you pick! I have kale, squash, cherry tomatoes, and green beans. Anyone interested or able?"

I feel like if you're asking someone to come to your house essentially 6-7 times you would not specify that they can keep HALF OF WHAT YOU PICK!!!

ETA: No takers so far - lol.

Depending on the vegetable I'm not sure they would keep for that long. I wouldn't want 2 week old cherry tomatoes......

[katb]

Our neighbors help take care of our garden (it did start out as a coop garden but has really grown more into my own as everyone added one to his/her own yard over the last few years).  They keep whatever the pick.  Vice versa.  Chickens need to be checked on and watered as well, fresh eggs for the collectors!!!

I am really interested in what she thinks will happen to half of the veggies - is it possible a family member will use it but doesn't want to pick?  Weird.

[Deleted]

It's usually coordinated with someone house/ dog sitting for us too, for which we pay $20/day. They can pick whatever they want.