Not again!

We can't believe it - Windmill has again been struck by vandals. Sometime between when Tracey and her family did the watering early on Saturday evening and this morning, someone broke into the site and cut off the polytunnel plastic AGAIN! This time, they also quite deliberately cut down the supports for all the tomatoes, as these were tied on each of the polytunnel uprights. They also broke into the shed and took some things, though fortunately not anything really valuable, but they broke the shutter and the window glass, so we have a lot to do to mend everything. This time, we weren't alone in suffering attack, as at least 10 other allotments were targetted, with small thefts and damage to crops. Our plastic is marked with smart water and indelible pen, but the attackers didn't seem to mind that.

Thank you so much to Claire from Groundwork and Sally, one of the local allotment holders who helped to tie up the tomatoes to prevent further damage, and helped to save the bulk of the crop.

Fortunately Nick and the Groundwork Work Team are available this week, and have riden to the rescue. They will be reinforcing the fence, adding barbed wire and anti-climb paint to all the potential break in points and mending any broken stuff. We're also thinking of how to make the polytunnel less vulnerable, because we really can't afford to fix it again, and even now, fixing it is taking money we hoped to use for other things.