Camera watching grower’s patch

By Kath Gannaway
A STEELS Creek biodynamic vegetable grower has been forced to install a security camera and sensor light on her roadside stall to protect against thieves.
The stall has been the target of thieves on five occasions over recent months, but owner Judy Stockdale said the latest attempt on her reinforced ‘honesty box’ was the last straw.
Ms Stockdale said after thieves broke into and wrecked her original honesty box a few times, she replaced it with a reinforced safe which is fixed securely to the wagon.
She said the wagon was fine when she checked it at 10pm on Sunday, but when she checked again at 5am the next day, polystyrene boxes and vegetables had been thrown around and it was obvious thieves had unsuccessfully attempted to jemmy open the new honesty box.
“With winter coming, I had built up broccoli, cabbages and potatoes like crazy.
“They must be healthy (so and sos) because there was not that much evidence of that on the road so they must be flogging them somewhere else or enjoying it themselves,” she said.
“They made an awful mess of the safe but still didn’t succeed, so have taken out this awful frustration on the boxes and vegies,” she said.
Ms Stockdale said years of work had gone into becoming a fully accredited biodynamic farm.
“It’s taken a heck of a lot of beautiful happening to produce this,” she said.
“Most people are wonderful. I get people who meet me in the street and say they owe me 40 cents, others put in a serious note and work it out over time. That’s the way a honesty box works and people like that,” she said.
Ms Stockdale said she hoped people would understand the reason for installing the camera and that they would not feel harassed by it.
Anyone with information about the thefts is asked to call Senior Constable Angelo Maccanini at Yarra Glen police on 9730 1296.