"I Killed Her Garden!"

There is a really good discussion in the Cafe where the farmer, a Cajun member from Louisiana admits he killed the neighbor's garden with spray drift.  Although we are trained and certified and work hard not to spray in any wind, sometime that is all impossible and we get a little drift that dings, damages or destroys a garden.  Thankfully this is a rare occasion.

"Two weeks or so back, I was trimming a Milo field, atrazine and clarity and I was unfortunately not aware of the wind as I should have been. I smoked the tomatoes, melons, radish, and a host of other veggies. I know they don't have $100 in it, time is one thing, but it is worth only so much.

What do I offer? I am sure one of you have killed a garden, whether you know it or not.

What would you do?"

There are many replies and the way farmers address these issues is basically be sure to take care of your neighbor!  We already have enough challenges!

"If it was my wife's garden, she wouldn't be happy with a $1,000. Those gardens mean a lot to some people, so you can't just put a store price value on it. I sure hope you don't insult the gal by offering her a couple hundred.

If she smoked a couple acres of your corn, would settle for a hundred an acre? I'm sure that's all the seed cost you.  Do the right thing and pay dearly. I'm sure she'd rather have the garden than the money, no matter how much it is. Actually, be glad it wasn't my wife's garden, you'd be as dead as the garden."

Then JK tells us the rest of the story.  "We met, today and state ag drift man came also. She cannot come up with a figure. First, she is pissed about me dinging her Chinese tallow trees taking over her pasture, that most folks want dead.

Next, she blamed her mange infested dogs hair loss on me. This house is in deplorable order, and I promise you, 9 times out of 10 you pass by the local video poker joint, her truck is there.

Too ignorant to reason with, made an offer, state man said I was more than fair, offered an open ticket at local greenhouse, but she wants money, not replacement. Wants to buy cigs, meth, and poker.

So, I made my offer, she has not a lot of recourse, and I gave her until Wednesday at 4 to have a number, or I was walking away.

It really is worth only so much, and I can stomach dealing with these extraordinarily ignorant folk only so long, I can apologize only so much, it is what it is, and lets move on.

She also refuses to take a check, only cash. I want proof of payment.  So, there you have it"

Be careful around those gardens, fellas...

Ed