KILSBY VILLAGE

The Tale of the Stolen Cauliflower

by Bracken Thompson

I have an allotment in Kilsby. It has taken me some time to get going.  I managed to completely miss the summer growing season but I have managed to get a few crops in for winter. I have a few of most winter vegetables including cabbage, leeks and cauliflower.  It is the first time I have managed to grow cauliflower. I left it too late to start them from seeds, me being a quite inexperienced vegetable gardener, so I bought in some young plants. This is a very expensive way to grow really but I wanted to grow a supply which should take us through the winter and into spring.

I check the progress of my crops most days whenever I can. One day I was very happy to find I had white curds on one cauliflower. I was so excited I rang one friend and emailed two others. They probably thought me mad but I had to tell someone. I had tried to grow cauliflower in the past but never had the curds formed. Now daily I watched as the cauliflower grew. It had reached the size, of a medium sized, shop bought cauliflower when I decided was big enough and so it was time to eat it.

On the afternoon of Saturday the 10^th of December I went up to my allotment only to find it had gone. It had been stolen! The main stem was still there cut off where my cauliflower had been. I was shocked and very upset because of the loss of my cauliflower. It was not really the fact it was stolen but that is was the very first cauliflower I had ever grown. If it had been the tenth or hundredth then I would not feel as upset. But it is the first and I have watched as it grew and waited and waited. It was also very disappointing  since that cauliflower was the main ingredient for our dinner.  Upon further investigation I realised there were also leeks and a cabbage missing.  This was also upsetting but nothing to the loss of my first cauliflower.

My only hope is the thief really needed these vegetables to feed their family. There can be no other excuse. I hope as they read this they will feel ashamed for their crime and understand the upset they have caused. Most people grow vegetables because they need them; it is not just a hobby. As for me and my allotment, I am having to ask myself now “what is the point?”