For me, it would depend on how much fruit was on the tree. If there was enough to share, I'd just let it go.

I would of let her know that I seen her pick the fruit. Yea, I would be on the fence myself about reporting her to Amazon. I wouldn't want anyone to lose their job over some fruit she had no business taking. But I also wonder what else she is taking at other peoples houses. I not in favor or Amazon own drivers. I've heard to many horror stories about them.

I see nothing wrong w/you telling her fruit was not hers to take. Don’t give it another thought.

I would have confronted her too. Pick one i have no problem...they looked good enough to try one but pick a bunch its not nice and they are basically taking food from my plate.

I have a tangerine tree in my front yard and i rarely get to enjoy the lower fruits someone picks them so i am out there with my fruit picker on a stick trying to get some for my short self. I am never planting a fruit tree in the front yard.

I’d have done the same. Probably wouldn’t call Amazon, unless I’d lost a lot of other stuff recently. Limes might not be worth her job, but she should have known that. That’s not on you.

My cousin's boyfriend got fired from UPS for having something in his pocket he didn't have when shift started. He was driving his truck and found two nuts(like the kind that goes on a bolt) in the garbage and thought they were just the right size for a project he was working on at home so put the nuts in his pants pocket. At the end of shift they have everyone empty pockets and there were those two nuts...and they fired him.

I probably wouldnt but only because where I live literally everyone who has a citrus tree NEVER uses it, tons of fruit ends up just rotting on the ground so I'd assume they were thinking that's what I was doing. I always "steal" some myself from neighbors because as I said, no one eats their fruit here for some reason and it bothers me.

but I don't think it's wrong of you to confront. I'd probably say please ask next time if it was a potted plant (less fruit) but an in-ground citrus usually produces plenty. Also sometimes we just have off mornings and are more combative lol

I would have been so pi$$rd and confronted her to and would have told her the same thing. Don't give it another thought. You did right.

I wouldn't feel guilty if I were you. It's only common courtesy not to take anything without asking. My concern would be what else would she feel like she could help herself with??

It still amazes me that so many people think that a fruit tree in your front yard is "help yourself". I had a mango tree set pretty far off the street, near the house and the first year if fruited, someone took every single mango. I put up a small wooden fence -about 4' high -from the road to the front porch, just blocking access to the tree on the driveway side. I had shrubs between the street and tree. Stopped the stealing, but still had numerous people knocking on my door "asking" for mangoes. I put asking in quotation marks because in many cases, it felt more like a demand than a request. Reminds me of the story of the hen who made a loaf of bread. I think what you did is definitely ok.

I would have done the same thing, and felt bad afterwards too, but I grow fruit for myself and certainly can't provide free fruit for anyone who wants it. In my opinion it's no different than someone helping themselves to anything else not bolted down in your yard. What if people decided they wanted your flower pots, bird feeders, or trash cans? It's good you told her ... now she knows. Maybe next time you see her tell her you use every one that you grow otherwise you'd be glad to share and when you have extras you'll let her know. She must have thought they were tangerines and would have some for a free snack.

That comment about her imagining a lime was a tangerine reminds me of this prank my history teacher in high school pulled. He'd give us free satsumas before tests but one day.. on April fool's day.. they weren't satsumas but instead sour oranges

bet if she bit into a lime she wouldnt be stealing random fruit she doesn't know about again LOL

Rangpur limes are orange and look like tangerines ... From what I've seen.

No point to complain to Amazon ; they aren't amazon drivers. People in my neighborhood say people take their fruit all the time. I think 1 person asks then others hear it was ok. I'd be upset if I saw someone picking my Meyer Lemons cause I don't get a lot.

When we lived in Phx, AZ we had an orange tree in the front yard. People used to pick a fruit or 2 once in awhile without asking. Annoying but no big deal. Then people started coming by with trash bags they pulled out of their pocket and filled them up and ran down the street. My neighbor saw them and called the police lol. The cop found them a d asked me what I wanted to do: warn them or prosecute. Turned out it was an immigrant family..grandmother, mother, and kids all picking fruit. I said warn them and let them keep the fruit. I didnt see them any more after that. Can't hardly blame them though, either they were hungry or needed to sell them for income.

~Sjn

Awee that's very humane of you sultry_jasmine_nights. I personally don't plant any fruiting trees near any public road/street unless it's one I plan on letting get so tall that the fruit require a special fruit picker to reach. There are lots of people without common sense. And I assume everyone has no common sense until proven otherwise.

Kind of off the subject, but when I was a child everyone had something eatable growing in there yard. Apples, plums, cherries, grapes, berries, etc. Kids could roam free all over the neighborhood to play at that time. If we got hungry we would just grab something off of someone's bush or tree to eat. No problem, because their kids did the same thing . The adults never picked other people's fruit without asking though.

You did what was right. A simple knock at the door, and chances are you would have let her try one. Or at least informed her of what they really are.

I have all sorts of things planted in front/side and inevitably I get very little fruit from those within reach. But, to me the joy of sharing with someone that may otherwise not even know that edibles can be grown that way...totally worth it. FWIW if I see a teenager daring another to eat my fruit (and it happens a lot) I always smile. Those guavas are awful if they are not ripe yet. ;-)

Barbie~

Yeah I would never plant anything that close to the street. The orange tree was already there. There was also a huge stand of beautiful prickly pears that bore lots of fruit. Sometimes kids would go down the street with a stick and whack the prickly pears and fruits that kinda ticked me off. The best thing is to keep stuff back from the street and have a fence if possible.

I planted some prickly pear here but far from the street. The flowers were loaded down with bees and it has made so many fruits that half the plant fell over lol. My cup runneth over :)

Barbie, what kind of guava do you have? I bought a small tree last year. It just said Pink Guava. It made a few fruits but fell off cuz its still small.

~Sjn

Don't feel badly about confronting her. She was stealing.

I agree, she was a common thief. Here in S Fla people think that if it is accessible from the road it OK to take it. My old neighbor had 3 macadamia trees in his front yard, he never got to try one. Someone always picked his tree clean before he got a chance.

Because of Doc Tom's experience I will not plant a fruit or nut tree in the front year.

I think one of the problems is that people that don't grow fruit trees do not understand that ripe fruit on the tree is not going to go to waste, that the fruit can stay on the tree for months and not go bad...my tangerines usually start getting ripe a little before christmas and are fine on the tree til mid feb. maybe even the beginning of march if it stays coolish. But along comes someone unknowledgable they think, 'look at all that fruit going to go to waste' when it is merely January and start to pick fruit cause they assume since it is still on the tree you must not want it.

I do the same thing Pea! Having citrus for months is wonderful.

She's an adult who broke company rules by removing your private property without your permission. The proper thing would have been to knock on your door and ask for your permission to remove the fruit. You have no idea what she may have helped herself to at other properties. You should pat yourself on the back.

And she should be reported to her employer. Theft is a crime. If she loses her job so be it. She should know better. And like others have said what is she stealing at other properties.

Update: I had another package delivered from Amazon, yesterday. I was not home at the time. I found a small note attached to my package. The note contained an apology for taking fruit without my permission.

vmi, she had time to think about how she 'crossed the line' and may have been worried you would report her to her employer.

I have a USPS mail woman that has been doing some suspicious activity with our

mail. She has a routine with packages that she holds them back instead of delivering them, but marks them as delivered online, then when the online tracking says they've been delivered and you know they have not been delivered, I call

the postmaster and SUDDENLY the packages appear and I've had her call my phone to tell me the pkg. was in my box for 5-6 days. NOT. Can't tell you how many cards and letters have arrived, ripped open.

A few streets over from me, a mail person was caught stealing from her customers'

boxes and she's in jail now. So it is happening and sometimes they get prosecuted.

That was nice of her to leave a note of apology ... so much better than her getting defensive and being at odds with you. Maybe you'll get a chance to befriend her.

She might turn out to be a nice person to know. Sometimes bad things happen that turn out good outcomes.

SJN - I have several types, but to me the best, easiest and most fruitful are the strawberry guavas. Glossy beautiful leaves and the bark is stunning.

So what are the chances that she read this thread in the forum...

vml68, anything on your property is to be respected but most especially you. You watched and waited for your potted citrus to grow to use for a specific purpose. That delivery person took that pleasure from you. Shame on her and kudos to you for confronting her. Surely Amazon trains them to know better.

I see y'all saying you would report her to Amazon, but Amazon does not deliver their own packages. They either come from UPS, FedEx or USPS. They are going to start delivering their own packages, and delivery companies and USPS is having a fit because they will lose so much money.

I am in Western PA and they have their own drivers deliver package here. They have been doing it for awhile.

dirtygardener, it was not UPS, FedEx or USPS. I believe Amazon have their own drivers here. BTW, nice to see you back.

Carol, as far as this 'fruit picking' incident is concerned, I was upset when it happened but the lady has apologized. Case closed, time to move on. If I see her again and I have something worth sharing, I will do so as a peace offering.

Laser-ship (a co that amazon uses) seems to have problems. I read where one driver backed over a newly planted small lemon tree. Some drivers may have money problems. I've seen drivers in older run down with three kids in the back seat, all scrunched together.

Hard to tell but if you were planning on using the fruit for your syrup, I'd have asked her for the fruit back. If you had more on the tree, what you did was fine. Perhaps you should place a nice looking sign stating no picking.

In the end, it's up to each individual. Ruminating about it does your body no good. :)

vml68, what a kind person you are. Happy Easter.