What should’ve been a wholesome moment of connecting with nature turned into betrayal after a Mississippi resident invited her neighbor to share in the bounty of her blueberry bush, only to find it completely empty a week later.
“Someone came onto the property without supervision and proceeded to destroy the blueberry harvest,” user u/x_xDeathbyBunnyx_x said, shocked after finding that more than a “hundred berries” had been sacked without her permission on June 16th, 2024, leaving nothing but leaves and empty branches.
The account of her experience on Reddit went viral, with over 12,000 upvotes and close to 900 comments in just days, many of which sympathized with the user and shared similar experiences of dealing with neighbors who took advantage of the hospitality of others.
A woman’s post on Reddit went viral after she shared that her neighbor stole “more than a hundred” berries from her property after she invited them to pick some together
“So that was the first time I met my neighbor,” the woman wrote. “I was checking the mail and they were walking by and asked if I had been picking blueberries the day before. I said yes, they said they loved blueberries, so I politely said ‘oh we should get together and pick some one day.’”
Her neighbor apparently took the invitation as a free pass to wipe the blueberry bush clean of every fruit. According to the Mississippi resident, the person not only took the ripened fruit but also those that were still green and even some leaves.
“I could tell that hundreds of berries on each limb were gone,” she told Newsweek. “It was pretty devastating because I always go out to pick berries any chance I get, not just because I love them but because it’s a peaceful time to reconnect with nature.”
“I was sad that they were all gone, for me and also the birds and squirrels who snack on them,” the woman wrote, sharing her disappointment on the online forum
Users sympathized with her plight and shared their own accounts of times when neighbors had destroyed their plants
“My neighbor did this one time with my lemon bush. She asked to pick some for a recipe and cleaned the whole bush out,” added one Redditor.
“My parents had neighbors that requested to pick some cherries,” shared another. “My dad went out and kicked them off when he noticed they were cutting six-foot long branches from the tree to have an easier time picking them on the ground.”
One netizen in particular found themselves in the exact same situation and came up with an ingenious solution.
“We just purchased a home that has eight to twelve blueberry bushes in a portion of the side yard. We’ve had so many neighbors ask if they could come pick them. We replied with ‘We’ll do the hard work for you! We will pick the blueberries and come drop off a bag for you when we can’ literally because we were concerned about something like this happening.”
The woman responded to this particular comment, confessing that she suffers from social anxiety and that she “just kind of panicked when a stranger spoke to [her] and fell back on [her] people-pleasing politeness.” Ultimately recognizing that taking a more assertive approach would have avoided the bush getting sacked.
She has since confirmed that she put up a sign and is looking forward to clearing things up with her neighbor face-to-face
“I will definitely not allow this to continue. I’ve put up a sign and am keeping an eye out to speak to them face to face and let them know they aren’t allowed back on the property.” She wrote, warning that if none of the above measures work, she will report her neighbor to the police for trespassing.
The berry-picking neighbor should heed the woman’s warning, for in Mississippi, someone found guilty of maliciously entering someone’s property without permission can end up being fined $500 or even face imprisonment for up to six months in the county jail.
As for the blueberry plant, it will recover, but as far as this season is concerned, the harvest is “ruined,” as she told her readers.
Her frustration is understandable, as blueberries require a lot of patience and attention in order to grow and bear fruit. According to the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society, one plant can take up to two years to begin producing actual berries, reaching their full production potential after around seven years. Constant pruning is also necessary to ensure only fruit-bearing branches grow on each bush.
The infuriating experience left her with nothing but an empty bush and a harsh lesson to learn, but her readers offered encouraging words and support
