Honesty

[thistlebloom]

Journey is all that! but I don't really know what you were getting at Steve....

I think in rural areas there is no problem at all with taking a cutting, or seeds etc. from the roadside. There would be no huckleberry eating, or sales, at all in this area if people weren't free to enjoy what the natural landscape offered.

Journey, isn't it refreshing to witness your kids unsullied sense of right and wrong? Avas response made me chuckle, been there done that.
In fact kid#2 has such a strong code of ethics that one day when we were on a job he brought me up short as I was preparing to empty a partially filled bag of debris on the customers ( huge) yard waste pile. The bag was a little bit of stuff from a small job we had done earlier before arriving at the second place with the big pile. "It's not their stuff mom..." I slunk back to the truck and put the bag back in.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That may be the best possible response to this question. How would you explain this to your kid!!!

 

[digitS']

Thistle',

If you'd check that honesty index linked in my earlier post . . . you will see that blonde women are more honest than guys with mustaches and glasses (me).

In fact, blonde women in Indiana & Illinois paid for their bottles of tea at a rate of 100%. I mean, you can't get any better than that! I think we can trust Journey's judgement based on the research at hand.

Steve

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Wow! That honesty index says that I come in somewhere in between 91 - 95%! That honesty index doesn't sound very honest itself.

 

[so lucky]

I had an aunt who was very dishonest. She was always cheating on her government benefits, stuffing her big purse at all-you-can-eat buffets, and sticking merchandise in her wheelchair storage compartment. I don't know why no one caught her. I even tried to turn her in once, when she was doing something so very blatant and wrong, but the government didn't have time to investigate her.
Perhaps as a result, I am scrupulously honest. To my own detriment, I am sure. But I wouldn't consider it a crime to take seeds or berries from a public area. Maybe my scruples are subjective. Digging up plants would be borderline, at best. Maybe in my younger days, but not now.

 

[thistlebloom]

Thistle',

If you'd check that honesty index linked in my earlier post . . . you will see that blonde women are more honest than guys with mustaches and glasses (me).

In fact, blonde women in Indiana & Illinois paid for their bottles of tea at a rate of 100%. I mean, you can't get any better than that! I think we can trust Journey's judgement based on the research at hand.

Steve

That's what happens when I operate on partial information....I'll go check your link out.

feeling a bit thick and fuzzy today...

 

[Nyboy]

Funny how founder's bike was stolen during experiment.

 

[Smithyard Farm]

I have been known to cut berries that are on the side of the road (rural area, no houses close by...) and we always see people picking blueberries along the roadside as well. No one seems to bother them.


Has anyone seen the crazy rhubarb lady video on you tube? its hilarious. Don't watch if foul language offends you... (its loaded with f-bombs!) google it!

 

[Smart Red]

I have picked broken plant sections from a store -- never tried breaking one off myself. I have snipped pieces or seeds that were hanging over a fence onto public walkways. Going into someone's yard without permission and taking plants? That would never happen. Wild flowers are illegal to pick or move. Not gonna happen either, although I did try to gather a few lady slipper seeds - I only took two.

I have also had my black-caps (raspberries) wiped out one afternoon by someone driving by and stopping to help themselves. Yes, they were near the road -- bird planted between a hedge row and the road. I had been waiting for them to ripen. That day came. I got home from school, got my buckets, and walked out to find all the berries gone or stomped to the ground that day. That hurt! I had wanted them for pies and desserts through the year.

 

[journey11]

I thought physiognomy was proven to be unscientific! How funny their results fell along the lines of hair color and such. What if you dye your hair? Can you improve upon your character?

Good to know that the majority of folks are generally pretty honest though. What an interesting experiment.

I just need to get up the nerve to ask the receptionist at the dentist if she knows anything about those plants. It's a gravel lot with just a few scattered clumps of discarded plants. I have a feeling it will be alright, but I wouldn't touch them until I ask... I figure she'll think I'm crazy. Ha. (Talks to plants...curses at bugs...what is wrong with this woman?)

It varies state to state on whether you can pick, dig or move plant life. For example, in WV ginseng can be dug only in season, on private property with permission, not in state forests at all, but you can get permits to dig it in national forest land. Bluebells in TX...don't touch 'em. State and national forests don't allow vegetation to be tampered with, with an exception made for mushroom hunting...you can freely take mushrooms, in WV and VA I know at least. Seeking permission if you can is always going to be the right thing to do on business or private land. Roadway, gas line, high line, coal mine and timbering rightaways...usually not a problem. If it's edible, might need to worry how much herbicide they may have sprayed on it though. Then you've got invasives...they don't want those moved around. Certain types of firewood you can't take over state or county lines because of infestations of invasive, destructive insects like Ash Borer. Just depends on the situation. I'd never pick berries nearby to anyone's dwelling or near obviously inhabited property either.