Is that some sort of community garden? Do you rent/lease the space or is it free to use?

It's a council allotment. We rent 125 sq. meters from the council for the outrageous price of £20 per yeah. Pretty sweet deal, especially since we live in a flat so lack any outdoor space of our own.

It's seriously taken over by knee-high grass and weeds, so we're just doing what we can and fixing it bit-by-bit.

So what stops vandals/thieves depriving you of your well-deserved crops? Security? Being in a good neighbourhood? Some unwritten memorandum of understanding that means the baddies leave crops alone? I'm so intrigued. Would be great to have these here in Australia.

There is a large fence with big ol' padlock to keep those youths off my land. Although that doesn't always stop them - some kids broke in a few months ago apparently and torched some guy's shed. Grrrr... They touch my spuds and there'll be trouble!