What food do you leave for your Sitters?

Owners
#1

We have noticed a big difference between Sitters in what provisions they bring with them and what they use from the home whilst sitting.

We are fortunate in that we grow a lot of fruit and veg and raise our own animals for lamb, pork, sausages, ham, chicken etc. If fruit & veg ripen whilst we are away we are only too pleased that Sitters enjoy it; likewise the eggs. We always tell Sitters to help themselves but we did feel once that we had been taken for a ride when they must have lived a purely carnivorous diet! I feel it would be rather pernickety to ask them not too eat too much meat or for us to lock the freezers. The freezers also contain essential goods like milk, bread etc as there are not convenient shops.

What do other HOs do?

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#2

Well, if our freezer is full, i manage to put away our stuff and leave for them an empty drawer, like that sitters may store some freezed shopping
I leave in the fridge butter, milk, eggs for their breakfast. I throw away the stuff which could rot
We have fig and cherry trees, they may pick up fruit of course when it’s the season

I must confess i hide champaign and wines. As all bottes (if they would like to replace them), are not alike…

As a sitter i never use the owner’s goods, unless they have told me to empty their fridge. I dare use salt and sugar of course. I would take rice, noodles or something “usual” but would replace it (with the same brand and label if possible)

We behave as sitters the same way we do when we exchange homes.

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#3

As a sitter, I am appalled that your sitters took so much advantage of your generosity. We always take our own initial supplies (usually emptying our own fridge) but wouldn’t dream of using anything the owners have left unless specifically invited and then only in moderation. If we have used up milk, etc., we always leave a replacement so owners don’t come back to an empty fridge. It’s a grey area, for sure, but common sense tells you sitters should not expect to be fed as well as enjoying free accommodation!

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#4

You are so right Doggy. We only use owners food and drink if they specifically offer it.

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#5

Hi Margaret,

As a HO, we always leave the essentials (bread, milk, juice, etc)
but we’ve usually found that many sitters like to do their own shop as part of their settling in. We’re fortunate in that we’re only five minutes from a big supermarket, so that does make it easier, of course. We always tell sitters to help themselves to anything we’re leaving behind, such as fruit, etc that would otherwise just be wasted. No-one’s ever raided the wine rack … yet!! Although they’d be welcome if they did :smile:

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#6

We would absolutely feed ourselves and not use anything that wasn’t specifically mentioned as being for us.

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#7

As a full-time sitter travelling to distant or international locations without a car it can be challenging to arrive at a new house-sit to find the fridge empty of even the most basic of milk and butter. I’ve found that home-owners tend to fall into two main categories with at one extreme the empty fridge scenario and at the other a full fridge and a pre-prepared meal for the first night having previously checked to see what I eat. (Not difficult by the way as I eat everything!) As I usually only take sits of at least 4 weeks it can be challenging to continue to eat well in homes that don’t have the basic ingredients available as I can’t be forever buying the basics most of which I will have to leave behind. I wouldn’t dream of using any food unless offered and certainly would not raid the wine cellar. I am grateful to those home owners who leave enough so I don’t have to make my first activity a supermarket visit before I’ve even had the chance to settle in and spend time with the animals.

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#8

Our last lovely owners took us out for dinner the first night :yum:

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