I'm an honest person, so it feels like your soul is broken when someone steals from you.”

Nicole Wordell

Nicole Wordell used to look forward to this time of year.

By the beginning of July, the long hours and work spent growing and selling fresh herbs out of her Adamsville driveway would start to pay off and she would be closer to breaking even or turning a profit on the season, $5 per plant at a time.

Rosemary, Thai basil, tarragon, lavender, sage, oregano and sunflowers, to name a few — "I do it because I love to do it and I like to share with my community," she said Friday. "You see the same people every year; New York, Padanaram, Westport, the locals in Little Compton. Everyone says I have the most beautiful plants."

But 2024 could be Wordell's last year selling herbs, if she doesn't recover from the loss of approximately 300 plants stolen from the Main Street stand she runs on the honor system.

Those plants, which she said were taken in at least three separate incidents, represent $1,500 in income Wordell counts on to pay creditors and cover her costs. That amount of loss will wipe out her chances of breaking even this year, and it's not recouped, she doesn't see how she can afford to continue next year without being certain this won't happen again.

"I'm an honest person, so it feels like your soul is broken when someone steals from you."

Apparently, Wordell is not alone.

The honor system that has served small towns like Little Compton well for generations is breaking down, Wordell believes. She spoke to a chicken farmer on Old Harbor Road who closed his tiny roadside egg operation after being cleaned out again and again, a local florist who has suffered losses selling flowers off the side of the road, and other similar stories from across the area.

"This is exactly why there's no farm stands left," Wordell said.

The most recent theft from Wordell's stand came a week ago Tuesday, when she returned home to find half of her cart wiped out, with no money in the cash box.

By then, she had already started looking for who might be responsible. Reasoning that anyone who steals hundreds of herbs isn't taking them for personal use, she has spent weeks scouring Sakonnet and Westport-area flea markets and farmers' markets for clues and familiar plants, keeping her eyes open everywhere she goes. So far her search has come up empty, though she believes the thief could be a middle-aged woman who drives a car with Massachusetts plates.

Last week she contacted the Little Compton Police Department. Officers came out to talk to her, inspect her operation and offer advice, and said they'd be watching.

Still, Wordell feels vulnerable and betrayed. She has changed the sign that faces drivers going by her home:

"Thank you to all my honest customers."