12 of 99

by Cat Tackling

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I THINK I PLANTED TOO MANY!

February of this past year I started to get a tad bit antsy about starting my garden. I just wanted winter to be over and summer to begin! All winter I planned this vegetable garden in the depths of my mind. This would be the year that I would have the garden all the neighbors would covet.

I spent weeks gathering what I needed, the seeds, the soil, labels, and hung the shop lights over the table that would house my seedlings that would one day become beautiful and abundant plants. I joined quite a few websites where I could excitedly chat with other gardeners about the hobby that bonded us all.

Tomatoes and peppers were going to be what my green thumb concentrated on this year. I absolutely would not purchase another waxy, tasteless, and bitter tomato from the grocery store. If I had to wait a few months to pick one from my garden, than I would.

One cold and icy February afternoon I descended into my basement bounding down the stairs with excitement. This was the afternoon that would witness the birth of my beautiful veggie garden. I pulled out all my supplies and lined them up in assembly line fashion. It did not take long to plant the tomato and pepper seeds. I planted 4 varieties of tomatoes, beefsteak, plum, cherry, and grape and 3 varieties of peppers, jalapeno, salsa delight and bell. I carefully placed the trays that held all the plastic cups that held the seeds under the lights and draped a thick piece of plastic over the plants. My mini greenhouse! I danced back up the stairs to log my adventures in gardening that afternoon into my gardening diary.

Quite a few weeks went bye and I was thrilled when I peered at my plants to find that each and every plastic cup had these little tiny green plants popping up. Another couple of weeks went bye and I was taken aback to see that each cup had many little tiny green plants maturing. Finally, the day came, when I realized I had quite a few too many plants on my hands. I lifted the plastic to see that each and every cup had about 5 plants growing from it. Oh my, that meant I had about 300 plants of tomatoes and 300 plants of peppers. I thought I had done everything correctly. But their was one thing I did not do. I did not ask someone who actually knew what they were doing how many seeds I should deposit into each cup. And apparently my common sense escaped me that day.

It took a month to separate all of those plants into their very own plastic cup. And that was the least of my worries. What was I going to do with 600 plants? The easy answer would be to deposit them in the nearest dumpster. I could not do that. Every time I thought of disposing of the plants, I felt my grandmother and my mother, both very wonderful gardeners, looking down on me from above and shaking their heads in disappointment and shame. I then decided to turn my challenge into a mission and make it work.

For the next two months I took to advertising my plants and let everyone know, both friends and strangers, that I was giving tomato and pepper plants away when mature. What could have turned into my having to till my entire backyard and care for 600 plants turned into a harvest that benefited many people. Out of that one mistake came many blessings. Plants were provided to seven area families in need, some were donated to a community garden, some were given to neighbors and some were given to family. I receive calls everyday of a new recipe a family member has created using the peppers or a call from a neighbor jokingly putting in her "tomato plant order" for next year.

Yes, many of the plants, hundreds of them, were planted in the garden that sits behind my house. I have lovingly taken care of them all summer long. Don't you just love that feeling that you get when you look out at what you nurtured from seed? Peering over the top of my laptop while I am typing this I can see the mounds of tomatoes on my kitchen counter waiting to be milled and simmered into a thick rich sauce and some are waiting to be taken to the soup kitchen downtown. The jalapenos I harvested earlier today are waiting to be cleaned, stuffed with cheddar cheese, wrapped with bacon and grilled. A nice treat for my hubby while he is watching the baseball game. On a drying rack sits some of my peppers morphing into a bright red. These peppers will be constructed into wreaths and given as Christmas gifts.

What did my garden teach me the hard way? That a careless mistake can bring forth a beautiful and bountiful harvest, not just for one family, but for many. And next year, even if on purpose, I know I will be making that careless mistake again.

Learn more about this author, Cat Tackling.

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