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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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