Good 'N Plenty

Each year, our family suffers from an overabundance of garden vegetables. While I do preserve some of them, such as freezing zucchini bread and canning enough spaghetti sauce for the year, we still turn green from eating the same veggies again and again.

This year, I am drowning in a sea of cherry tomatoes, fairy tale eggplant, and banana peppers. In fact, my plants are producing so much that I stepped out of my comfort zone and made some calls to try to find them a home.

Turns out that the Bloomington Salvation Army takes excess garden produce and uses it to augment its soup kitchen offerings. There is actually a service called "Plant a Row" that enlists local gardeners to plant a row in their gardens expressly for this purpose.

So, goodbye garden surplus; hello humanitarianism! My neighbors will be relieved that I am not at their door trying to peddle fresh vegetables and I will sleep better at night knowing they didn't go to waste.