The meeting room was reasonably full—about twenty residents. Gary was there in the back row with the particular posture of a man who has convinced himself he is the wronged party and is ready to present his case.
Ted Blalock opened the meeting and moved through routine business. Then he said, “We have a resident matter to address. A complaint was filed by Gary Hutchins regarding garden plantings at 6 Sycamore Court.”
Gary straightened up.
Ted said, “Gary, you want to summarize your concern?”
Gary stood. He said—and I want to relay this as accurately as possible—that he had been walking near the fence line in his yard and had noticed what appeared to be cherry tomatoes growing near the fence and that he had picked a few believing them to be accessible from the boundary area. He said that eating these fruits had caused a severe reaction and that he believed I was growing something dangerous.
He sat down.
Ted said, “Ellen, your response.”
I stood.
I said, “I appreciate the opportunity to respond. I want to address three things. First, the plants. Carolina Reaper peppers are a legitimate pepper variety certified by Guinness as the world’s hottest and are widely available for home cultivation. They are not toxic. They are not dangerous. They are, however, significantly spicier than most people expect, particularly if eaten without knowing what they are.
“Second, the plants’ location. My garden is entirely within my property line, which I can demonstrate with a property survey. Nothing I grow is in a common area or on the boundary. My plants are mine, on my property. End of story.
“Third, how Gary came to eat my peppers.”
I reached into my bag and plugged a USB drive into the laptop Ted had set up on the table. I brought up the trail camera footage.
I showed them Gary at 11:20 p.m. on a step ladder reaching over my six-foot privacy fence harvesting peaches from my tree with a grocery bag. Time-stamped. Clear as a photograph.
I showed them Gary on August 9th at 9:19 p.m. on the same step ladder reaching over the same fence selecting fruits from my raised bed.
The room was very quiet.
I said, “I have been growing a kitchen garden in my backyard for six years. Over those six years I have lost strawberries, tomatoes, an apple harvest, and forty-seven peaches to what I can now demonstrate on camera is my neighbor Gary climbing a step ladder and reaching over my fence to help himself to my plants.
“I did not invite Gary into my garden. I did not give him permission to take my produce. He accessed my private property without authorization repeatedly over multiple years. When he did it most recently, he collected what he believed to be cherry tomatoes, which were in fact Carolina Reaper peppers that I was growing in that bed. His discomfort was the direct result of his own unauthorized access to my property.”
I paused.
I said, “I have also shared this footage with the county sheriff’s non-emergency line, as repeated theft from a residential garden is a civil and potentially criminal matter.”
I sat down.
Frances, next to me, straightened up with the particular satisfaction of a woman who has been waiting three weeks for this moment.
The room was very, very quiet.