It got to the point that every time I dragged one of my unwilling children to a nursery they would announce to the entire store that if I bought one more tree, we would end up homeless. I ignored their cries of “I don’t want to live under an overpass!” and barrelled on. My neighbors hold out hope that someday I will be passing out the literal fruits of my labor, but that hope is dwindling more and more each year. All is not lost though.

The best way to learn is through making mistakes and I think I have made all of them by now. I will likely never end up feeding my human neighbors, but I am currently supporting a groundhog named Phil, a family of bunnies that does not seem to be even remotely scared of me, an army of squirrels, and enough birds to keep my cats busy when they patrol the sunroom each day. Last fall we even had two (tiny, funny-looking) honeycrisp apples that I am proud to say I grew.