Ok, we're 6 days away, but don't tell that to the plants. Here in Zone 8a, the daffodils have begun to bloom, the tree buds are opening and would you believe that after 3 years, I have trees with flower blossoms! I'm SO EXCITED!
The whole Fall/Winter season for me has been bittersweet. Stuff happening in the United States right now is pretty crappy. Gardening is normally a time to be happy and take pleasure in the magic that growing brings. But I was distracted and wanted lots of comfort from my cats and Netflix and other YouTube videos. So the garden was left to do its own thing.
Then I took a moment to give myself grace. I work a full time job, make my own raw cat food (more on that later), and was getting ready for the biggest vacation we have all year - a Star Trek Cruise. It's a time to get away and have a blast and reconnect with friends I don't get to see due to distance or missed schedules. So if I wasn't able to get to the garden, why not use this as a way to see how sustaining the garden is so far. I'm trying for permaculture after all.
Well, coming back into the garden was a wonderful experience. When you watch the video, you'll see and hear my surprise as some of my fruit trees actually opened with some blossoms! This is my first year of having those. So now, will I get fruit? The curiosity has returned and I will do my best to learn when to feed the trees - when to prune them. Though I kind of missed the window hahahaha
Ah yes, pruning... So, in order to get more growth, you prune in the Spring. Then all the root collected energy will burst forth with new growth. If you want height leave the plants, but if you want the trunks to get larger, and current branches to get thicket, snip the branches carefully and thoughtfully. I'll be going back to my "Grow a Little Fruit Tree" book to find out exactly where to prune and go with my gut on what feels right. Gotta make space for air and light to hit each branch and leaf. So I'm excited to film that and take you along for the ride.
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I also have two major goals for this year.
1. Propagation
2. Trellising
Propagation
This is something I've attempted to do and then it kinda fell by the wayside. No, not kinda. I neglected the follow through. I used a plastic root ball container on my Granny Smith Apple tree and on one of my Pear trees. That was back in August? (checks her videos) OH MAN! It was back in April, 2024. So I'm WAY overdue. Who knows if those roots grew and died or are still in the container all smooshed up. I want to focus more on pruning as a way to propagation and having more plants for myself or plants to sell. Lots of options there.
Trellising
One of the first things I went to look for were antique ironworks so I could add interesting trellises to my garden. It turned out to be SUPER expensive and it wasn't like a run to GoodWill. So I opted for things found on Wayfair, Amazon and other places that seemed more around my budget. Like so many other things, these objects just sat in my yard until I could get to them.
I was able to get a greenhouse for about $120 that was 12ft long x6ft wide. It would have made a fantastic outdoor space and worked well to acclimate (harden-off) my seedlings to the brighter-than-the-grow-lights sun. But since I wasn't going to level any land to be able to have a table, shelves and a seat in there, it just made for a nice place for the Joro Spiders to make their webs and grow incredibly large since the birds couldn't get them.
That greenhouse's plastic cover has since been removed and I swore I'd use the frame for trellising. I purchased hardware "cloth" which just means some type of mesh that has spacing about 2in x 2in. If I attach that to the frame of the greenhouse, I can let my grapes, loofah/luffa, and other vining plants clime to their hearts content. Now I just have to get to attaching the hardware.
Then there are the obelisks and arches I purchased. All probably rustable metal that fits together with minimal hardware, just some tabs that let the tubes slip into place. That works for an inexpensive frame but probably won't last long. I just wanted something stout that I could raise up to let the roses climb around. We'll see if I end up putting those together this year. I really want to.
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Ok, about the raw cat food. Cats are obligate carnivores. In the wild, they get plant nutrients and carbs from the animals they eat. The domesticated kitties are supposed to get that from their commercial diets, but some companies do it better than others. I wanted to try to make my own cat food. So I checked YouTube university, saw what others were doing and determined to save up to get a really great meat grinder that could handle bones. I'd get a recipe from a woman that was working on cat food since the 80's or 90's (Feline Nutrition https://hare-today.com/feline-nutrition).
Years later, I moved from NYC to Georgia and finally got the time, resources and will to go ahead with it. I ended up getting an attachment for my Kitchen-Aid mixer. They have a metal version that can handle raw meat and I was determined to go through the procedure. The instructions were long and thorough and it took me about 4 hours to complete my first 3 batches. I ended up transitioning some of my kitties over because the other had chicken allergies. The kitties ended up loving the new food, had beautifully soft and shiny fur coats and had more energy than ever. The best part, after a year or so of practice, I was able to go through making food in about 1 hour with some prep time when new supplies were purchased. That was a proud moment, my kitties were really happy and I felt so good about giving them a raw diet that kept them healthy. Vet visits were smooth - blood and other tests were always normal. Everything was working out well.
The news reported in Feb of 2025 that several felines in Oregon became ill from HPAI/H5N1 (avian influenza). Turns out they were all eating a certain brand of commercial, RAW pet food. Now if a company has a threat of packaging contaminated food like this, what guarantee did I have to keep my kitties safe with raw meat? So, I've gone back to feeding them with wet canned food and dry kibble. I may consider homemade cooked food, but they were so much happier on the raw.
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Ok, now I run the risk of repeating myself. So this weekend, I'll begin some of the indoor seed sowing and will finally sit down and give the recap of all I learned gardening in 2024. There are so many updates I'm looking forward to and looking back at what's been accomplished so far gives me hope for what's ahead.