thoughts about the future...

Apologies if posting has been rather light lately.  I wish I could say it was because I'm spending so much time working out in the garden that I don't have the time to write.  Unfortunately I've been nursing a nagging shoulder injury which leaves me unable to work in the garden at all (or one handed).  I won't bother you with the details, but basically my left hand is barely working as a result of something with the nerves in my shoulder and my neck.  It's getting frustrating to say the least, but I'm being very vigilant about the exercises prescribed by my physical therapist so I can get out there soon (hopefully)!  I guess all those years of lifting shrubs, bags of compost and other things that are way too heavy may not have been the best idea to tackle all on my own. I'd love to say that I will learn from this mistake, but you and I both know that's not true - I'm way too stubborn.

The time off, so to speak, has given me a lot of time to think about whether or not to continue with this blog and if so where it's going.  In the beginning, I had two goals in mind.  One, to keep track of what was going on year to year in my garden - like a gardening journal, but virtual. Two, was to satisfy my own curiosity. Several people told me I should consider writing a book after having "coaching"sessions with me where I taught them how to take care of their gardens.  I doubted that I had the skills to actually do that, plus with the home gardening movement on the verge of explosion, the rate of gardening books being published was unusually high.  Did I actually have anything different to contribute to the conversation? I mean somebody already wrote Organic Gardening for Dummies, which is probably a very good book (don't know haven't read it).  I'm still not convinced that I have what it takes to make this happen.

In return, I learned several very important lessons on the way to building a blog with a small but very steady readership.  Most importantly, I realized that teaching people how to take care of their gardens still remains my favorite thing to do in the garden.  I need to be more active in creating situations where that happens.  In addition, it's great fodder for blog topics.  The secondary benefit has been meeting all kinds of cool people - and there is nothing like the feeling of someone you don't know coming up to you and saying, "I love your blog, I read it all the time," it's ridiculously gratifying.   I've also learned that I'm a terrible salesperson (okay this wasn't exactly a revelation) and don't do enough to spread the word around about my blog.  While I have no shortage of things to say, as those who know me in person can attest, I'm really bad about sharing this experience with others.  Hence the lack of a facebook page which every successful blogger has told me is a must.  I just can't do it.

So the journey is continuing for the time being... we'll see where it takes me.