My Podcast and Other Unforeseen Benefits of Garden Blogging
Saturday, March 28, 2015 at 1:10PM 
If you have ever wondered what I look like, that's me on the right, with Dave Ledoux. A while back he interviewed me for his Back to My Garden show, and my podcast came out this week! This was an honor, and I had a lot of fun talking about my experiences in gardening. Now, if you want to hear my Southern accent just click here. It takes about thirty minutes, but I promise, the time goes by quickly!
This podcast was just one of many benefits that have come to me through my blog. No, I haven't earned a penny from it, and that was never my intention. I started blogging about five and a half years ago, and at the time I had not the foggiest idea what I was doing. I had zero concept of the amount of work and time involved. I was barely computer literate.
What was my intention? I wanted to write about gardening and to share my garden with others, and I wanted to improve my photography skills. One of my sons encouraged me to begin a blog, and with a little help on his part, I began.
So what has come of it?
I have made so many new friends from around the world! True, I have never seen many of them, but we share a common love of gardening. Others I have met in person, and I have visited their gardens and/or they have visited mine. Eddie Aldridge, who founded the beautiful Aldridge Gardens in Hoover, Alabama, not far from where I live, discovered my blog one day and called me up. (Actually it was his wife Kay who came across my blog and encouraged him to read it.) We visited and got to know each other, and then Eddie nominated me to be on the Board of Directors at Aldridge Gardens.
I have been asked to speak about various gardening topics in the community and to help educate the public about good gardening practices. Individuals and garden groups sometimes come to tour my garden, and I have been able to share my garden stories with them. Poor souls! I like to tell my yarns; almost everything in my garden has a story!
Truly, one of the best benefits of blogging is that my garden has become a better garden. I have learned so much from the community of gardeners. I have become an organic gardener because of what I learned from other garden bloggers. I have become much more knowledgeable about the interconnections of wildlife, plants and soil.
Tiger swallowtail butterfly
The British architect Russell Page once said, "Green fingers are the extension of a verdant heart." I have come to realize that gardeners are some of the best people in the world. The world needs more gardeners! Most of them are nurturing, giving, creative types. They tend to be enthusiastic and ever optimistic. However, I am not sure if they garden because they are that way, or if they become that way because they garden.
Dogwood trees, Cornus florida, are beginning to open their blooms!If you have a blog, I encourage you to consistently put out the best content you can. It may take a few years, but I promise something good will come of it! As my particular part of the world is enveloped in spring, I listen to the birds and keep on gardening. Happy blogging!