More Blogs than I Know What to Do With

It’s been just over a year since I joined with Amy Stewart and Michele Owens to launch GardenRant, a venture I’ve called the most fun I’ve ever had with my clothes on.  Elizabeth Licata joined us in January and it’s  definitely been a case of the more the merrier.  We try to cover the larger issues involved in gardening, like global warming and pesticide use, plus the gardening media and anything fun that remotely relates to the topic.  And I do mean remotely, though in our own way we do stay on topic.

So how does a team blog relate to the individual blogs of the team members?  Good question, one we’re all wondering about.  What to post where, when to cross-post – oy, the questions!

So here’s how it’s shaken out.  The posts with the broadest appeal I’ve published on the Rant, all basically on topic, and here at Takoma Gardener I’ve commented on my favorite plants from time to time, reported on my gardening projects, and gone off-topic at will, especially during the dead of winter.  So, I end up putting my best stuff on the Rant and poor ‘ole Takoma Gardener gets whatever pops into my mind once or twice a week.  (Bad blogger!!)  And how are my friends and family supposed to follow my writing when so much of it is mixed in with three other Ranters and lots of guests?  Coz you know how it is with non-blog-readers – ya gotta make it easy for them or it just won’t happen.

Finally, my point.  I’ve created a new feature in the right sidebar - "My GardenRant Articles." There you’ll find links and brief descriptions of almost all of my articles on the Rant, plus links to articles by guest writers I’ve solicited and sometimes edited.  Sometimes heavily edited, between you and me, though thankfully sometimes not at all.

Anyhoo, for my personal support team, there it is – no more searching!  And for editors looking for an urban or ecogardening columnist or editor, take a look.

Now you’d think that having a personal blog and working on a team blog would be enough, but you’d be thinking wrong.  A year ago I started a blog for the DC Master Gardeners that’s now morphed into DC Urban Gardener News, and I’m happy to report that it’s now a team blog, too!  Seriously, yaaaay!  Not only does DC Urban Gardener president (and former Washington Post writer) Ed Bruske contribute frequently, but  we even have guests, lots of them, and the blog may be on its way to serving a real community service – the voice of green activism.  And just as importantly, it’s waaay more fun as a team project.

And then there’s Wild Wild Takoma, the "official blog" of Takoma Park’s community wildlife habitat drive, and the news there isn’t so bright – not another soul has contributed to it.  The drive to become certified as wildlife habitat community is a joint project of all sorts of groups, but apparently there’s not a blogger in the bunch.  Well, the blog still earns us points toward certification, and because we’re using the free services of Blogger, what the hell.  And as soon as the National Wildlife Federation awards us community certification – the first in the state, mind you – that blog is history.

That’s it for blogs; now what about my websites? Well, there’s DC Urban Gardeners, The Gardening Coach, and a new gardening information site I’m launching, finally, this month.  No link yet, but soon – maybe next week.  (Do they always take longer than we think they will?)

Photos:  Top, one of the best front-yard gardens in my neighborhood.  Bottom, proof that gardeners love July 4th parades is this gathering of gardening buddies at Takoma’s parade this morning.  (And I must say, a fabulous one, with steel bands, lots of kids, our share of politicians, even political theater.  Gotta love it.)  On the left is Judy Tiger, premier gardening organizer in Washington, D.C.  In the center are Ed Bruske and his daughter Leila, whose idea it was to find a parade to watch.  Smart girl.  On the right is Kathy Jentz, editor/publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine.  Across the street from us was Mike Welsh, Takoma Park’s City Gardener and a Maryland Master Gardener.