The Geeky Gardener has turned one. Well, the blog’s anniversary was more than a month ago. Sorry.
I feel like the busy parent who knew she had to organise a birthday party but never quite got round to sending out the invitations. But I’ve done it now, OK.
From the first post back in June 2013 Tap, tap, tap … is this thing on?, The Geeky Gardener has come a long way. There’s been news of a blogging award, writing about gardening science for the Australian Broadcasting Coorporation (ABC) and the National Library of Australia’s decision to archive the blog for scholars to study.
None of this would have been possible without you, and there have been quite a lot of you.
In the past year, you viewed more than 14,500 pages, with Do gardenias need Epsom salts? the most read story. Next was Grow, you f*cking plant, grow, which shows that the myth of gentle gardeners in harmony with the plant word is all a myth.
If these stats are anything to go by, we’re a bunch of chemical wielding, foul mouthed creatures who want their plants to grow, damn it.
Who read The Geeky Gardener this year? Most likely, you’re from Australia or the US. Although there’s a slight chance that you read this from Rwanda, Jordan or the Turks and Caicos Islands.
You cared enough to leave 81 comments and 152 of you followed the blog.
Google most likely sent you here, although the ABC and Twitter pointed a good share of you in this direction.
Freedom to write, be engrossed
What have I enjoyed most about this past 12 months? Engaging with people around the world with similar quirky tastes, the freedom to write about what pops into my head, the way that time flies by when you’re engrossed in something.
What have I enjoyed least? The guilt when I don’t post as often as I’d like, or run out of things to say/share, or put a story idea aside but don’t use it because life gets in the way.
Aha, life vs blog. There can’t be a blogger out there who hasn’t dealt with that conundrum. For me, though, life has ended up in the blog and the blog has become part of my other life as a parent, chief cook and bottle washer and journalism lecturer. In fact, in a few months, I’m giving a guest lecture on blogging based on my experiences this past year. It feels like cheating.
Reading, reading
Part of the fun has also been about discovering your blogs. I’ve followed blogs on topics as far away from gardening and science as you could imagine. My daily reading list grows longer by the day. Some days, I’m drowning in reading. But I always make time for it, even if those ideas percolate for a while and don’t pop out into my writing for months.
I’ve no idea what the next year will bring, how often I’ll update the blog or how long I’ll spend in the garden.
But a wonderful thing happened last week, which I hope will be a sign of what’s to come. A reader, a Lego geek with a gardening wife, contacted me with a great story idea, complete with quirky angle and strong images. More news of this story soon.
It seems like The Geeky Gardener has taken on a life of its own, reaching out to others who want to share this space.
Let’s see what happens by its second birthday.
