Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Master Gardeners Learn About Garden Blogging


The week didn't start out very well - I gave Dad a bloody nose on Sunday, Romie accidentally chopped up 18 brand new tulip bulbs on Monday, and at midnight that night our refrigerator stopped working. Nothing that couldn't be remedied, but I was ready for the tide to turn! It did.

Last night, I traveled northeast to rural Defiance to speak to the Defiance County Master Gardeners. One of their members, Nancy DeTray, had asked me to speak at their October meeting, which was being held at her home. I'd never spoken to a group about gardening before, but since it's a subject I love, I agreed to do it.

Their property is in a woods, with some gentle rolling to the landscape (so foreign to me, though we live in the next county!). As I walked down to the fire pit, there was a group of about 25 people talking and laughing and enjoying hot dogs around the glow of the fire. I saw some familiar faces, since I'd met a few of them at the Lilac Festival earlier in the year.


After eating, they conducted their monthly meeting, where I learned that this group had quite a lot going on. In spite of the fire, it was getting pretty chilly, as frost was predicted, so when the meeting was over we took our chairs to their basement and I gave my presentation.

Nancy had said I could speak on any subject I wanted, so I'd decided to talk about garden blogging, since that's the reason she'd contacted me in the first place. Standing in front of a group of Master Gardeners when you've only been gardening seriously for about three years can be mighty intimidating, but they were a friendly sort and I quickly was put at ease.

Talking comes quite naturally for me (no snickers, now!) and before I knew it, I'd taken up about 45 minutes of their time. I explained what a blog was and I'd prepared a handout of the basic things seen on a blog. I told them of all the advantages of both reading and writing blogs and shared some of the wonderful opportunities that have come my way as a result of writing Our Little Acre.

I also encouraged them to start a blog of their own as a group, since one blog can have many writers. I really hope they do, because I would be a regular reader!

Thank you, Nancy, for giving me yet another opportunity to share my love of gardening with others and providing me with an enjoyable evening of meeting your wonderful group.

Luminaries lining the drive

13 comments:

Lona said...

You Have Been Given An Award. Stop by My Blog and Pick it Up.
Lona at http://lonadawn.blogspot.com/

F Cameron said...

How wonderful for you to share your skills with the gardeners. A great way to network and get to know folks. Cameron

Entangled said...

I hope some of the Master Gardeners were persuaded to begin blogging. The more the merrier, even if I can't keep up with all the ones in my reader now.

But what a coincidence that your fridge stopped working - mine stopped Sunday night (we think).

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hotdogs .... with no marshmallows Kylee ???
That is just WRONG girl ! LOL
garden blogging a great subject to talk to other gardeners about .. Blogging has become second nature to most of us gardeners .. access to more information and experience from other gardeners is a wonderful avenue to take and so easy .. and ... yes ... you can do it in your pajamas too !!
Joy
PS .. I love the black cat candle bag !

kate smudges said...

Hi Kylee, The Master Gardeners were lucky to have you speak to them. It would have been interesting to be there listening!! What fun that must have been - hopefully, you've encouraged some more people to blog. Have a good week!

Pat said...

More garden bloggers...yay!!
Sounds like you had a good time.

MyMaracas said...

Hello,

I've been lurking here for a while, and I really enjoy your blog. In fact, I've named you for an Autumn theme award. If you'd like to pick it up, it is here:

http://havenwoodhouse.blogspot.com/2008/10/fabulous-fall-decor-award.html

Anonymous said...

Way to go, Kylie. I gave my first garden talk not long ago, and I was mighty nervous, and they weren't Master Gardeners. But when you speak about a subject you know well and love, it just flows, doesn't it?

The pictures accompanying your post are wonderful. I particularly love the one of the yellow stripes on the highway running straight ahead into the yellow wood.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Now that's something I would love to have heard, Kylee. More garden bloggers is always of the good. ;-)

Love that luminary!

Unknown said...

Ah, I knew that you'd have no trouble with the talk, Kylee! And not because you talk too much--because you have so much wonderful knowledge to share. :) Great job!

Gail said...

How exciting for you and for us, in case anyone wants to start blogging!

Gail

Mother Nature said...

Hello,
She is an excellent speaker... to be sure! I was there; and now I am on here!!! All because she talked me into it! LOL!
She had me at the word "garden." ;-)
The pictures are really nice, except for the ones I am in. ( Wink- wink, nod- nod... I will say not more! )
She made a wonderful evening even more special for all of us there. And when I get get the chance, I will will be reading all past blogs of hers. If they are as charming & funny as she is in person; I will be in for a real treat!!! Looking forward to that... and to reading many of the other blogs she recommends, too!
A whole new world is about to open up for me! And I am thrilled... by the thought!!!
Mother Nature

Kylee Baumle said...

Lona ~ Why thank you! I'll be making a post soon!

Cameron ~ That's exactly why I spoke with them! Blogging is a wonderful resource for gardeners of all kinds!

Entangled ~ I know what you mean! I'm somewhat overwhelmed by all the great garden blogs out there and find it very difficult to read all the ones that I want to read.
That really IS weird that your refrigerator quit working, too! Ours had a bad compressor relay, now fixed!

Joy ~ There may have been marshmallows, I don't know. I'm not a roasted marshmallow lover, so I didn't seek them out.
Everything you say about garden blogging is true! And I make the majority of my posts in my jammies! :-)
Those luminaries were wonderful!

Kate ~ Oh I hope many of them do start blogging. I know of at least one that has for sure and I think another one is working on it! :-)
I wish you'd been there, too, because that would mean that I would have gotten to meet you in person! (((Kate)))

Patsi ~ I agree! The more, the merrier! We did have a good time. :-)

Pam ~ I was put at ease fairly quickly and you're right - when you speak about something you love, the words come easily.
About that first photo - I was a bit late to the weenie roast because I turned around and went back so that I could take that picture. I was so awed by the beauty of the sun shining through the yellow trees and the rolling road (you can't really tell that very well in the picture) that I didn't think right away to stop and had to go back. I'm glad I did! I have a photo of that same stretch of road in winter with freshly-fallen snow that I love, too.

Yolanda Elizabet ~ See my comments to Kate... ;-)

Kim ~ Thanks for the vote of confidence, Kim! But I do talk a lot, too, as you well know! LOL!!

Gail ~ It was fun, Gail. And there is at least one blog started already, maybe two! I hope to share those in a future post, if they will allow me to do so!

Mother Nature ~ Oh you sweet person, you! Thank you for saying such nice things. You guys were so friendly and receptive, and it's always good to interact with fellow gardeners. I'm anxious to read your blog and any others that are started in your group (like Lovell's!).
Yes, be sure to explore the big wide world of garden blogs. If you start now and read all of them, we won't see you until oh, about 2012... LOL.
Welcome to the world of garden blogging! You're going to love it!

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