I’m very pleased to welcome Alison (AKA “Dirty Fingernails”) from Green Thumb Chronicles as our guest blogger today. Alison gardens and blogs in Georgia. She is a married mother of five and an ER nurse. Her Green Thumb Chronicles blog is very new (she just started blogging in June of 2007!) and is an absolute pleasure to visit. Today, Alison explores what our blogs say about us.

Do You Think You Know Me?

Gazing at new and old blogs stirs up thoughts and ideas in many a mind. Does that thought ever turn to judging the author by the way their blog looks?

Most blogs have identical features. Those features that are universal to the blog consist of comments, linkbacks, blogrolls, index, archives and so on. The way the author presents those features are what makes things interesting. Do you just have a blogroll that is titled “Blogroll” or is it named something entirely unique? Or comments, are they just called “comments” or something else…in my case on my photo blog it is called “thoughts”. These basic changes can give the reader a glimpse into the personality of the author. Or what they think the author may be like.

We are all alike in the fact that we love to garden, love flowers and veggies and or take pictures. But that doesn’t mean we are all alike. Do you ever click on a new blog and its eye popping layout overwhelms you? Are the colors loud or subdued? Is the layout completely the author’s own or a template they picked? So many variables can reap so many responses.

Do you judge the author on presentation? Perhaps you think you know what they are like, by looking at their colors, pictures and other snippets. I can tell you this for sure: My blog layout is nothing like the real me.. If it were, everyone would be blinded by the loud, obnoxious colors. Surely there is a little bit of everyone in their blog, but would you know where to find it?? I will be honest– I don’t have a clue.

Dirty Fingernails

Green Thumb Chronicles 

I know you’re out there. There’s no way I’m the only one who is totally obsessed with garden blogs and garden blogging. Here’s your chance to teach us, give us your opinion, highlight a favorite blog…whatever. Maybe you have an eye for garden photography and wouldn’t mind passing along a few tips to Mouse & Trowel readers. Maybe you have some general tips on blogging, or an opinion on what makes a good blog. Maybe you have a favorite blog that you’d love to rave about, or a blogging practice that you want to rant about.

If you are interested in guest blogging on Mouse & Trowel, shoot me an email with your post idea. The whole point of the Mouse & Trowel Awards, and of this related blog, is to highlight garden blogs and celebrate our unique little niche community. As I’ve said before, they’re YOUR awards, and I’d like to see as many people involved in this blog as possible. Let’s hear what you’ve got to say.

Email me at colleen [at] inthegardenonline {dot} com. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Recently over at Cold Climate Gardening, Kathy Purdy asked for suggestions she should give garden writers about blogging. I started out the discussion by saying that bloggers should make a point of responding, in some way, to comments. Several commenters agreed with me, a few didn’t. If you haven’t seen the thread, pop over. It gets a little testy
I was shocked to read that a few of the responders didn’t even read comments on other people’s blogs. To me, this kind of leaves out one of the best aspects of blogging: dialogue. Bloggers don’t write into a vacuum, and their commenters can respond to, and often enhance, the original post. And, since dialogue requires two people, it kind of follows that the blogger should respond in some way.

I know there are many reasons why someone wouldn’t bother responding to comments on their blog: they’re too busy, it takes too much time to respond to comments, their blog is a showcase for their writing and they’re not looking for community. If any of these are the case (and I honestly can’t wrap my brain around not wanting to get involved in comments, but to each his own….) then there are two simple solutions:
1. Turn comments off.
2. Leave comments on, but have a statement that reads something like “I appreciate your comments.”

But here’s why I think ignoring the comment aspect of your blog is a mistake: you miss all of those little surprising ideas that will come to you through interacting with readers. I don’t know how many ideas I’ve gotten for posts from the comments on my own blog or from comments that I’ve read on other people’s blogs. If nothing else, if you have a good group of commenters, the comment threads can end up attracting quite a bit of attention by themselves.

I’ve always seen garden blogging as more of a community than a private endeavor. I think it’s a really unique little niche topic populated with diverse, intelligent people who have a lot to teach and learn from each other. Maybe I put too much into that, but I can’t help feeling that I’m not the only one.

Any comments?

There are almost as many reasons to start a garden blog as there are gardeners. For some, the garden blog serves as a kind of high-tech garden journal; a place to record sowing dates, harvest dates, and weather. For others, they’re a chronological photo album of the garden. Some of us focus on issues like organic gardening, eating locally, climate change, or even health. The point is: anything goes with a garden blog. If you are passionate about gardening, whether it’s a few herbs on a windowsill or a five-acre farm, starting a blog is a wonderful idea.

My mission as the founder of the Mouse & Trowel Awards is to promote garden blogging. While this blog will carry announcements about the awards themselves, the main focus will be to help those who are interested in starting a garden blog or website. Check here for advice, reviews of different blogging platforms and web hosting companies, profiles of Mousie-winning bloggers, and reviews of great garden blogs. Hopefully, I can infect you with the same enthusiasm for garden blogs that I have.

A blogger friend of mine once said that “this is what real life should be like.” I couldn’t agree more. The community, friendliness, and helpful advice you find as a garden blogger are unparalleled. Here’s hoping I can entice you to start your own garden blog.

Happy blogging,
Colleen