I have written books in the past and was planning to do a book about my garden, but quickly realized that it was probably not the right direction. Books take a lot of time and effort and you have nothing to show until it is finished, and then you can’t change anything. Gardens are not static, they evolve and change over time, with the seasons, with changes in the weather, with changes in my tastes, with the taste of the deer, and as the garden matures.
A book may have a very limited appeal – gardening on the fringe of the Oregon coast using some exotic plants that normally would be considered to be sub-tropical plants more suitable to southern California, on sand, with salt spray. These are things that most people would not be interested in as a complete book, but many people may be interested in the concepts that go along with parts of the subject. A blog allows people to pick and choose without having to wade through everything.
I also struggle a lot with gardening books. They are either a catalog of plants, or filled with basic techniques, or are so technical that they will quickly have you falling asleep. I do not yet have a yard that is mature and cannot show the end results, I can only talk about the journey and what I have learned so far.
My partner, Jesse, is helping with the site creation and we have recently added the beginnings of the plant catalog. If plants interest you, this is the page for you. She also creates the labels throughout the garden.
The good thing about a book is that when you sell a copy, you make a small amount of money. Having written books in the past, believe me when I say a small amount of money. I get royalty statements through each year and often the payout isn’t even enough to buy a meal at something better than a fast food location.
Eventually, I would like to be able to propagate some of the plants I have been successful with and thus having a website can also act as a shopfront, but that is a few years away, and even more if I want to start trying to create some of my own hybrids. Until then, I will be adding a few affiliate links into the site. I hope this doesn’t bother you. It does mean that if you follow one of those links and then eventually buy something from that site, (not necessarily the product in the link that you clicked) then I receive a small commission for sending you to them. This will help me to pay for the site and maybe expand the plant collection.
I love hearing from people.