So, welcome to the first FarmerBobBlog of 2016.
As a man with a willful ignorance of social media – and a 50-year-addiction to writing columns – I find this process both a little mystifying, and gratifying.
I can sit here at home and potentially connect with thousands of readers. I can still pick and choose exactly what I want to write about – and get away with it. Most important, my computer comes with a “spell check” – a chore which has driven dozens of very fine copy editors in my 33 years at the Courier-Journal absolutely bat crazy.
The prime mission of the FarmerBobBlog shall be garden and plant related – with a little shameless huckstering of our Hidden Hill Nursery & Sculpture Garden; we are very proud of what we have created from eight acres of bare pasture over the past 40 years.
And to that point let me quick say we will officially open Saturday, April 2 with our annual Kite Flying Extravaganza, thousands of fine plants for sale, a Stilt Walker display at 1 p.m., and creative, fire-breathing blacksmiths hammering away most of the day. I’ll also give tour of our eight acres at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. – a program change from the 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. mentioned earlier. See hiddenhillnursery.com for a map, phone number and other nursery related stuff.
But beyond that – way beyond that, actually – I want to write about a love of horticulture, the stories behind new and old plants, the seasonal changes in the garden, and in life.
I’ll also be sure to include some plant histories, photographs and the opinions of others. I’ll deal with trends real and imagined, new garden tools and techniques that might make life easier, the success and failure that comes with placing a tiny seed below a thin layer of soil and watching it grow; rooting it on like a member of the family.
I will be regular, try not to be too long – research indicates the average reader is good for about 15 seconds, if you’ve made it this far.
I promise it will be educational at best – fun to read at worst. It already feels good to be back writing a regular weekly column. Stick around to see where it takes us.