Thoughts on improving the web-site!

[mnjrutherford]

HA! Saved by Telsing! Thank you dear! I'm REALLY sorry to hear about the lawn thing. I detest lawn.

[plantsnobin]

Flower, I was only kidding about the politics, honest! I do read Idig everyday, and it is funny how I will agree with most of what someone says, and then in another thread they will say something that turns me off so completely that I feel differently about that poster. Silly I know, but I do think that politics/religion only serve to polarize people.
I agree that most of the regular posters here would be considered experience gardeners, maybe intimidating for for newcomers, but I don't know that that can be helped. I think that when we are talking, we assume that others have a basic understanding of organic/sustainable principles already. I have been reading the permies forum, and it is amazing to me some of the questions asked. Don't get me wrong, it is a nice forum, but it seems that there is such a disconnect from nature that so many people have. It's like people want an exact recipe for making compost, down to the last blade of grass. People seem to be so afraid of doing something 'wrong' that they don't even try to think for themsleves. Just the way our culture has become I guess. Or maybe I just have a huge disconnect from what it is like to live in a city. I guess zoning and home owners associations don't really leave much room for individual thought.
It would be great if there was a centralized way to get seeds for all the things people mention. Trading is great, but it can get a little complicated. Someone needs to start a seed company where we can get Tom's taters&maters, Alan's corn, whoever's whatevers. And some recipes from Jo, featuring the things you can grow from those seeds.
As far as not replying to threads, sometimes I read a post and think that whatever is said is great, but I don't reply if it wasn't a question because I hate it when I click on the '10 most recent' and all ten are something like 'that's great'. I just takes more time to get to new info that way.

[plantsnobin]

Just read Jo's suggestion, that is a really good idea. It would be great if the same seeds could be distributed to test gardeners in different areas and then everyone share their results. Could be a really important database.

[Penny]

I like coming here each day, or almost everyday, to read whatever is new.

The thing i like about this site, is everyone is helpful, no one gets their backs up when the same question is somtimes asked, but maybe worded in a different way.

I've been to other sites where you are afraid to ask a question because the more "experienced" members tell you to read back and look for your answer , that its already been asked and answered numerous times , and yet these same sites, dont lock a topic after it reaches lets say 100 posts, and who the hell has the time to go back and read that many posts!

Its at places like that, that no wonder your afraid to ask, and i think people somtimes forget, that we were "ALL" new at one time or another

I even had one guy argue with me at another site, that my raised flower beds would suck and wouldnt produce anything (dont ask me why)....they've done great, maybe i should join again and tell him (tee heeee ;D ).......i've never once had an issue here

On some other sites that i belong too, there is a thread, thats called Good Morning, or Coffee Time , somthing to that effect, where anyone can pop in and post what their doing, have done, talk about the weather or just say hi......and that way it keeps track of members and anyone can read it.

Just my thoughts and comments

[mnjrutherford]

I like Karen's idea about centralizing the seed distribution somehow. She and I have mentioned purchasing a 2,000 + acre property that is for sale in Central Tennessee and we could start Home Grown Commune! All we need is $3.5 million bucks! I also like your idea for a recipe section. I made an herb slab bread to use in my stuffing on Thanksgiving and all the herbs were from the garden. That would be a perfect entry.

I am impressed with how civil everyone here is regarding religious and political statements. It's hard to find people who respect others feelings on such matters. As a person of very strong religious persuasion, I sometimes need to express this side of me because it is integral to the way I function. But, I try really hard not to offend those who are put off by this part of me. I believe they respect me, because I respect them. It makes for really excellent conversation in my opinion because it allows us to explore a wider range of thoughts and ideas and gets more people "ignited" for our mutual devotion, which is growing!

[bunkie]

great thoughts all! i too have felt to be a thread killer on occassion, so you're not alone! ;D

i would like to see more interviews!

[Penny]

Great idea Jo, i would love to see a recipe section, and we could post our favorites, with fruits and veggies that we've grown.

[ottawagardener]

I like the centralized seed list. Interesting idea. I don't know how it would be run but heck, I like the idea.

[mnjrutherford]

We kinda do have a recipe section... But we talk on it. If it were more "book" like, perhaps we could really turn it into a book and sell it and use the money to buy the land, start the commune and there would be Telsing's centralized seed list/distribution center! HA! Now how's THAT for an idea. I can't wait to hear what Alan has to say about all this. ;o)

Still, I would like to see the recipes themselves both in threads and in a more... well... book like format.

[plantsnobin]

I am not sure if what we are talking about is possible with the forum format. Maybe there needs to be a real website with pages of info all organized.

[Alan]

Wow! It really is wonderful to see so much support and so many great ideas.


I would very much like to create a second site, perhaps a blog, a Homegrown Collective in order to give us a chance to do some more publishing, taking the best of what we collectively have to offer and posting it to the blog, this would give those just getting into the group a resource of sorts to look back on for information and invite in new members in a way which wouldn't be so imposing.

It would of course be pretty cool to in time publish some physical things of course after building this thing up.

Definitely some things to think about here.

Perhaps we need an area on a blog to categorize everyones projects, maybe a "portal" site with links to everyones existing blogs and ideas and those who don't have a blog can post on the portal or create a blog to link from.

Thanks for everything guys! It is appreciated!

[Alan]

I'm thinking of this portal as being our press release center essentially, with a link to individual blogs as well as unique new blog postings from Homegrown members and ocassional publication of our findings on such topics as:
cooking
soil fertility
plant breeding
plant trials
ext.

Anybody up for this kind of thing? Want to volunteer to help. I think this could be the next step.

[ottawagardener]

I'd be happy to volunteer in any way I can.

[mnjrutherford]

I don't really have a lot of time to help with tech stuff. You are also talking processes WAY beyond my ken of understanding. I DO have a blog and I DO have some cooking posts... Could you link to the specific posts? Could I "cross post"? Meaning if I post in one place, could I also post in the other?

hmmmm... i'm pondering this stuff....

[Alan]

Yep, cross posting would be allowed.

I only need a couple of technical folks, those who can update the site, copy and paste blogs and articles, and help build the site, it doesn't have to be fancy or anything, just there for reference purposes.