I really appreciate all the feedback you guys have been giving me in the State of the Balcony survey. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, please take a second to do so. It’s only 9 questions long, I’m sure you could complete the whole thing in 5 minutes or less. I promise that your responses are really being taken to heart. I’m not some ginormous mega-corp that doesn’t care about the people I interact with. It’s just little ‘ole me behind the scenes, so I really need your help to make Life on the Balcony the best it can be.
This weekend, I will be implementing the redesign of Life on the Balcony, so you may find that there are times when the site is down or loading really slowly. I apologize for this incovenience, but as I mentioned before, I am all there is here, so I am my own tech team. But I plan on including some of the suggestions people have made in the survey into the redesign, so hopefully you all will feel that the changes were worth the wait.
In other exciting news, I was accepted into my county’s Master Gardener program. I can’t wait to start the classes this January. What this means for Life on the Balcony readers is lots of access to first rate information. I will be taking classes from experts on pest management, pruning, fertilizing, choosing appropriate plants, growing edibles, and more. I will be passing along all sorts of good things I learn here on the blog.
If all that wasn’t enough, next week I will be launching a new contest. The prize will be one of Botanical Interests new container gardening gift boxes. The box contains all sorts of seeds perfect for growing in a container, and is wrapped in a beautiful box with a bow and everything. It would make a perfect gift (be sure to check out their other gift boxes too). This is perfect timing because next week will also see the publication of TWO awesome (and I mean *AWESOME*) guest posts from Claire and Janet. If you’d like to write for Life on the Balcony, send me your idea. I would love to hear from you. I am absolutely blown away by the high quality of writing and ideas that I’ve seen so far.
Finally, I saved the best for last. It looks like a move that has been in the works since MAY of this year is finally coming to fruition. I don’t want to jinx it by saying that I will definitely be moving, but we are closer than ever before. So I finally have a glimmer of hope that we’ll be moved in by the begining of 2010. The new place has an awesome balcony, and I hope to be able to use that balcony as a test lab for Life on the Balcony ideas. I’ll be incorporating my existing pots into a new location as well as creating new things just for the new balcony. Of course, I will take photos and videos of the process, so you all will be able to see a balcony garden designed from the ground up.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Yay! Congrats, Fern! I went through the Master Gardener program back in ’00, it’s a really good education! Good for you.
Life on the Balcony is dead. Long live Life on the Balcony!
Fern,
Where do I start. Congratulations on being accepted to OC’s Master Gardeners program. They are lucky to have you. My fingers are crossed on the potential move but you’ll be missed.
I’m looking forward to all the positive changes. Hey, if I get accepted to LA-Master Gardeners we should shoot callabo videos!
Congrats again!
-Adri
Jenny–Thanks!
Bob–Yep. Going legit!
Adriana — I’m not moving that far. I’d love to do videos with you. I can’t wait to get started on the MG classes.
Congratulations Fern! I’m very excited to see your website and your passion grow in the past year. I still remember when I first saw your website, I think it was about the same time I started blogging. I knew you could do it! So much exciting stuff happening in your life! I’m very happy for you and congrats again!
Louise
Hi Fern,
I, too, have been accepted into the Master Gardener’s Program, but in San Diego. Really looking forward to it. January can’t come soon enough! Congrats! Leslie
That’s great Leslie! There’s gonna be a whole bunch of garden bloggers going through the program next year. It will be fun to compare notes.
Fern, Congrats on getting accepted into the Master Gardener program. Like everyone else I have already gone through the program. Do you have to do volunteer work before becoming a full fledged Master Gardener? I’m looking forward to reading about your gardening on the new balcony. I’m always interested to learn about what can sucessfully be grown in pots.
Fern, I am delighted for you! Such energy on all fronts!
hey, i’m a master gardener class of ’10 too (in rainy olympia, wa, though)! i can’t wait to read about your experience in the program. our classes start in feb. good luck with all your other Life Changes, too.
Hey Jess! Keep in touch, it would be fun to compare notes about our classes.
Melanie–Thanks! Yes, I think it’s 25 hours of volunteer time per year.
Daffodil Planter–Thank you! Yeah, when writing this post, it really hit me that a lot of balls are up in the air right now.
Louise–Thanks! Yeah, I remember finding your blog for the first time and thinking “Yes! Someone else who has a garden just like mine.”
i will definitely be reading yr blog throughout, and i feel a moral obligation to blog my experiences, too, since everyone is like “oh my god, our own personal MG. come here, fix my yard.”