I am currently taking a class on online "spaces." We have had endless discussion on why people participate in these types online spaces. So I though I would ask everyone here? Why did you join GardenStew? I only think it is fair to answer my own question too. Honestly, I joined because of my class discussions and my love for gardening. I seem to be the only one left of my friends that gardens. They all say they just don't have the time to garden., understandable, but sad. I really love the peaceful feeling I get when I garden and I love to watch my daughters as they grow in their appreciation for growing things too! I was very excited to find this site to learn from other more experienced gardeners. I believe that gardening is a lifelong learning experience and through the sharing of our experiences with plants with each other is how we learn more about gardening.
I joined because I wanted to be part of a community of people who enjoyed the same hobby as me and to get answers to questions and see what other people do in their gardens (lots of ideas here!) Wanted to add, I had been googling "garden forums" and checked out a few (most were boring and had few people on them) before this one popped up in the searches. I clicked and havent looked back since
I happened to be "surfing the net" looking for black hollyhock seeds when this link popped up Piano Lady sent me some of her seeds and the rest is history! It mainly started as something to do at work, when I was having a slow day. However, this "stew" has become much much more! Not only do I enjoy gardening and I love to see everyone's photos but I have "met" some WONDERFUL people here! I talk about you all like family sometimes and and my co-worker laughs at me! Especially when I mention Philip's cats or when I told her about Cheryl's snake and baby squirrel
I found this place trying to ID a plant (which was promptly done, I might add). I really hadn't thought of joining any kind of online community, but everyone was so helpful and friendly. I started to look into some of the forums... and was hooked. There's so much encouragement and knowledge here... and so many great ideas... from plants to junk to crafts! And to be able to see what others are growing around the globe is fascinating.
I was trying to find out about a plant "Cleome",..i Googled the name and up came GardenStew and there was the plant,..it was posted by our Cheryl,..i joined shortly after that.
The nice thing about web browser logs is that you can look back in a log and see, site by site, what you were doing two years ago. I had just retired a couple of months earlier and was 'surfing' the web when I remembered an old garden forum from years ago, a gopher site, alt.rec.gardens. Am I dating myself? The search led me to a site that had several garden forums referenced. I selected Gardenstew. First it was just for info then I discovered a whole world(literally) of friendly gardening people. With few exceptions I have been on every day since. The day would not be complete without checking in to see what was happening. Jerry
I was looking for a place to hang out with people who share my interest for gardening, wildlife and furry pets. I found the Stew and stopped looking.
I was Googling about a Saddleback Caterpillar which was actually a Heterocampa guttivitta. The thing was more pretty as a worm than what he became but as I looked around the place that I ended up at was the most beautiful.... Garden Stew.....was right up my alley. Thank you all for being here for me whenever I wish you to be....
I was on one site that went under, thanks to the overbearing lady that ran it. Then went to another site and I was there for 3 or 4 years. Slowly the people dropped off and then I found the Stew. I still go into the other site periodically but there are so few people there that it might be a week or more between new posts.
I joined because of my love of gardening ... neither my family nor my friends were into gardening and complained about me talking about plants all the time. I found Gardenstew and a few other forums but quickly decided that Gardenstew was my favorite
I belong to several forums based on my life interests....a chihuahua forum, a ballroom dancing forum, a general interests forum, And the longest one is a post divorce forum which I've been on since the 90's and which actually went belly up several years ago when its owner went postal. But I'd made many wonderful friends there, some of whom I'd met IRL, and none of us wanted to lose touch. So my daughter helped me start my OWN forum for all these folks, and so I get to participate in and administer that one. And all that is just backstory to give you an idea of what I go looking for when I become involved in a new activity, in this case, gardening. I've just moved to a new house and the garden is neglected, and I wanted to find a friendly, informative forum to guide me through the garden re-vamping process. There are many gardening forums on the net, but GardenStew is by far the nicest and friendliest! So here I am!
This is the friendliest, spam-free, happiest place to be! I've been on other gardening forums, but didn't enjoy them much. I have learned so much from y'all, and gotten so much encouragement and help. My gardens have thrived thanks to advice from Stewies, and I enjoy visiting daily with my gardening buddies. The only drawback is none of my buddies have shown up to help weed . . . .
Well all of you have given the reasons I joined the Stew. Friendly, informative, funny, creative, funny, great info givers, problem solvers, funny, and oh yes, did I mention that there are some really funny folks here. :-D A good laugh is worth a thousand words and so good for ones soul. You all are soul mates in a sense. Glad I became apart of the Stew.
IIRC I was looking for some plant IDs and lots of people made me feel very welcome and so I've stayed. So I now have 1 Samoyed Forum,1 Photography forum, 1 Sewing forum and Garden Stew to account for all my major interests. If any government agencies ever delved into my browsing history then they would quickly decide that I'm not a threat
Really??? I can't remember specifically, but I think I was looking for information on tomatoes and the first post is saw was an insect id that everyone was wondering about and even though I hadn't introduced myself, EVERYONE was gracious and kind when I id'd the pesty bug. I just kept looking and answering and asking since then. It is a great place. I also want to say, "It's not just gardening here". There are all kinds of topics to read about and glean a little information or ask questions other than about gardening. Kind of like my farmer's market table...if there is only one thing to look at people move on by really fast, not stopping to visit or chat or ask questions about what is on there, whether it is produce, plants, crafts, baked goods etc. "Oh, gee...another tomato. I have seen one of those"....and keep on moving.
