I am upside down, back the front and a day behind where I belong. Add to the discombobulation of international travel I have absorbed so much new knowledge my head is all in a whirl. I have made so many new friends, and many that weren’t more than thumbnail icons to me, yet I felt like I already knew them, so faces and names came to life. However there were so many that I need to sit down with all my exchanged business cards and look up their blogs and reconnect thumbnails images with memories of laughter shared.
Let’s face it – the weather is awful. It is winter and it is cold and gloomy – the kind of cold that stops you feeling your nose when you go outside. So it may be my last day in America, but I am going to sit in my room with the aircon cranked up, watch TV and the bizarre commercials that go with it and dwell in the gardens of some of the coolest bloggers. I have been out today, I went to church with 2500 others and I checked out a supermarket, so staying in now is perfectly ok. Besides, I am kind of going out – virtually. Wrap up warm and come with me. Let me introduce you to some of my new friends.
My most favourite new friend – oh you so need to meet Bren. She found me. She connected with me before I even left home and asked a question that added a whole new dimension to my online life. She asked “Are you on Twitter?” So I joined Twitter and love it. It is like verbal snapshots – and some photos. Follow me – I have random thoughts in the garden, you’ll love it. Its @SarahtheGarden (because I couldn’t fit the ‘er’ on the end). But back to Bren – she is so cool. She was the first blogger I saw. I was behind her in the registration queue. I didn’t get one of her business cards because I don’t think biosecurity would let me bring it back. She gave seeds to everyone – even Nate Berkus who said he didn’t have a green thumb. Bren is a twitter queen and is fabulous at bringing people together. On Twitter you can find her at @BG_garden. She also is part of a cool thing called #GardenChat where gardeners can share together. You can find out more here: Connect Share Grow and of course she has a blog: BG Garden
Then there was Jan. She was one of our wonderful speakers and she is such a sweet person and fabulous speaker. She makes me laugh so much. Two Women and a Hoe She is also a huge inspiration. I love her charm and style.
Lisa was cool too. Lisa keeps chickens and is very popular, but she is so friendly and down to earth and I really enjoyed the time I spent with her. She was also one of the speakers and I got so much from what she had to say. You can find her at Fresh Eggs Daily
Beth is so nice and you will love her. She is also a talented watercolour illustrator. I really enjoyed her company. More Than Oregano I also spent loads of time with Julie at Organic Delights. You can find her blog at Julies Garden Delights
And there were two Amy’s: Amy at Get Busy Gardening. She also shares a blog called Savvy Gardening. The other Amy is also lovely and you should check her out at A Nest for all Seasons.
Oh and then there was Monica who has Gardening Products Review and Brandon who is with Botanical Interests and is pretty awesome, Shannon from the plant company Proven Winners. She gave me a great coffee mug with Plant Geek on it, but I seem to have lost it. So disappointed.
We can’t forget Meg. She was so high energy and a blast to be around. I miss her bounce. She wants everyone to buy alternatives to .com. It just makes sense – pick up a ‘ dot anything else’ and be ahead of your game.
Betty who is actually Linda was lovely too. She was one of the speakers and don’t tell the others but I think I may have learnt the most from her. She made a lot of sense. Having said that, there was so much to learn, it has all rolled into one big tangle in my head. Check her out. Garden Betty
It was great to meet Shawna who was also a fabulous dynamic speaker. You can find her at Shawna Coronado
I also have to mention: David at The Good Garden and Kristyn at This Natural Dream and Deb at Counting my Chickens and Ellen at Learn to Garden.. They are so lovely.
Actually everyone is lovely. Gardeners are sharing caring people. I think they liked me. But I did bribe the lot of them with bubbly. If you want to find out more of what went on in Atlanta and you know about twitter hash tags check out #GBCATL.
But please do have a look at my new people. I have had a fabulous winter afternoon, visiting gardens and revisiting gardens and clicking buttons to make sure I can pop into my new friend’s gardens whenever I want.
Now all I have to do is process the learning. But the ‘social’ part of social media is even more fun in person, especially when you can raise a glass with those that were once just thumbnails.
Come again soon – there will be changes – but I need to get home and check out my garden first.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
Wow, sounds like you had a fab time Sarah and meeting lots of new people who are gardeners must have been awesome! Bet your head is spinning with all the information you acquired at the conference.
HI Barb. I’ve been home about 5 days now and my head is still spinning. I have seemed to gotten over the jet lag and so now I just want to jump into all the great learning – but the garden also needs me so I shall be a busy wee thing for the next little while. It was totally fab. Cheers Sarah : o )
Hey Sarah .. so pleased you had a great time and I will check out some of your new friends. How exciting! Ah a Twitter fan ‘go girl’ 😀
Hi Julie. We should so go together next time. You would have loved it. The bloggers were all so wonderful and it was worth the 36 hour flight to get there. Do you have twitter? I’m loving it. Cheers Sarah : o )
I bet I would have loved it! I do Twitter for our wine brand but that’s about it. I have always meant to get that and Facebook up and running with the blog, but always run out of time. 😃
Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us.
Hi Dana. It was such an amazing time. I couldn’t not share it. I’m glad you ‘came with me’ Cheers Sarah : o )
So glad you had a safe trip back! Wonderful to see highlights from the conference. Love your photo at the Botanic Garden. Garden Bloggers are the nicest.
Hi David. I hope you have managed to find normality after the hectic adventure that was the Garden Bloggers Conference. It was lovely to meet you and I look forward to watching your blog and vicariously travel to cool places. Cheers Sarah : o )
It was a true honor to meet you Sarah! I haven’t been able to stop talking about my friend from around the globe that I met in Atlanta Georgia. This was truly a week I will remember for ever connecting with so many great folks who love to share about gardening. It was inspiring to see all your images from what you grow from seed and to learn about your beautiful life in the garden. I’m a HUGE FAN of yours and look forward to follow you as you grow so far from my garden in Ohio using social media. Thank you for your kind words on your post an THANK GOODNESS for the internet so we can stay connected and grow together in the years to come.
It is TOTALLY true – gardeners are absolutely the NICEST people! Lovely meeting you!!
It was so great to meet you too Sarah! It was fun to chat with you about your blog and garden, and your wonderful life! 🙂 I hope you will make it back to North America at some point for another gardening conference. Have a safe trip home!
Amy
Sounds like you had a blast. Will need to check out the blogs you’ve mentioned when I have a couple of hours spare 🙂
Hi Elaine. Please do check out the blogs I mentioned. They are all the loveliest of people and just as crazy about gardening as us! Cheers Sarah : o )
Lol, I haven’t been that crazy about it recently but I’m getting there 😀 x
It was great to meet you too, Sarah. You blog and books are delightful, and I am looking forward to following you. The one neat thing about our opposite growing seasons is that I can live vicariously through you and your garden during the long Iowa winters! And thanks for the mention here. 🙂
Reblogged this on batangashomegardeningadventures and commented:
I just started blogging about my gardening adventures and found out this interesting post that gave me some sense of pride in entering such an endeavor.
Thanks Lester.
Cheers Sarah : o )
wow, who’d thought it. A garden bloggers convention. The closest I’ve come across would be the Edible garden show here in England. You clearly had a ball of a time!
Hi there – I know – how obscure! But it was so worth it. I’d love to go to the Edible Garden Show, but that is the problem with living down here in New Zealand – it is so far away! One day I’ll get there. Cheers Sarah : o )
What an extraordinary trip, Sarah. I’m going to have to save this post, so I can come back and work my way through the blogs. Meanwhile, I’ll follow you on Twitter. What fun!
Hi Alys. It was a pretty amazing experience. I loved every moment of it. I met some great garden bloggers too. Please check them out, you’ll love them too. Twitter is fun, I’m really enjoying it… look for #gardenchat for great garden talk on twitter.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Thanks for the hashtag, Sarah. I’ll take a look.
I”m so glad the trip was worthwhile. Pauline of the Contented Crafter flew out here for a week to spend time with several of us at our own blogging get together. 36 hours of travel time from Dunedin to Washington D.C. was grueling. I”m so glad that she made the trip.
Hi Alys – Having done that 36 hour trip I can agree – definitely grueling, but always worth the effort. What a fabulous idea to get together. Cheers Sarah : o )
It was extraordinary. I’ve never done anything like it.
Thanks, Sarah. We had a brilliant time. I can’t wait to do it again.
I can’t believe it’s been two months already since Atlanta! And what a lovely writeup of the conference. I’m so happy we met and hope we’ll cross paths again at some point… whether at next year’s gathering or WHEN I eventually make it down to NZ! I hope you’ll let me park my camper or pitch my tent in your garden. 😉
Hi Linda. I know – how fast does time fly. I’d love to come back to America at some stage, I met so many lovely people, it would be great to catch up with everyone again. But certainly you are more than welcome to come and stay when you come down under. You definitely have to come to NZ, you’ll love it.
Thanks for the Book Depository tip – it was perfect and now I’m waiting for the postie to bring me your book. Looking forward to reading it.
Cheers Sarah : o )