So please forgive me if my posting and blog-reading gets behind. Besides my own garden, blogging will probably be a bit neglected in the next few weeks.
I'm wondering when I'll ever find the time to plant my seedlings, or bring out the containers I overwintered, let alone add fresh plants to them or plant the empty ones. Or start that new bed in the back of the yard where DH gave up a little piece of prime lawn real estate for me to plant. Or work on the front landscape project. (Oh yeah, I haven't had time to post about that, so you probably didn't even know about it.)
It's looking less and less likely this will get done this year.I guess I'm about to be like the plumber whose pipes leak - I'll be the gardener with the neglected garden, too busy caring for other people's gardens to take care of my own. Be careful what you ask for. . .
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm very happy the business is growing. It's confidence-building and confirms what I've been told about the demand for gardeners in this area. The demand is definitely greater than the supply. Even in a weak economy, this gardener's business is blooming.
Good for you! It's always nice when a dream takes you to flight. Lots of people are much busier than usual so much less time for blogging and/or blog reading.
ReplyDeleteHave no idea how you (and many other bloggers) find the time to write such long - and interesting - blogs so frequently even in the ordinary course of life.
ReplyDeleteVery glad for the reasons for your busyness. It must be very exciting - to decide what you would like to do - and to achieve it - and to find it is appreciated too.
Brilliant
Esther
ESTHER IN THE GARDEN
Linda: It is very difficult to keep up with the gardening and the blogging about the gardening. I have felt this way since February. Don't worry about us ... we'll be waiting for you when you have more time. I'm really happy for you that your business is doing so well. Be sure to get some rest and get to the gardening when you can. Have a happy mother's day.
ReplyDeletemeems @Hoe&Shovel
It's a good thing. I'm glad to hear that you're so busy with your business. Your own garden will get done, eventually. Don't stress over it. I don't have that excuse, yet I'm also incredibly busy - it's just that time of year. We won't forget about you.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to you being busy. It has more advantages than being lazy for sure. I have never been so busy that I feel I can not cope, and I get the impression you are too well adjusted to get caught in that. I agree with the other bloggers here, there does not seem te be time for blogging. We breed cats, and cultivate seeds on the sideline of our hobby garden and that seems to fill the day. Well you are younger ;-D
ReplyDeleteCinj, I'm very happy with the way the business is developing.
ReplyDeleteThis is a busy time of year for so many of us, between our gardens, graduations, weddings, Mother's Day, etc.
Esther, it was easy during the winter and early spring, before the gardening season got underway. My kids are grown and on their own, and that makes a huge difference in how much spare time I have, at least during the winter.
It is exciting to be having such success at such an early stage of developing my business, and it's definitely rewarding to know it's appreciated!
Meems, I'm missing all my new internet gardening friends! I can only do so much, and I know my limitations. Things will slow down a little bit after the next couple of weeks when I can cut back on my time working with my gardener friend. She's been so nice to me, I feel I owe her. She's even given me one of her clients, and she's been so helpful as I've been getting started with my own business. It's nice to work in a business where people are so cooperative with each other instead of being competitive and feeling threatened. There's a really wonderful gardening community associated with the nursery where I work.
MMD, There are only so many hours in the day, and I just do the best I can. There are times when it's a bit stressful keeping up with everything, but it's a good kind of stress. Much better than stressing over committing to something that isn't in much demand! I'd rather have more than enough business than not enough. It will all even out over time. Thankfully, my garden is at a point where it mostly takes care of itself.
I even had time today to bump up a bunch of my seedlings into bigger pots, edge the garden in back, and bring out some plants from the basement. Hopefully I won't have to cover them or bring them back in!
Ericat, I don't mind being busy. It's a good kind of busy. The gardening season here will be over by November, and I'll have plenty of time to relax then. In the meantime, it's exciting to be having such success so early on in the process of building a business. I'm busy, but not overwhelmed. And if there's one thing I've learned after all these years of life, it's how and when to say no. Whatever needs to get done will get done, and less important things will wait. It'll all work out, I'm confident of that.
I hope you all have a happy Mother's Day!
Well I certainly understand being busy and trying to blog at the same time. It's a wonder we can even move at this time of year. It's hard but try to squeeze in a little time for yourself too :-)
ReplyDeleteMelanie, today I only had to work in the morning, and it was fun - I'm re-doing an entire garden for a very nice client. Working with her is a pleasure - it hardly felt like 'work' at all. She approved all my plant selections, and next Saturday, weather permitting, I'll be installing them. It's a little intimidating, yet exciting to have an opportunity to re-design an entire garden. I think it's going to turn out very nice.
ReplyDeleteI can see that you've been very busy too, and I'm very happy for you that your sale was such a success, that all your hard work paid off, and that you proved the doubters and cynics wrong. Kudos! I hope YOU have some time to rest and relax now that the sale is behind you. You've certainly earned and deserve some time for yourself. Wouldn't a nice, long, relaxing soak in a hot tub be nice? That's what these weary bones are thinking!
Congratulations on your gardening business taking off! Sympathies on your gardening business taking off! ;-) I know exactly what you mean. Several years ago, I worked three days a week at my "professional" indoors job while trying to find a full-time job to make ends meet. On a whim, I distributed flyers about my gardening services in several well-to-do neighborhoods in town. I'd been gardening a while but never had clients--I didn't think I'd get much response and was overwhelmed by the deluge of requests. I also figured I'd be "interviewed" or asked for qualifications (at the time I wasn't a master gardener yet and only had photos of my own garden to show), but no one even asked! When it became obvious I knew a weed from a plant, people were beside themselves. One finally shared with me that many lawn services had been advertising themselves as gardeners, too, and many people lost plants they liked! Any way, for a time, I was working seven days a week, with fat pockets and wobbly arms and legs! I did cut back to several regular clients so I only worked five days a week, and in the third fourth season, back to one large client. I was added to a research project at my indoor job, where I now work full-time... and miss my gardening work like crazy! Sorry this post is so long; if you ever want to chat about gardening for clients offline, feel free to email me at gardenfaerie02 at yahoo dot com.
ReplyDelete~ Monica
Ditto--and I'm finally getting some breathing room. We calm down after this weekend. We had a big Saturday. People were taking the plants right out of my hands. I can't wait to find out tomorrow what we did in sales. It's gotta be out the roof. I've never seen it so good. The rain helped. You just blog when you can---we'll all be here with dirty fingernails waiting.
ReplyDeleteMonica, My gardening friends and the owners of the nursery where I work have told me there's more demand than supply when it comes to gardeners around here. My experience so far is confirmation of that. I'll be glad to get a handle on the crazy schedule. I know that will take some time, and that's ok. In the meantime, I'm getting tons of experience and learning more every day.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about wobbly arms and legs. I was resolved to keep up a strong exercise routine over the winter. Instead I got lazy, and now I'm paying the price. Hopefully it won't take too long to get back in shape.
It's good to know you've got all that gardening experience under your belt. Talking with experienced professional gardeners is helpful in avoiding some of the pitfalls. I'm looking forward to having a group of regular clients. When I get to that point it will hopefully help me get a handle on my schedule.
Anna, I know what you mean. It was nuts at the nursery Saturday while I was there with my client. They even had parking lot attendants. While I was there, regular customers recognized me and kept me hopping to help them too. I'm happy for the owners that they had such a successful day - they could use more days like that and I was happy to pinch-hit.
So great that your business is a success, but I can understand the frustration of too little time to work on your own yard. I hope everything works out in the end!
ReplyDeleteHi there Garden Girl... go girl.. go girl :-D
ReplyDeleteWishing you all the best with your new business! Wishing you some rest and relaxation time too :-D
Amy, it's nice that it gets light early and stays light late this time of year. I'm finding a few minutes every day it's not raining to tend to my own garden. I'm sure I'll be able to find some balance over time.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shirl. It's exciting and reinforcing to have the business growning even faster than I'd hoped. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I work at the nursery, rain or shine. The other days are gardening days. Rainy Tuesdays, Thursdays, or Saturdays will be my rest days. I've always loved rainy days, and I'll probably be enjoying them even more than ever this year.