Recently as I waft about the internet I have come across many references to the decline of the blog as we know it. Many people who started out at the same time as thekitchensgarden have disappeared off the blog map. Many are disillusioned and wanting to be involved still but batteries are running low. Many feel they are sending out messages in bottles. Some of you have even commented on this in your blogs.
But I still do not believe that the age of the blog is done. But maybe blogs need to change. Maybe there needs to be more of the US and less of the ME.
True, the real monetised blog is a very rare thing now and those who do make money from their blogs work a full time week to ensure they make money from it. But reading good blogs still has its place and , more than that, the conversations that result in the comments sections of blogs are pretty important too. In fact I think that this dialogue is critical. This is the US bit. 
So I am proposing two new pages to this blog. The Library page and Our Cottage Industries page.
(Of course my daily farm page will not change. And nor will it be affected by the new pages. After all I write the farm page – you will be writing in the new pages).
The Fellowship (you – my readers), The Fellowship of the Farmy, have blended yourself into a network of sorts. We have one important page already the Join Us page where we introduce ourselves to the other readers. Many of you comment and even more just read and sometimes you even answer each others comments. I want to take this a step further. I want to set up these two new pages where the comments are the reason for the pages to exist. I want to give you two new pages where the comments ARE the blog.
I want to extend our network and take one area of this blog world in a new direction with new challenges and really build on our relationships – create new networks in a very modern sense, let’s jump on and see where this vehicle takes us. The two new pages are all about you. Not me. I will only be the hostess.
The two new pages can be found under MENU – see above.
The first page will be Our Cottage Industry page. So we can really focus on supporting small home industries. Your industry. Many of you work from home, many of you sell on the internet, or in markets, many small businesses are women led and I for one really want to support these initiatives. So, go into the comments of the Cottage Industry page and tell us what you have for sale. Come on – we want to know!
This may be a small page but I bet you it will be an inspiring one.
Do you make soap or jewellery or chicken houses? Are you an artist, do you knit hats, sew aprons or ballgowns, sell antiques, do you have an etsy shop or a webpage to promote your wares. Do you have a CSA, sell eggs or pasture raised pork or vegetables. OK. Leave your link and a wee description in the comments on the Cottage Industry page. And where you are based – you do not need to be specific but if you are weaving rugs in Turkey, quilts in Australia, or making soap in Missouri, or pottery jugs in Chicago, or wedding photography in Wellington, you just never know who might get in touch or be just down the road.
What a wonderful thing it would be if we were searching for that perfect birthday present and were able to buy it from one of The Fellowship and support our own people. We are going Personal. Forget Global we are that already, Global is so Tuesday anyway, we can’t get more global, now we are going Personal. Think small, lift each other up and think of how we can support each other and promote each other and enrich each others lives in the process. Let’s work together.
If you think Big Business is taking up too much room let’s find all the Little Local Businesses with integrity and quality and show them to each other.
The second new page will be The Library.
If you read a book and love it: jot down the title and author and genre in the comments of this new page.
If you have written a book and want to tell us about it – write about it in the comments of this page.
I will find all our previous book lists and add the links to this page too. Now we start afresh and our 2017 list will be current and growing as we read and write. No need for a cattle call of books – we can check the page anytime we like.
We have a very strong community of readers right here. Many bright clever people. You belong. I hear from many of you. Many of you have good strong voices. Use them. We have a wealth of talent in our own little village. Let’s share our strengths and use this blog as a spiders web of real connections.
And yes – I AM THE SPIDER!! ha ha ha ha. No not really – more of a squirrel.
Anyway – what do you think? Can we pull it off?
Can you and I make a change in the blog world and build from the networks we have already begun constructing. Shine a light on the readers – the most important members of this blog.
Have a lovely day.
Love c
The Kitchen's Garden 
112 responses to “Intro-Ducing Two New Pages”
Nice ideas but I am not sure I agree with your central premise that the age of the blog is past. I have been posting every day since July, 2009 over on Learning from Dogs (apart from the odd power failure day) and find continued, and growing, interest in my scribblings.
Oh I did not mean to say the blog is over. I have heard many people saying that and was wondering out loud I think. I certainly do not feel Over! . How wonderful that you have been blogging since ’09 – that is a wonderful achievement. Learning from Dogs is a great blog. Did you list your book on the Library page? We have many dog lovers in the Fellowship. c
I love your initiative, Celi. Monetizing and ‘growing’ a blog are the death knell to my thinking. People nearly always lose focus on the conversation they could have with their followers when they head in that direction. I also do not comment on blogs who do not reply to comments, in fact, it makes me wonder why they are there at all. Yes, Instagram is growing leaps and bounds with people who use it just as you do. I look forward to exploring our new pages 🙂
I have to admit to loving instagram too! c
Blogging is writing for most of us. It takes dedication to stick to the exercise. This is why some quit. I suppose there are few quitters among farmers. I think that people enjoy reading and discovering different lifestyles. The way we communicate has changed a while ago and is still evolving. By the way your idea Cottage and Library is very cool.
Evening Evelyne, You are right about it being an exercise that we stick to. I think some of the best writers are craftspeople, honing a craft, they sit down every day and write no matter what – they simply do it. Have a good one! c
I love your ideas. Do you see the Cottage Industry page as just links for readers and the things they sell, or would you be happy for us to link other local, ethical or artsy suppliers we have found to be good? I don’t do any sort of Cottage Industry work myself, but I like to support those who do, so I have built up a bit of a network of local suppliers I buy from!
This is a good question. I am often needing to send things to my children in NZ which makes me think yes to your favourites because we do have quite a few NZ readers. As long as it is not too long a list, and you notify the vendors that you are adding them to the site I think it would be OK. I think they also need to have an internet presence for orders and deliveries to promote the internet village idea. What do you think?
I entered the blogworld quite accidentally some six years ago. Knew almost immediately that working fulltime and living out-of-the-way rurally did not equate to my having my own blog. Cooking was my main interest: the only ‘original’ idea would have been to write posts on Baltic [birth-land] cuisine which I find boring and don’t use 🙂 !! Felt like a cuckoo in the nest for a long while but loved the opportunity to meet so many talented and interesting people all around the world. Life had curtailed much of my once every-day travel, this way I still felt connected. In the beginning I did not expect the greatest benefit I personally have found in the blogworld: that of making real, true and wonderful friends . . . something akin the ‘penfriends’ of my childhood, but with an exponential turn-around of news and ideas and the ability to share both happy occasions but even more so problems and troubles multiple times in any one ‘session’. I have noticed changes: they have not made me think differently. Yes, I have walked away from some beautiful people because of the monetizing aspect: I understand their needs to make a living, but the feelingworld of their sends changes to advertising – that sadly is already all around us. And I know so many bloggers who, I believe, are spreading themselves far too thin using each of the modes on social media – I love ‘spending time’ with them, but cannot and will not follow from one way of expression to another for half the day. And I almost wept yesterday when one of my very favourite and brilliant friends said she felt she had totally ‘lost her mojo’ – but then after writing a brilliant post each time she had always felt her task finished and, being a busy gal locally, had never come back to ‘talk’ to her visitors . . . no feedback and little growth – loss of interest. I do think your two ideas interesting and, being an avid reader, shall certainly contribute to that page later . . . . meanwhile, especially living Down Under out of time-sync with both N America and Europe, I DO hope ‘the blog’ is here to stay for a long time!
Great idea with the Cottage Industry and Library pages. Looks like this is the year to get my website back up and open the store there, I was thinking about doing so last year but “things” happened.
The Fellowship is the most wonderful group of people, the posts and comments make my day, every day. Having a place to share more will be marvelous and yes, we should support each other, the small business, the artists/craftspersons, the writers, photographers, etc.
Bravo, Celi!!!!
Lovely ideas, C. I am especially interested to see who might be selling what on the Cottage Industry page. 😀
Very glad that you are not going away. Life would not be the same without hearing about what is happening on the farmy!
I think it’s a great idea. I don’t travel much, so I really enjoy the insights of the commenters from all over the place. I also enjoy several blogs from different areas, mostly variations of farms and ranches. Frances, who blogs on my shetland says she blogs for herself and her daughters and if others enjoy it, so be it. (She has the pudgiest cutest little horses ever, many rescues.) I enjoy your blog maybe because we seem to be of like mind and perhaps if I were younger I’d be a little more aggressive in being self sustaining. I also enjoy seeing all the personalities of the critters. So many believe a cow is a cow or a pig is a pig when even the chickens have their own personalities. I really like the idea of the new pages. I try really hard to buy local and I’ll never live long enough to read all the books I’d like.
Excellent idea here! You are such a good resource, C. I hope you keep writing, and inspiring others who like to read and write. Visiting is an important part of my day
I love the new ideas. It is wonderful to go to the Cottage and see what members of the farmy create. You have some wonderfully talented people following your blog!
Yes, all for it; i can do book pages; my blog died as bill became ill and then passed. I am doing very well; feel his love and that of others; but i have had no time and a series of life events that strengthened me, and floored me at the same time. thus, the blog faded into the background. i want to do the blog; am on wordpress, but feel i no longer know how to do the techy stuff; am gradually getting caught up; i teach and pet sit a goodly amount, but will try to update my blog; if anyone knows of free tutorials, let me know; love to all C: safe and blessed journey
I am so sorry for your loss, and wish you all the best. I don’t know of any free tutorials, although WordPress itself would be a good place to explore. However, I am quite happy to help out where I can. Let me know if you would like me to hold your hand for a while!
Thank u so much
You do sound as though you are picking up now. It takes a long time to adjust and absorb grief. So sad. On to easier things. The techy stuff is so boring but all doable! Have a wee look at what you want to achieve on your blog and then throw a question up into the comments here. Often by just creating the question you find the answer (you will know that one from your teaching!). Otherwise someone here will be able to help. Or we will find a utube for you. there is ALWAYS a utube! Much love..c
thanks Ducky, more later when you get back; hugs and total best wishes for travel’in mercies!
Some aspects of the blog world may be changing, and certainly there are no lack of how to to make money, get readers, grow a blog… but that’s not why many of us blog, and so instead we find ourselves in good company & exchange info, ideas, inspiration and caring. We’re the altar ego of the commercial blog. We are the ones who through our community are able to be the change we want to see in the world ♡
Your pages are a wonderful idea. To encourage and build connections in a time of division is so necessary. It is what I love about our blogging community ~ support, connection, inclusion and a desire to treat the world well. I started blogging so that I could talk about the things I wanted to talk about. I don’t always feel that I can do that in ‘real life’. But I stay blogging because I love the Fellowship I have found in my own little niche. I only wish I had time to read and comment on more, and feel a sense of loss when someone moves away from their blog. I will add my tuppence worth to your pages, (I have a book in mind already!) and enjoy seeing what others are suggesting. Hugs.
[J+D] Visionary!
Simply brilliant. Like you. 🙂
K