This is not a misspelling of a misspelling. There is no misspelling of “Horticulture” in the title this week. “Horridculture” is typical of my rants on Wednesday. It is not the only deviation from the norm here. I included the contraction of “It’s” in the title. I have been trying to relax my otherwise objectionably uptight writing style; but a contraction in the title still makes me cringe.
“Horridculture – It Is What I Do Not Do.” would be consistent with my style, but silly, and not so relevant to the subject matter. I am a horticulturist, arborist and garden columnist. I enjoy what I do very much, which is why I made a career of it. It is demanding work though, and does not afford much time for blogging. The quality of my blogging is consequently compromised.
I still work as many as three days weekly at a job that was supposed to be temporary two years ago! It is so excellent that I can not bear to leave, although I must eventually do so. It entails the maintenance of many acres of landscapes and forest at a Christian Conference Center. We have been unable to work for the past month, so will be busier than typical as we resume work.
Mondays and Tuesdays are my days for writing my weekly gardening column. I should probably retire from this work, but enjoy it so much, and would prefer to instead expand it into other publications to fill in the gaps between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I do intend to simplify this writing, even if expanding it; so that I can do it all on Mondays like I used to not so long ago.
For more than the past two years, I have not inspected trees or landscapes for other arborists or landscape professions. There just is not sufficient time! I do miss that work, and composing reports for those who dislike writing. (Arborists and landscape professionals who enjoy their trees and landscapes innately dislike writing.) If I ever resume such work, it will be only rarely.
I intend to eventually return to the farm where I belong, and resume production of horticultural commodities. As much as I enjoy the rest of what I do, growing things is what I do naturally. It is why my ‘temporary’ job was supposed to be ‘temporary’ two years ago. It will involve even more demanding work than what I already can not keep up with, but it is what I need to do.
Therefore, I will have even less time to devote to blogging. I intend to continue to post my brief weekly gardening column in two parts on Mondays and Tuesdays, as well as old articles from the same gardening column in two parts on Thursdays and Fridays. I would also like to continue with Six on Saturday and other brief posts for Saturdays at noon, Sundays and Wednesdays.
I write for my gardening column weekly regardless of the blog. Old articles from the column are already written. Only new posts for Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays need to be written separately; so some or all will be omitted if necessary. What I must discontinue now is my involvement with the many compelling blogs that I have been following for the past many months.
I will not stop following any of the blogs that I presently follow. I will just not be able to read all of the posts, or interact with them like I had been. For me, it will be quite a weird adjustment. I feel obligated to read much of what others post into blogs that I follow. If someone puts effort into positing it, then it must be important. I certainly enjoy how others interact with my blog.
I certainly do not want anyone to think that I lost interest in their respective blog. Many of them provide ideas for what I should write about within the context of my own weekly gardening column. Insight into horticulture in other climates, regions and even cultures has been fascinating. This is merely something that I must sacrifice in order to continue on with my own writing.
Tony Tomeo 
We’ll miss you. And Rhody!
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I will not neglect everything. I just can not follow so much as I do now.
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I will also miss you. I always looked forward to your comments.
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I will not neglect everything. I just can not follow as much as I have been following.
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Well don’t go too far away, cos we’ll all miss you. And Rhody. And what’s wrong with contractions? Be well. Albert might ask me about you.
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I do not intend to neglect everything. Albert is not someone I want to lose track of. I just can not follow as much of the other blogs as I have been following.
There is nothing wrong with contractions. I just do not like writing with them. I have been using more of them though. It sounds more relaxed.
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Time is a precious and valuable commodity, especially while working. I fall way behind on reading even blogs I love. One that I love a lot, Moosey’s Country Garden, I am about ten years behind on. Others I want to read and swear every winter that I will read from the beginning…I just don’t because it is time consuming to write my own, for whatever reason that being the habit I have formed. Best wishes on your finding a good balance of time for all you enjoy.
Sent from my iPad
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Even if I have time, I do not enjoy reading too much. I never have. I have been writing for two decades, but still do not read much.
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Thanks for your blog Tony. I learn a lot here, especially proper pruning of Mahonia and Nandina, and chatting about our various natives and weeds. One never stops learning with hort. which is a big part of the fun. I hope your paper writing goes well
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You are welcome. I will continue with it for now because I enjoy it. It is really just chopped up articles. I suppose I should take blogging more seriously, but I can not keep up with what I do now. I certainly do not want to take on more. Newspapers are not what they were years ago. I still enjoy writing for them, but I also miss writing for just the local newspapers, where my articles were very specific to the local climate and events.
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Yes, blogging takes a bit of time, but I have really found it helps my understanding of the things I know very well but have trouble getting them across. I’ve found twitter helps even more with its 140 character limit.
Primarily I blog/twitter to get more contacts and leads around my work, but I love talking with horticulture and landscape people and the arts people. I also spend some time on metafilter as there’s lots of hort/ecologists and artists there.
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My! That is too advanced for me. Blogging alone is a stretch. I started my gardening column back in 1998, when I was able to still use a typewriter.
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“It’s what I do” is fine with me. Now if only people would stop using “it’s” as a possessive, as in the incorrect “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Likewise for putting an apostrophe and an s at the end of a noun to make the plural, as in the incorrect “I have three car’s.”
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Spelling seems to be passes nowadays. Facebook is abhorrent! It amazes me that people who spell and write so poorly expect to be taken seriously, and then get irate when misunderstood.
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Tony, I understand all too well time constraints. Over the past year or so I have stepped away from my blog. I am a writer at work and there are times I am, well, just worn out or too busy. Writing and gardening takes time. I enjoy reading your posts very much and have been grateful that you’ve taken time to interact with my blog.
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You know, after writing my gardening column for more than two decades, I still do not feel like a writer. I am just a horticulturist and arborist who happens to write about it. I certainly do not read much. I have enjoyed my writing, but yes, it really can get overwhelming at times.
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Reblogged this on Tony Tomeo and commented:
Oh my! This was three years ago, and I still have not resumed my more typical work! Well, It has been very enjoyable!
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