I must be official, because I got invited to a garden blogger thing!

I’ve reviewed several Troy-Bilt products on the blog before that I got from them through various promotions. I’m the first to admit that it’s a pretty sweet partnership and I love all the products I’ve reviewed for them. And I was SUPER surprised to be invited to be one of the Saturday Six for Troy-Bilt this year. Gina of My Skinny Garden gives a very good overview of the dealiyo. But I think this means I am no longer just a garden blogger, but actually a Garden Blogger. (Perhaps I should update my business cards?)

So this week, (after a work trip at the beginning of the week…ugh), I get to meet some awesome garden bloggers—some of whom I’ve followed for ages (ie like a couple of years) in Cleveland, Ohio for some pretty fun events! Fun fact: Other than Hawaii which is sort of different (and a run-to-your-plane stopover in Texas for that trip), Cleveland will be the farthest West I’ve ever been. Yeah, I’m a world traveler. (For the record, the farthest east is Bermuda, farthest north Canada by Niagara Falls, farthest south Orlando – where I am for the work trip as this posts.)

This is also sort of a Big Deal to me because…well, I don’t really “like people” if you know what I mean. I mean, they’re OK in small doses, but I’m really more of a loner. Internet people are fine, but typing is like way easier than talking (can I tell you how much I hate the phone when it’s anyone other than my mom or husband or dad?). Internet people aren’t supposed to be actual real people, right? BUT I am still super excited to meet my fellow bloggers and the activities they have planned for us sounds pretty fun (and the food sounds delicious). So look at me with all the New Experiences and such! Clearly I am Official. (So many Capital Letter Words!)

So look for more Saturday Six updates throughout the summer as I get to play in more of their planned activities. I’m already sort of freaking out over what to pack (I’m posting this as I leave/am there, but I’m writing it a couple weeks ahead of time. Magic.) The fact that I have to wear fancy work clothes the first part of the week and jeans and tees the second part of the week makes it harder. Plus I want it all to fit in a carry on. Plus I need my computer and fancy camera. Plus I need to jam all of my liquids into that impossibly tiny quart-size bag. Plus I need to figure out like cabs and stuff, which stress me out (tips are stressful).

Here’s info and links (and bios) for the whole crew:

Kylee from Our Little Acre
Kylee lives and gardens in zone 5b in northwest Ohio, where she tames the native clay to produce vegetables, fruits and as many annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees as she can fit onto an acre surrounded by rural farmland.  Author of the popular gardening blog Our Little Acre, Kylee is a freelance writer and photographer who feels fortunate to have a husband who sometimes joins in on her gardening projects and who loves cats as much as she does.

Mark from MyFixItUpLife
Mark Clement is a licensed contractor, cohosts the live radio show MyFixitUpLife with his wife Theresa, regularly contributes to “Extreme How-To” magazine, “Professional Deck Builder” magazine, AOL’s DIY Life, DIYNetwork.com, HGTVpro.com, OldHouseWeb, “Old House Journal,” and has been a featured guest on DIY Network, Discovery Channel, HGTV, and PBS.

Gina from My Skinny Garden
Gina lives and gardens in the Chicagoland area, zone 5b.  One summer day in 2007 she decided to grow an organic tomato, and now four years later, most of the yard in front and back of her small house has been replaced by vegetable and perennial gardens.  She still considers herself a novice gardener who frequently kills plants, but every now and then she grows something really pretty or builds something cool.  Her greatest gardening accomplishments are the cedar pergola built over a weekend with good friends, the raised vegetable beds she constructed herself, and the trip to Las Vegas she won in a tastiest tomato contest.  Gina chronicles her gardening and DIY conundrums at her blog, My Skinny Garden.  Her philosophy is simple: grow, marvel, eat, laugh, persevere.  Gina works full time as an IT Application Support Analyst in healthcare and is a part-time freelance writer and the cofounder and Vice President of Forest Park Community Garden, a nonprofit 501(c)3 dedicated to educating the community on building organic sustainable food systems.

Jennah from Jennah’s Garden
After a lifetime of consciously avoiding helping her mother garden, Jennah started gardening voluntarily in 2007 when she and her husband bought their first home.  It came with only a few sad, half-dead bushes and one, all-the-way dead mum.  (Things are much better now.)  Notorious for moving plants several times before being content with their location, Jennah gardens by trial and error, and attempts not to dwell on the error. She is wife to a deputy sheriff and mom to two cats and one dog, and hopes to one day be as good a gardener as her grandparents.

Cynthia “Meems” Glover from Hoe and Shovel
Cynthia lives and gardens in her beloved native state of Florida, only a short distance from the beautiful shores of the Gulf of Mexico.  She is a blogger, freelance writer, amateur photographer, Master Gardener and garden coach. Cynthia specializes in Florida-friendly and native plants, while steadfastly adhering to “right-plant, right place” in her mostly shady garden.  It is her passion to share and teach all she’s learned while gardening in a challenging growing climate and to inspire hopeful gardeners to enjoy their gardens, too.
Douglas from A Gardener’s Notebook

Born in the epitome of small town America – New London, Ohio, – Douglas E. Welch spent many summers digging and planting vegetables in his grandmother’s garden or driving tractor on his family’s small soybean farm. Computer work called him to the big city of Los Angeles but he managed to take a piece of Ohio with him. When he and his wife bought their first home they inherited an overgrown 10 year old garden. He has spent his years renovating what was a meticulous Japanese garden into a small piece of woodland among the urban cement. This double life illustrates his belief that balance in this modern world requires a combination of high-tech and high-touch living. Douglas’ gardening column and podcast, A Gardener’s Notebook, began in 1996 and is available at DouglasEWelch.com/agn/.

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