What makes a good blog?

[Cadalot]

I've recently been reviewing the last four years of my blog to see what I was doing each month and now I have a second plot, I'm kind of starting again but not quite from scratch as I have to maintain the one I have and develop the one that I have taken on. A wee bit of a balancing act especially as I only have access to the first plot on the weekends because of the building works around it.

[The poly tunnel poet]

I just had a quick look at your blog, now I see what makes a good blog and it involves a wide selection of skills to create interest and convey valuable information

[craftymarie]

With gardening blogs, I like to see lots of nice big and detailed photos.

I also want to read posts on specific topics rather than what someone has done each day which is more of a personal diary thing. When I start growing a certain vegetable, I will often research it to the nth degree and I want to know how other people have grown it and what tips they are giving.

Because I have a small garden rather than a nice big allotment, I often look for advice on growing in small spaces. I love reading about vertical gardening and other people's solutions to issues I might face with how I grow.

Videos are useful and I will often look on YouTube as well. But there are not enough very detailed UK blog growing guides in my opinion that are stuffed with photos and helpful text.

A blog can be whatever you want it to be. To be really useful to other people reading it though requires a bit more thought than just keeping a diary of events.

[veggiechicken]

Why don't you write your blog in rhyme
Something different, if you have the time
With your name of Polytunnel Poet.
You should be able to grow it.

[Baldy]

Oh dear - I'm almost going to be forced to "do one" - haiku style maybe?

The sky is so blue.
The sun is so warm up high.
I love the summer.

CraftyMarie has a point - I'm kind of generally interested in stuff and sort of know about some of the people/blogs I've mentioned - would I have found them without 'virtually' knowing them - probably not - though Cadalot's soldering iron might have led to a hit on google.

So if you want a lot of hits on your blog you either have to do something along CM's thoughts, or what Cadalot has done and present a carefully built 'character' on-line over the course of 3 or 4 years on various gardening sites, throw in a bit of controversy here and there see what happens.

[Cadalot]

Controversy "moi" it's just opinion based on logic if you mean the Thompson & Morgan Brassica fiasco Alans Allotment: T&M All Season Sprouts and Cabbages

[Baldy]

Controversy "moi" it's just opinion based on logic if you mean the Thompson & Morgan Brassica fiasco Alans Allotment: T&M All Season Sprouts and Cabbages

You're taking me seriously . Tut tut...

[Tripmeup]

I started mine purely for a record keeping purpose and have found it useful already in term of checking back.

Tip of my cap toward Cad for some initial tips..

[Tripmeup]

I started mine purely for a record keeping purpose and have found it useful already in term of checking back.

Tip of my cap toward Cad for some initial tips..

To clarify, the one i mean is not the one that appears under my user name here...

[Hazel at the Hill]

Mine's a diary - couple of pics with each post and a short description. To help CM out, though, I do try and tag my posts so that it is easy to search for a particular fruit/veg.

[Cadalot]

Mine's a diary - couple of pics with each post and a short description. To help CM out, though, I do try and tag my posts so that it is easy to search for a particular fruit/veg.

Only just started doing that once I got the second plot so that I can find the post relating to either, then started to add other tags, and now there is a growing list of them. When I'm bored or during the dark Winter months I will go back and tag all post going back to 2012.

[Cadalot]

You're taking me seriously . Tut tut...

If I had, would I have been using the Miss Piggy "Moi"

[sparrow100]

Accurate detailed tagging is really important if you want to be able to search the blog. I started out using general terms like 'digging' and realised quite far on that that was useless. Took me ages to retag properly! I've noticed that it's also brought people to my blog via Google searches for a specific crop, eg my notes on growing saffron.

[The poly tunnel poet]

This is really useful feedback and greatly appreciated.

I had considered a poetically driven blog, but worried I might strike as being cheesy. A few years ago I might have just jumped in and wrote, but I would like to think I was not wasting the valuable time of readers and I would like to think it was read by other than myself.

I have often found a deal of gardeners quite secretive about their growing. I would like to think someone visiting might learn something from a visit.

[Cadalot]

What I hope this that anyone who visits finds a little golden nugget of information that they did not know or perhaps it inspires them to try something different. My pop bottle self watering propagators are a modification to something that I saw on a YouTube video.

I had a brainwave and decided to make handles that actually hold the propagator in place and also allows me to easily lift the growing basket out of the bottom water container for re filling easily. See Alans Allotment: Pop Bottle Self Watering Propagator