How to read blogs – by request

A number of readers, especially in England, are new to blogs and have asked about how to read blogs and how to find out when there’s a new post at Transatlantic Plantsman.

The Simplest Way

1. Bookmark/Favorite Transatlantic Plantsman - http://TransatlanticPlantsman.com – just like any other website.
2. Click on it whenever you remember.

Better still, and still very easy

1. Bookmark/Favorite the site, as above.
2. Enter your email address in the window above the Subscribe button, top right, click the button and follow the simple steps. Then, whenever there’s something new to read, you’ll receive an email to prompt you to take a look. You can either follow the link in the email, or click on your Bookmark/Favorite.

Simple way for people already reading blogs

1. Click the Subscribe to this blog's feed link, top right.
2. Some browsers will simply let you Bookmark/Favorite the page (e.g. the latest Firefox or latest Explorer) and will automatically bring up the most recent posts.
3. Otherwise, it will open up a window allowing you to click on buttons through which you can easily subscribe using one of the popular blog readers. If you’re already set up with a reader, it should be there.

If you don’t have a blog reader and think you might want to read lots of blogs

• Sign up with a free reader and I suggest Bloglines, a service which checks the blogs you want to read and highlights new posts. (There are other similar services.) It’s easy to set up, just follow it step-by-step.

If you use the Firefox browser…

• The Sage reader is excellent. It creates a sidebar which lists the blogs to which you subscribe, and highlights in bold those with new posts. One click, and all the posts appear in the browser window. This is what I use.

Searching for a blog?

1. Try Google Blog Search
2. Or try Technorai Blog Search

Ten recommended blogs
Finally, to get you started, here are ten recommended gardening and plant blogs from the UK and USA. There are more in the sidebar over on the right.

GardenWeb’s Garden Voices
Daily highlights from the gardening blogs

Garden Rant
Firm opinion, with an endearing touch of justified hysteria from Susan Harris, Elizabeth Licata, Michelle Owens and Amy Stewart. Superb. There are links to their own individual blogs too.

Horticultural
Jane Perrone's organic allotment and garden blog from England.

Invasive Plants in Arlington
Photo diary or working on non-native, invasive plants in Arlington, Virginia.

Mostlymacro
Sightings and photographs from the natural world in Yorkshire, England.
http://mostlymacro.blogspot.com/index.html

Irene's Garden and Beyond
New York Newsday’s gardening columnist Irene Virag on her garden and beyond

GardenDesignOnline
Gardening and landscape design with attitude from Jane Berger in Washington DC and Woods Hole, Massechussets.

Cold Climate Gardening
Hardy plants for hardy souls from Kathy Purdy in zone 4, New York state.

A Study in Contrasts
Mostly garden-related musings of a transplant living near the sandy shores of Lake Erie.

May Dreams Gardens
From Indiana, including the Garden Bloggers' Book Club

Comments

[Kathy]

Thanks for the recommendation. I didn't know Irene's blog; I will have to check that out. Looking forward to your sweet pea book as I haven't had much luck with them--yet.

[william]

If someone wants to set up their own blog, it is worth reading Jakob Neilsen's advice on weblog usability: the top ten mistakes on http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html
I see so many blogs where noone makes a comment - alright if you just want your own online diary.
To get that formula where people join in, is not that easy!

[william]

and a selection of a few more weblogs, podcasts on http://www.mygarden.me.uk/weblogs.htm

[Graham Rice]

Thanks, Kathy, I'll be posting on sources of sweet pea seed before too long. And yes, William, Neilsen's advice is excellent and thanks too for the link to your list.

[Kim]

I was busy making notes--I've always wondered how some people seem to know I've added a new post immediately--and then I saw my blog listed. Thanks for the recommendation, Graham! And thanks for the information, too. I came to the world of blogging rather late and am still playing catch-up.

[Carol]

Thank you for the link back to my blog and the good info on how to keep track of blogs one enjoys reading.

[Ellis Hollow]

Another option with tab browsers (even IE7 has that feature now), you can just set up a session with all you favorite blogs in different tabs.

[Graham Rice]

I'm also relatively new to blogging, and could have done with some basic advice when I started. The tabbed browsing is a good idea, Craig, I use that too sometimes - though it's easy to get overloaded with tabs! Then I forget, and close the whole window instead of just one tab!