FOUND: Garden Mentors Online
Since joining Twitter in April 2009, I’ve met many gardeners and designers online that I’m proud to call my mentors. These folks have experience in vegetable gardens, perennial gardens, landscape design, container gardens, garden blogging and/or composting. They’re also a pleasure to chat with.
Just recently, one of my Twitter mentors, Dan Eskelson nominated me for the Honest Scrap Award. But, since I already wrote my post for the Honest Scrap Award (you can read it here), I decided to talk about what makes Dan a great mentor instead.
What’s great about being friends with Dan on Twitter is that he seems to know everything about gardening and landscape design AND he’s willing to share his knowledge with the rest of us. He’s also very approachable and often the first to respond to my crazy questions/situations — in my opinion this is what makes him a great mentor.
That, and he’s an all-around nice guy and a great conversationalist.
What’s great about Twitter is that I can also see Dan’s conversations with the other garden/design gurus that I follow (a.k.a my other mentors). It’s like getting to listen in as the Masters talk poetically about design, landscape design, plants, latin plant names and organic methods. I admit, sometimes I have no idea what they’re talking about and have to use “Google” to figure it out — but I enjoy learning new things.
Now, I agree that Twitter isn’t for everyone (I often wonder if it’s right for me since I spend more time reading other people’s posts than actually engaging in conversation) but, finding Dan and other garden mentors/friends online is one of the best things to happen to my garden. It’s like having an interactive resource manual, cheerleading squad and cocktail party at my fingertips. It has also helped me realize I have a lot left to learn about gardening and design — especially if I want to be a great mentor like Dan some day.
I’d like to thank Dan for nominating me for the Honest Scrap Award and for being so supportive online — both are apprecited. You can learn more about Dan by visiting Clearwater Landscapes or by following @daneskelson on Twitter.
Gardening in My Rubber Boots 