When I started this blog a year and a half ago, I never imagined some of the side benefits.

I’ve gained quite a few new friends, gotten help identifying rare species, been hired to write by other good sites and even ended up with some great teaching gigs.

Beyond that, though… checking my PO box has now become an adventure.

Check out a few of the nifty things that have arrived randomly in the mail.

 

SEEDS! Lots and lots of weird seeds. Plus a great letter that included this printout:

I laughed out loud.

I also have no idea where you’d get chocolate pudding fruit seeds. You can find the trees for sale down in S. Florida, though. They won’t grow up here, sadly, because they’re not very cold tolerant. (Maybe that’s a breeding project I should undertake). I planted one in The Great South Florida Food Forest Project… if that makes seeds, I’ll mail some to you, Kathy.

Finally… at one of my recent talks, my friend Louise randomly gave me a totally cool book:

That’s from 1902 and is quite a fun read… the authoress is quite amusing, plus the illustrations are fantastic:

Beyond these gifts, I’ve been given tropical celery (thanks, Jorge!)… sent hazelnut seedlings (awesome, Jay!)… and even gotten a tool or two to try out.

Folks ask me if this blog makes any money. The answer is: very, very little. About $3-5 a month in Amazon sales.

I’ve been told, “David… why would you spend all that time doing a daily gardening blog that doesn’t pay you anything?”

My answer: life is more than money.

Trading seeds and getting random presents from people that appreciate the research and knowledge I share… that’s satisfying.

One day I may strike it rich… but I already feel rich.

Thank you all.