my top 10 garden posts of 2009 (thanks to you)
IKEEP SEEING TOP-10 LISTS EVERYWHERE; ‘TIS THE SEASON. So what’s mine—what individual posts on A Way to Garden got the most interest in 2009? And the winners are…
1. PICKLE-MANIA: My old friend Dan Koshansky’s recipe for refrigerator pickles—one of three archival 2008 posts that nevertheless made the top 10 again in 2009—was your choice for the Number 1 spot, based on how many views it got. The recipe couldn’t be easier, nor the results more delicious. Remember: lots of garlic, please.
2. GROWING A BETTER TOMATO: No surprise that this post about every phase of tomato growing, from seed to harvest, was a winner (as was the Number 10-ranked one about growing them from seed, specifically). Who doesn’t love tomatoes?
3. STEWARTIA CONNOISSEURS: Who knew a relatively unusual tree like Stewartia would garner the Number 3 popularity spot of the year—particularly since the story on it is from a year earlier? Now that’s a tree (and a blog post) with multiple seasons of interest!
4. WORKHORSE GROUNDCOVERS: I thought this would be Number 1, since really tough groundcovers that aren’t ivy or pachysandra or vinca are hard to come by. But I suppose the Number 4 spot isn’t bad.
5. DEER FENCING, MY WAY: Keeping deer out of the garden is one of the biggest challenges gardeners face, and I shared whatever insights I have in this popular post.
6. THINKING VIBURNUMS: My favorite genus of woody plants did it again: made me, and my readers, happy. This 2008 post won the Number 6 spot in 2009, but if you added in the popularity of my viburnum-pruning how-to post and another one on the heavy viburnum fruit set this year, the topic of viburnum would rank as Number 3 over all for 2009 here. They certainly deserve it.
7. TOUR OF MY GARDEN: Seeing this slideshow of my spring garden tour on the most-popular list feels like I had a whole other group of visitors—the quietest, best-behaved ones ever. Fun.
8. WEEPING ALASKA CEDAR: Of all the beloved conifers I profiled so far, none was more popular than the weeping Alaska cedar, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula.’
9. PERFECT PARSLEY: The post on how to grow and store a year’s worth was another 2009 hit, part of the popular Summer Fest cross-blog cooking-from-the-garden series I did with some foodie friends.
10. TOMATOES FROM SEED: These tricks for how to germinate them and produce a stock seedling did the trick for many readers, apparently.
Thanks to all of you for your clicks, your comments, your camaraderie.
With all the e-mails that appear in my mailbox, it was yours that I always looked forward to reading! Thanks for all the fun, excitement and valuable information you always provide.
Dan’s refrigerator pickles were awesome! Thanks for the recipe. First time I made pickles too. I didn’t have any jars so I made one big batch in my sun tea container.
It wasn’t a great gardening year, but it WAS great sharing it with you! Thanks for keeping our spirits up when the rain, the chill, the blight, and everything else was dragging them down.
Looking forward to a spectacular garden in 2010!
And many thanks to you, Margaret. Looking forward to 2010. Can it possibly be almost here? yikes. Happy Holidays to you and yours.