When this blog was started, it was just me working on it and it was a pretty slow start. I published the first blog article on September 6th, 2017. That first year, I wrote 11 articles, which wasn’t bad for those few months. The next year it went down to 8 articles for the year, then 12 the next year, and the following year was a measly 7. The year 2021 was the worst…5 whole articles. Within those five years (slightly less since I started in September), there were only 43 articles written by me. That was not very many or consistent. Traffic to the blog was slow.
In 2022, I wrote 3 articles by June 23rd. Sometime around July 22nd of 2022, I somehow convinced my wonderful wife, Joy, to join me in this crazy adventure in blogging. We have since written a blog article every single week from the day she joined me in this adventure. It hasn’t been the easiest, but the traffic has about quadrupled since she joined, and we have been consistent in publishing articles every week.
This article you are reading now is our 100th article and we want to share with you what it has been like for us and what we have learned so far on this journey.
What We Have Learned Since Starting this Blog
This whole blogging thing came up as a learning experience for me so that I can learn WordPress and Bluehost, which are the website creation and hosting platforms I use at work. For some reason the responsibility was passed down to me at work to maintain the company’s website. I knew nothing about these platforms, and I needed to learn it somehow so I thought that if I started a blog at home, then I can learn those platforms and possibly generate a little passive income on the side through Google Ads and Amazon Affiliate Links. If not, then atleast I still learn something.
I first had to learn how to create a WordPress site and that is where I learned that there are two different WordPress’s…wordpress.com and wordpress.org. The main difference between the two is how they are hosted, where wordpress.org you have to find a hosting provider.
After setting up WordPress on the selected hosting provider, I had to learn all the different tools on selecting and setting a website theme and get the website up and running. There was a bit to it, but Bluehost and WordPress made it pretty easy for someone who didn’t know what they were doing.
Over time, laws began to change for your readers privacy. I then had to learn about privacy policies and cookies so I can get that setup properly on the blog.
Then I decided that I was going to try to go for some passive income and dived into Google Ads and Amazon Affiliate Marketing.
How was I going to see how well or bad the traffic is on the blog? I needed to learn about Google Analytics. After getting that all set up, Google decided to change their Analytics to GA4, making another change that I had to learn about.
I also wanted to try to keep getting readers to come back and that is when I had to learn how to set up Mailchimp along with the various signup forms to get readers to subscribe to our blog.
I am sure there will be something else to learn here soon as time goes on. It has been a big learning experience for me and it is nothing like people say…”Oh, just make a blog and you can make passive income”. It’s not that easy.
Other than setting up the blog and learning all these things, when Joy and I write some of these articles, we occasionally need to do a little research first to make sure what we share with you is as accurate as possible. During all the research we have done, to no surprise, there is a lot of contradictory information out there. We do our best to weed through all that to provide you with the correct information, but most of the time what we write is based on our personal experiences.
We are still learning all this and it has been quite the adventure. To break it down, here is a list of some of what we have learned while getting this blog going:
- Learned about WordPress
- Had to find a hosting platform such as Bluehost
- Website speed
- Website security
- Privacy Policies
- WordPress plugins
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics
- Amazon Affiliate Marketing
- Learn how to get subscribers through Mailchimp.
- Learn about Cookie notices.
- Costs to keep the blog going and secure are actually pretty high.
- All the variations in Featured Images.
- A little CSS and HTML.
- JavaScript
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Forms
- Canva
- Various website themes
The list can go on and on. There is actually a lot to what goes into a website. Much more than I have ever thought there would be. No wonder there are people who specialize in web design!
Most Visited Articles per Google Analytics
There are some articles that get a lot more traffic than others. Shoot, some don’t get hardly any traffic right now and that’s okay, because maybe one day they will catch on to the audience. I don’t recall which article it was, but it was sitting stagnant for a very long time and then it all of a sudden it started to get a quite a bit of traffic.
Here are the top three articles within the last twelve months:
160+ Sayings for Garden Signs
This was a fun one to put together and we still go back and add more sayings to it whenever we come across another or think of something new. We are currently up to 198 sayings for garden signs.
Kids Observation Ecosystem Worm Farm – Week 1 Observation
This was a fun one too because I worked with our kids on this project. They were involved throughout most of the project and gave me their observations while the grass grew and how the worms move the soil around. We haven’t used the observation system since this project, but our kids were just asking me about it the other day. We will need to get started with it again and maybe let the kids put different seeds and maybe different soil in it the next go around.
Plant Profile – The Dessert Willow Tree
This is currently the third most visited article on our blog and it is a fascinating one. I like how Joy pulls together the different facts, history, propagation techniques, and other bits of information on the plant profiles she pulls together.
Those are the top three articles as of today. This is based on the number of views. The number of Sessions is different…1st is 160+ signs, 2nd is the Desert Willow Tree, and the 3rd is the Kids Observation Ecosystem. I don’t know yet the difference between views and sessions (I still have a lot more learning to do).
100 Things We Like
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There are many things we use during our gardening, metalworking, and woodworking adventures. Here is a list of those items we like to use (The links below are all paid links):
Woodworking
Woodworking Tools
- Dewalt Planer and Stand – A highly rated planner, which I also own myself.
- Jointer – A decent jointer.
- Forstner bits
- Hole Saws – Inexpensive hole saws that gets the job done.
- Sign Making Kit – A sign making kit I have used for years.
- Anti-slip mat – Something to prevent stuff from slipping around. Makes it nice while sanding.
- Router Table – A router table that I have had for quite a few years and has worked out great.
- Wire Wheels – Perfect for making new wood looked worn and for cleaning up metal projects.
- Drum Sander Attachments – Nice attachments for the drillpress.
- Titebond III – Excellent glue for cutting boards.
- Copper Coat – Nice wood protection for untreted wood that goes int he ground.
- Walrus Oil – A nice premade finish for cutting boards.
- Howard Oil – Another nice premade finish for cutting boards.
- Rubber Feet
- Keyhole Hangers – Inexpensive hangers.
- Copper Wire – Some copper wire I used for the wood heart project.
- Post Level – A level for setting wood posts in the ground.
Woodworking Books
- Handmade Woodworking Projects for the Kitchen – A good book for some idea on woodworking project for the kitchen.
- Make Your Own Cutting Boards – A good book of ideas for cutting boards.
- The New Bandsaw Box Book – A good book to introduce you on making boxes with the bandsaw.
- Woodworking’s Guide to Live Edge Slabs – Another good book on learning about live edge slabs.
- Crafting Wood Logic Puzzles – A book I have had for years and is one that helped me get started in woodworking.
- New Wood Puzzle Designs – Another book I have had for years and has some good projects.
- Great Book of Woodworking Projects – A book with good project ideas.
Blacksmithing Tools
- Anvil
- Hammer
- Post Vise
- Tongs
- Key rings – If you plan on making key chains, you need key rings.
Blacksmithing Books
Interested in getting started in blacksmithing? Here are some books I highly recommend. You can also read about them here: Getting Started in Blacksmithing: The Best Books for Beginners.
- The Everyday Blacksmith
- The Home Blacksmith
- The Backyard Blacksmith
- The Artist Blacksmith Design and Techniques
- Practical Projects for the Blacksmith
Gardening Supplies
- Moisture Meter – Need to monitor soil moisture.
- Rapitest – A simple test kit for soil.
- Trail Cam – An affordable trail cam you can use to see what is going on in your garden.
- SD Card – Memory card for the trail cam.
- Osmocote – Fertilizer we like.
- Crimp Tool – A need tool for one of our projects we share on our blog.
- Crimp Beads – For holding beads on the wire.
- Beading Wire – For the beads.
- Tweezers – Great quality tweezers for pulling out those darn cactus stickers.
- Flashlight – Sometimes you need that extra light to see the cactus sticker that is stuck in you.
- Cactus Soil – Soil we like.
- Dibber – Besides planting seeds, this is helpful for cleaning cactus.
- Fox Farm Potting Soil – Good quality soil.
- Fox Farm Fertilizer – Good quality fertilizer.
- Aeroponic Hydroponic System – A propagation system that we have had pretty good luck with.
- Rooting Gel – This goes with the propagation system.
- Cloning Solution – This goes with the propagation system.
- Garden Hoops – Helps keep the shade cloth off the plants.
- Potting Bench – This is Joy’s potting bench
- Potting Bench – This is our son’s potting bench
- Kneeling Pad – Make kneeling on the ground more comfortable.
- Mini Greenhouse – Our son’s greenhouse.
- Raised Garden – Nice raised planter.
- Liquid Seaweed and Kelp Fertilizer – Nice natural fertilizer.
Seed Starting Supplies
- Waterproof Seedling Heat Mat – Helps start your seeds indoors.
- Seed Starting Trays – Trays to hold your seedlings.
- Seed Starting Cells – Seed starting trays.
- Self-Watering Seed Starting Tray – Seed starting tray.
- Seed Starting Soil – Special soil for seed starting.
- Grow Light – We have various grow lights and they all work great.
- Grow Light
- Grow Light
- Plant Labels – A little something you should have for seed starting.
- 4″ Garden Pots – Affordable pots for transferring your seedlings.
- Liqui-Dirt – A wonderful way to help your seedlings.
House Plant Supplies
- Tool Kit – A kit to help contain the messes while working with your plants.
- Houseplant Soil – Special soil for your house plants.
Gardening Books
Learning about the soil you have or want to grow is a full science in itself. You can read our article What is Mycorrhizae and How Does it Benefit Plants?
- Teaming with Microbes
- Teaming with Nutrients
- Teaming with Bacteria
- Teaming with Fungi
- Companion Planting for Beginners – A simple read that has some really good tips and ideas on companion planting.
- Gardening with Less Water – An excellent book are many ways to save water in the garden.
- Grow Your Soil! – A good book on improving your soil.
Composting Supplies
- Thermometer – If you have a compost bin, you need to monitor the temperature.
Composting Books
- The Rodale Book of Composting – An excellent book on composting.
Worm Composting Supplies
- Kids Observation Ecosystem – A fun kit for your and your kids to experiment with.
- Digital Meter – Test mointure levels and PH.
- Rapitest – Soil test kit.
- Fish Emulsion – Feritlzer for the garden and worm tea.
- Cheese cloth –
- PH Test Kit – This is a wide spectrum test kit, great for those PH ranges the typical kits don’t reach.
- Vitamin C – Used to reduce the PH in the worm tea.
- Air Pump – Used for aeriating the worm tea.
- Unsulfured Molasses – Food for growing bacteria in the worm tea.
- Microscope – A fun tool to see what microorganisms are in your soils, compost, and teas.
- Accessory Kit – A good kit for the microscope.
- Worm Factory 360 – A good worm composting bin that is pretty easy to use.
- Worms – Worms to get your worm composting bins started.
- Thermometer – This is a smaller version of the one listed above.
Worm Composting Books
Reading worm composing books can be fun and helpful when you are starting out. It also gives you the opportunity to see what others are doing. You can read about these books here: What is Vermicompost?
- Worms Eat My Garbage
- The Worm Book
- What Every Gardener Should Know About Earthworms
- Improving Your Soil – Updated and Revised
- The Rodale Book of Composting
- The Worm Farmers Handbook
Conclusion
We are excited that we made it to article 100 and wanted to share this experience with you. We talked about taking a little break after this milestone, but I think we decided to just keep going so that we don’t break the flow. Coming up with so many topics to write about becomes a challenge sometimes. I guess that is one plus side to having a few different hobbies we can share with you.
If there is ever something you want to see us write about, let us know in the comments below and we will see if it is something we can consider.
Rick Simper has various hobbies, including woodworking, metalworking, composting, and gardening. He is an Architect full time and uses these hobbies to get away from the busy week of Architecture.