It’s very hard to believe that I’ve reached my 100th post… who’d have ever thought it…certainly not me. I remember my first post well. I was so nervous. I’d never done this or anything quite like it before, other than joining Facebook, and other yahoo groups and web sites a long time ago. This was completely different… my little kingdom where I could post anything I wanted, wide open and completely unchartered territory! So I started posting photos and captions, and writing about them. Lots of my posts were about the garden and my family, which is where my heart is. Sometimes I think I’d like to write a very polished and professional gardening blog, then I find myself writing and sounding just like myself. I’m not generally polished and professional. I can be if needed but I don’t think I’ll ever have that well-spoken, intellectual tone that gets freshly pressed and recognized widely. That’s okay, I’m going to enjoy this and be comfortable in my own skin. I’d like to use The Salem Garden to help people. I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. Maybe I should laser focus in on basic gardening concepts, or start another blog dedicated to helping people who are in very difficult circumstances? Those who are close know that I’ve had kind of a Forest Gump type of experience, especially in the past seven years. I may write about all of that someday, we’ll see.
In the meantime here’s a re-cap of some of my favorite moments from the past six months or so…
The garden at the beginning of the season, all planted in and ready to go..
This was my third post, the one about turkeys in the yard…
Then I wanted to give you an idea about what Salem is really like…
And of course, I posted about weeds. I never, ever profess to be a perfect gardener in any way. I make lots and lots of mistakes and I have no professional experience. I just love it and that’s what I share.
Then there are these moments, when we can just enjoy the view. 
The little kids and I planted potatoes!
and there were always chickens..
And the Common..
And kids helping. I love this photo, I used it on our family Christmas Card this year..
People loved the green monster post. I should decorate more, and blog about decorating more. There is a really big audience for that!
I should post more recipes too, this chocolate chip cookies recipe post is a big favorite…
and there’s always more chickens… In the spring I might do some nitty gritty chicken maintenance posts with Michael, especially if we have baby chicks again. Chickens are fun!
The bee balm grew.
And I posted about my dream house… this was widely read too. I may do a series of dream houses… 
We played on the beach at Winter Island a lot..
And enjoyed one of my favorite gardens anywhere! 
There have been waterfalls…
And very special visitors..
I visited lots of gardens and I have a very long list that I missed! 
We even painted chairs one day
The garden kept growing and growing…
We had the experience of Hurricane Sandy, although we were spared the worst of it.. There was also the near miss of the tornado. Who would have ever thought this would happen?
You all seemed to enjoy this guy last weekend! So did I!
and now we’re looking at the winter garden…
It’s time to settle in for the long New England winter, plan for the spring and enjoy a some quiet, cold days. I have lots of thoughts for the winter edition of The Salem Garden… It will be fun!!
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, correcting, and cheering me on!
I love it here.
Michele
The Salem Garden 