Housekeeping [July 12, 2026]
Hello GARDEN CLUB Founding Members! Three months ago, you became GARDEN CLUB's founding members. You chose to join something that didn't yet really exist, and for that I am enormously grateful. At the outset of GARDEN CLUB, I wrote about the start of this venture being like moving into an empty house, and these first months being a period of figuring out â what the rooms will be , where the furniture goes, paint colors, appliances, bookshelves and art. You helped in the building of this house, then I opened the doors and let everyone roll in and wander through however they wanted. I did the same thing myself. It has been an interesting time of observation and watching things develop, now itâs time to be a little critical and make some decisions and adjustments.
A while back I sent an email asking for feedback about how you all were finding things inside, and many have reached out to me personally with comments and ideas. Thanks for the feedback, I could absolutely use more!
As I've watched over the last months as we have moved in, here are some of the things I have observed:
Some parts of the house we have settled right in to.
TWIG â This Week in Gardening has found its footing. Thank you for all of your kind comments and encouragement. Writing that each week has become one of my favorite parts of GARDEN CLUB, and I already have thoughts for expanding it.
Other rooms are still figuring out what they want to be.
The Gardeners Stream has remained quieter than I expected â just a trickle of activity. I absolutely believe in the ideaâa place where we can ask questions, share observations, and learn from one anotherâbut we clearly haven't found the right way to encourage this to really flow yet.
The same is true of our live gatherings. Both A Growing Conversation and Office Hours have been lightly attended. Whether that's scheduling, format, or simply the way we're using them, I don't know yet, but we're paying attention and considering what is next.
Finally, many of you have mentioned that our platform Kajabi itself can feel a bit cumbersome to navigate. That's valuable feedback, and we'll be looking closely at how to simplify the experience.
As of July 15th , GARDEN CLUB founding season is complete. We are going to close the doors, for just 2 weeks, to rearrange some furniture. Membership will pause and on August 1 you can expect a reopening!
With the experience and observations of Founding Season in mind, I will be making - actually here, a shift to âweâ, because I am NOT doing all this on my own - we will be making adjustments to membership, interface, and the way that things are structured. We will be accounting for your input, comments and attendance to prioritize what has been working and retool what is not.
We will also begin casting a wider net. Founding Season was open to primarily friends, colleagues, acquaintances and associates. If GARDEN CLUB is going to grow into what I hope it can become, it needs to welcome a broader community of gardeners. So, around the first of August, Iâm hoping you might start inviting and scouting for new members. You all Founding Members have made it possible to build this house. Now that it's standing, it's time to invite more people through the front door.
So that's where we are.
Thank you again for helping build this house. Over the next two weeks we'll move a little furniture, repaint a wall or two, and see if we can make it a little roomier and easier to live in.
If you have thoughts, observations, or ideas, I'd love to hear them.
And donât worry, we're not building a new house. We've simply lived in this one long enough to find that maybe the sofa belongs in another room.
