Re: Introducing myself

**H*@aol.com**

Welcome to the GWL.

Don't be shy, we don't bite, we grow.

Andrew Messinger
The Hampton Gardener

The Hampton Gardener is a Registered Trade  Mark
(Published every Thursday in the Southampton Press, The Press and the  
Easthampton Press)

In a message dated 1/1/2008 7:37:24 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
kmarsh@iol.ie writes:

Greetings everyone

I find I'm uncharacteristically nervous about  introducing myself to  
this group since garden writing comes some way  down both my source of  
earnings and how I spend my time. My main  source of income is  
academic editing and my main use of time is the  management, on a  
volunteer basis, of the gardens of Sonairte: The  National Ecology  
Centre of Ireland where one apple tree, an  Ecklinville Seedling, is a  
survivor from the 1835 Ordnance Survey of  Ireland. The garden has had  
organic certification since 1987 and is  used to demonstrate growing  
techniques and sustainability to both  amateurs and commercial  
growers. I have a fortnightly general  gardening page in a Dublin  
newspaper and contribute occasional  articles, mostly on issues around  
organic gardening, the integration  of ornamental and food gardens,  
gardening for wildlife and similar  issues to a range of magazines and  
newspapers. I talk and teach on  these and related themes nationally  
and occasionally internationally  to a range of clients from garden  
groups to industry bodies and  represent organic and environmental  
interests on a statutory body,  the GMO advisory group of the  
Environmental Protection Agency. I  have a three acre garden, much of  
it in a state of benign neglect,  which includes damp woodland and  
formal bog gardens, water meadow  managed for species variety, orchard  
and vegetable areas and the  usual collection of formal gardens. I  
make regular resolutions not  to become a plantaholic but break them  
when faced with roses,  hellebores, irises and primulas. It has  
recently been born in upon  me that 18 climbing roses, six clematis,  
two wisterias and two  honeysuckles is probably too much for the walls  
of any one not  particularly large house but I have great difficulty  
making  sacrifices.

On the topic of fees I am a firm opponent of undercharging.  One can  
always give a discount to a group who can't afford one's  full fees  
but who one wishes to talk to for one reason or another.  But it  
should be made clear that this is a discount and should be  invoiced  
as such. It just isn't fair to others to start  undercutting. If  
speaking to a charity one can even charge full fees  and later make a  
tax deductible donation - a practise I have found  acceptable to the  
Irish revenue commissioners.

Looking  forward to learning a  lot

kathryn
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Post gardening questions/threads to
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For GWL website and Wiki, go to
http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters