Veg Plotting & Me

You'll see me in this guise all over the web as it's my avatar

Photo of Michelle Chapman - Veg Plotting's author and freelance writer, blogger and social media provision
That's better, now you can see me properly
Hello and welcome! My name's Michelle and I've been chatting away as VP since 2007. 

 Thanks for visiting Veg Plotting and I hope you enjoy your time here. 

 I thought you might like to know a little more about me and the blog before you go on to explore further.

 I'm a freelance writer, distance carer and subversive soprano from Chippenham, Wiltshire. 

Previously I've been a student (twice - mature and immature), a very uncivil civil servant, scientist, project manager, charity worker (science, events management and education), business analyst and a freshwater biologist. The perfect background for life as a blogger!

 When I set up Veg Plotting, I intended to write solely about my allotment, but I soon found too many other things were crowding in which I need to talk about. My plot is now my place for inspiration as well as providing some of the subject matter.

A little blog bling - I was GMG Award finalist in 2009 & 2012-2014, plus a Vuelio Top 10 blog since 2010

 

I'm lucky blogging gave me the opportunity to be a freelance writer, and I find it's a great way to learn my craft. 

 Current and past blogging clients include Gabriel Ash and Connect Group plc's Community blog. I've also looked after the online PR for West Green House Garden (i.e. their website, newsletter and social media). 

 I've written for Reader's Digest, The Guardian, The Independent and features for various local and specialist magazines. I also looked after the Garden Media Guild's social media (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) for 4 years and wrote articles on the subject for their GMG News.

Here's the full list of my Published Articles to Date.

Here's a little bit more about me and my loved ones...


The elusive NAH
aka Non-allotmenteering Husband
I'm no expert: you'll find this blog is about my discovering new things about gardening and working things out. Perhaps I should have called this blog The Experimental Gardener.

 No-one in particular gave me a love of the soil at an early age, though I did end up studying Agricultural and Environmental Science for my first degree, where amongst other things we looked at soil and its formation in great detail. 

 I finally got the gardening bug when we moved to our current home in 1999 owing to the challenge of a 15 x 15 metre plot on a 1 in 10 slope and a limestone-clay soil. I feel I've returned to the inspiration of those early studies.
Then my husband (Non-Allotmenteering Husband aka NAH) was ill for a while and I became concerned about the food we eat. As a result I took on an allotment in 2003 where I grew pretty much anything, except for most brassicas as NAH won't touch them. We're talking about someone who only liked peas when we first met.

Now I'm bringing the allotment home, as I gave up my plot in 2018. This is a long-term project so that I can get things right. Early results show I can be more productive in my smaller space than I was on my allotment because now I'm focused on getting one space right instead of splitting myself across two. You can follow my continued GYO adventures on my Allotment at Home label.

Some further introductory information you might like to read

Skimble & Jess


And now for my blogging philosophy...

I talk about my own experiences, what I've learned along the way or anything quirky I've discovered. I like to provide links to good quality information should you wish to know more.

 I love your comments, especially when this triggers a conversation or questions. You may like to read my post about the information given in blogs and my approach to answering questions. 

 If you have problems in leaving a comment or would like to get in touch, please do get in touch via vegplotting at gmail dot com or the Contact Form at the bottom of this page.

99.99% of the photos you see are taken by me and are my copyright. Those in the few guest posts I have are usually supplied by the guest blogger, are credited to them and are their copyright. There's a handful sourced via Wikimedia; in these instances the source and the photographer are credited.

I sometimes have a small amount of sidebar advertising and post sponsorship. These cover my blogging costs and they haven't stopped my independence. This also applies to anything I get to review - I'll tell you if it's good or bad. See my post about how I Blog with Integrity if you'd like to know more.

Now dive into the blog and enjoy yourself!

Comments

  1. Unknown6 June 2017 at 18:50

    I've wandered quite a ways to have washed up here! I'm really enjoying looking over your blog, partly because it's SO different from Texas. (I'll admit, a lot of things you do in Wiltshire don't translate to the heat and heavy clay soil around the Dallas area, although my snowdrops, in their amended bed, are oddly enough, immoderately happy.) I'm definitely interested in trying some of your recipes though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP7 June 2017 at 09:47

    Thanks and welcome to Veg Plotting! I hope you enjoy the recipes - let me know how you get on :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brian Skeys4 December 2017 at 19:50

    I have just realised that since I moved to WordPress while I have been following your ‘Bench’ Blog I have not received any posts from VP. I have re-subscribed by email.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP11 December 2017 at 09:50

      Thanks Brian, that's lovely of you. I hope you continue to enjoy Veg Plotting :)

      Delete

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