I love my blog, which is now nearly seven years old and which has evolved beyond my imagination in so many different ways. People ask me if the blog is an interruption in my work, and I always say in many ways, the blog is my work. It supports and defines my books, gives shape and voice to my photography, has helped me grow and heal and change, connects me to my readers in a new and powerful way, and protects me in an era when books and writers vanish without a trace in a swirl of media and a flood of information.

When things were darkest, I went to the blog. When things were brightest,  I did the same, a testament to its power in my life.

The blog idea was inspired by some old farm journals I came across, and I was mesmerized by the fidelity the farmers had to their journals, the way they kept a record of things, the candid way they expressed their fears and wishes. Now the blog has evolved – we are on track for six million hits this year and bedlamfarm.com and the Farm Journal are visited all over the world. The blog has expanded – words, photos, videos – and onto Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, all guided by my very wonderful relationship with Mannix Marketing of Glens Falls, N.Y., whose vision and support have shaped this blog at every turn. I am so grateful I did not take the advice of others and go to New York City for a Web designer. I’ve called Mannix in the wee hours many a time and they have always responded instantly.

The Farm Journal will remain the heart of the enterprise, and will be largely unchanged. I am thinking of a page redesign that pulls all of these elements together. I am also considering a single ad at the bottom of the Journal to help me with the cost of the site and the photos. Publishing has changed, and so have the ways a writer makes a living. The blog reflects that too. I’m meeting with Mannix tomorrow. As always, I am grateful to those of you who have been along the ride, and those who are just coming aboard.