Announcement - Oct 2

Geez! This thread is so active you can read the last post and hit refresh and get more!

dont' worry got Dimitri tooooooooooooo this site is too good DG and trish thx hope all come back!!!!!!

I`m in also...just wish I had xtra to help out some others(maybe next year?).I just had to say altho I don`t know many people personally on this sight it has been a godsend for me, my outlit, my own little piece of heaven.It`s been a tough year for my family 5 deaths (one of which was my father in law),I had some emotional probs & surgery twice this summer(& looking forward to another in nov.),my mother in law is not doing well...sorry I don`t need to go on.But the absolute enjoyment I get from this website cannot be descibed in words.When I read some of the posts I can`t help but laugh (they make my day),& sometimes they make me wanna cry & sometimes...yes they make me angry.That`s what makes this website real...human...fun...exciting!So I will subscribe to my addiction & Dave & Trish thank you...(I hope I made sense cuzzz...sometimes I dont)
Jen

Ok, I've read every single post here. I do not need to be convinced that DG is a great place to be. I love this site and all of the people who make it such a special place.

Concern #1 - I understand that the site is going to be more focused on gardening and I support that 100%. I don't care to read the trashy talk and bickering. It's a complete waste of time and it seems to creep into more posts than I care to count. If that part is going to be (somehow) minimized then I am in. I do not want to pay to be a part of a group of people who tear each other down. I am here for the positive, uplifting, informative gardening conversations that I have with so many of you.

Concern #2 - I can come up with the money, but not right away. If I spend another penny on anything yard-related my husband is going to make me sleep in one of my new lasagne "beds". He has all but banned me from more trades for the time being because I'm spending too much money on postage. He's right, too. I have gotten a little out of control.

Dave, Can I send you $5.00 a month for the next three months? We're almost finished getting ourselves out of credit card debt and I don't want to add to that right now. Actually, I could probably send the whole amount around the first part of November as I'm supposed to get some money from a lady I did some computer work for.

It's not like we're poor, it's just that I had this conversation with my husband about money only a couple of days ago. The timing is just unbelievable.

Any suggestions would be welcome. When things start perking back up, I'd like to sponsor someone else. I'm hoping by the first of the year. :)

Jen, I think you said it all. We're family:) Couldn't make it through one cup of coffee without Dave's and all of you!

I haven't been here long, but do love it! I just found the Trade Tracker last week (Like I was telling another member here, that thing's as handy as socks on a rooster!) and I was wondering how I could offer something back to Dave and Trish for making this available to me. Voila! My question was answered! DH and I are in the process of finding an extra $15 so my check can be in the mail before two weeks is up (I just spent my monthly allotment of mad money on pansies and flowering cabbage ;-). Thanks, Dave and Trish!

Removed by member request

I dont know who my guardian Angel was, But let me tell you, you brought tears to my eyes when I received the email from trish saying I have sponsored by someone. Thank you whoever you are and god bless you.
tamlamb

Hello all,
I'm going to stay for the next 14 days, but after that I can't subscribe :-(

there are a few reasons for that. the main reason is we are building a home and the bills just keep on getting higher and higher. I know $15.00 US is not the end of the world, but right now it's to much. If I had known before I would not had bought plants with my fun money.(every beginning of the month I spent some money just for myself $20.00 can.)

the other reason is I love to trade plants but most DG friends don't trade plants with us here in Canada. I'm mostly in to indoorplants.

anyways I wish you all the best and I will stick around for the next two weeks.

zameluzza

Whew! Finally had a few moments to log and see what the big change was!!! Dave,. you really had me scared there for a moment- scared that you were gonna shut down or even worse... stop gardening!LOL! Whew!! Glad that didn;t happen!!! And now you're asking a mere $15 so that I can keep in touch with my friends, enjoy good pics and conversation, and get the best gardening advice (and recipes) ever???? Count me in!!!! I know that for some $15 is tough right now and hopefully many of us can pitch in to help them out so that they can stay on board- great thought- the scholarship thing!! You are very considerate to keep the cost down considering how much time and funds of your own you've put into it and well ads will be putting into it!!
I hope our friends from all over the world can pay also- with the different monetary systems and such. Also, I'm not sure if Louisa is out of town yet- she won't be back until November 15th, I think....
Thanks for always trying to make this a better place Dave and Trish!!
-JSS

Hi all,

I must say I've enjoyed my time here, but I just can't see paying for the service. The people are great and the database, etc are just fine, but I feel that I can find other places on the internet for free and other databases to use. I'm not saying that Dave doesn't deserve the subscription, but I just cannot afford it.

We're retired now and live on a fixed income. By the time I've paid for my ISP, that uses up all my free money for the month.

I wish all of you the best.

hatch

Dave you have mail :-)

hatch: Don't forget, all the other features of DG are still completely free! That means the Journals, Tradelists, trade-tracker, and Plants Database are available for your enjoyment, without having subscribed.

Regards,
Dave

I imagine I will join too. It is a decent price. The only problem is I'm on disability. I cannot afford 15 bucks this month. I can pay in Nov. I too already spent my money on plant stuff. Could I send you five now, and then ten in early Nov? I love this site. I come here more than any other site. I don't get to trade much, or talk with other gardeners like I do here. Dave you have a great place here. I do enjoy the international feel here too. I don't want to lose the people from other countries....they help make this place what it is. I love it just like it is. (maybe an extended chat every day would be nice)
I also love the General Discussion forum. Please don't take it away. If people don't like it, they don't have to go to it. There are tons of other forums for them to use. (I go to too many already...hahaha...Im an addict I guess)
Kelly

Okay, scrolling way up to shuttlebunny's post:

I would say the latter is definitely happening here. We have had enough people subscribe (or commit to sending in checks in the mail) already to assure a lively group of gardeners here. DG is alive and well!!!

Your other question: regarding the chatroom. I have given this some thought, and I think expanding the chatroom may very well happen. Let's wait until after October 17th (the two week grace period) and start having some fun.

Best,
Dave

Hi All,

I have to say everyone has seen this day coming because in the long run you really get nothing for free...I understand Dave's point of view though!

You can't keep giving and get zilch in return...I have a gardening website known as Rebeccasgardenweb.com that I have not intentionally advertised on DG and lots of people will probably be surprised that I am known here as Prissy (by the way that"s my dogs name...I am not 'prissy' at all!) I have nurtured my website for a year now and payed money out of my pocket and may I say it wasn't pennies and to report for instance one month my click thru's only generated about $4.00, needless to say a piddling of what I had to pay as well as my time... I have spent lots of hours of my valuable time to webmaster this site as well as surfing the 'Net to gather info for gardeners...and as well it takes lots of time to learn how to do html and tables and etc...

I know lots of people do realize the time it takes to dedicate yourself to a project but there is not enough support out there to help out with the bills...

Therefore, I hope DG does good enough to survive for I know alot of you DG visitors go to my site for info and I will take this opportunity to tell you all that this will be a totally free site as of 11-01-01... Meaning I will no longer pay out any money to support this site...

I wish you all the best and I hope I still can win the brug contest!

Cheers!
Rebecca

I started reading all this and just couldn't finish! What a bunch of whining whimps! Someone (Dave) has been giving all of us something from his heart. Now that he can't, either payup or opt out! Thanks, Dave, for giving us this site! I'm paying up!

Thanks, alhanks and everyone! We have had 99% positive responses from our members, and I am absolutely overwhelmed by the tremendous support the members of this great community have given. Words can't describe it. The very best of all our members has been shown today.

Dave

Hi everyone! I am a fairly new member here at Dave's garden. Dave, I completely understand why you are asking for subscriptions. Unfortunately, when my husband quit his job at the beginning of the year so that he could devote all of his efforts into building video games. We are about to finish our first video game that we will be asking money for. It isn't easy living on just your savings. We don't have the luxury of going out to eat, to a movie or most any other thing. We just took one of our dogs in for an operation and will have to make payments to the vet for the surgery! I have met so many nice people here and will truly miss everyone but I just can't afford the $15. Maybe in the future if we get money coming in again. Who knows maybe I'll be able to help someone else pay for a subscription in the future. This is a sad day for me because I am really going to miss everyone.:(

Thanks Dave & Trish for all you do! I'm signed up and feel like I got a bargain.

Doris

Thanks Dave.. My DH & I both signed on tonite.. where else could we get so much for only $30 (2 puters)a year. We are new to gardening & sure found a lot of help here not even counting all the great seeds we have gotten.
Thanks again for such a great site,
Sugar_fl & Greenwood

I've been wondering for a while how you managed to maintain this site. I know from experience how demanding a website is and I figured that sooner or later you'd either have to get advertising, start selling stuff or start a subscription service. Very understandable.

Dave, Im in I will mail in the morning. I got the address so discard the email. I love this site and I am glad that there are forums where people can disagree, and then go to another forum and trade plants with the same people you disagreed with. I love all the people that I have met here and look forward to meeting more. I agree with eyes. I would like to help anyway I can.
Shannan

My wife is taking medication for hep.c that cost an enormous amount of money. In addition she is on 5 other medication and I also have medical bills. She hasn't worked in 2 months and is trying to get disability started. I was thinking today how I was going to provide Christmas for my grandkids, the kids are old enough to understand and the grandkids might have a lesson provided to them. $15.00 is not much but it is when other priorities are knocking on the door. Sorry I have really enjoyed this site as most of you know and will continue to visit the site for the free forums. I hope to be back when she gets the disability strarted. I haven't posted this to get any one to subscribe me and would not accept the offer. Please pray for us in our time of distress and ask that God's will be done. I was thinking the other week when I saw where Dave posted that the site was costing him $280 a month that he should charge the members. I'm not upset and don't think he is trying to make a killing just trying to provide a service and unfortunately it's not free to him. Good luck and I will continue to post for the grace period. Jim

I have browsed many of the above posts. Some of us outside of the US have 'got stuck' with DG. Now, $15 will cost me something like 700 Indian Rupees. When the US $ is converted into Indian Rupees, it is a big sum and the $ is always a costly item here. Now I'll have to request one of my friends (Indian) living there in the US to pay for me, if he/she is willing. Dave has now reached a stage where he has to do this inevitable thing and we garden-lovers should back him.

I have to write here to tell you that I can,t believe the generosity of some of you people on this site, I read my mail this morning to find that some kind person (haighr)had paid my subscription for me . I was literally sat here tears rolling down my face, the fact that one person, who doesn,t even know the other one would do that, it really makes me emotional,if only the rest f the world were like that !I can,t begin to thank them enough, but it only goes to show what a great bunch of folks there are on here,and that the world is not all doom and gloom as the media suggests.
Haighr, you,ll get your just rewards in heaven (not just yet though :-} )and when I can I,ll do the honours for someone else . My love to you all,especially haighr,I need to go and clean my face up to try to look respectable as I have a group meetng at the clinic soon, and I don,t want them thinking I,m depressed again, they might keep me in ! :-}
THANK YOU.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There are two e-mails for me today from Dave. One says that an order has been placed for my account on DG and my account has been fully subscribed through October 17, 2002. The other one says that it is fully subscribed through 2003. Haighr has mentioned my name in her post above. What should I perceive from this, Dave?

Dave and Trish, I am in total support of the subscription. Computer equipment etc. costs cold hard cash. And what about all of the time spent programming all of the great features into DG? It would cost a fortune to pay someone to do all the things you have done here for us. Dave, you have indeed programmed many great features at the memberships request. The small cost of the subscription is worth these things alone.

Another great thing about this site, NO ADVERTISEMENTS OR POPUPS! Especially the popups! Those things make me crazy! There are some sites I just have never gone back to because of them. I gladly pay for Privacy Manager on my home phone to keep the telemarketers from calling all of the time. The small cost of the subscription is worth not having advertisements and popups.

I have looked at the cost of some of the gardening software available on the market and the features they include, not cheap. And if you want the latest and greatest, you have to pay for the upgrades as they become available. The small cost of the subscription is worth it because you get daily upgrades to information here.

They say money can't buy happiness. We all know this is true. But it can surely rent it for a little while. The friends I make here are priceless. The small cost of the subscription will rent me a little happiness for a year here at DG.

Dave and Trish, count me in!

Sharon

PS Count me in on the Garden Angel Program to help others who are on an even tighter budget than myself. Good friends are hard to find and I'll gladly help out to keep my good friends here with us.

This message was edited Wednesday, Oct 3rd 6:18 AM

Hello all,
Unflortunely I'm really not able to do the $15.00, I know it isn't much for we are on a fixed budget and it's just not possible after paying the heat this Winter and all else.
I've really loved being here and wouldn't feel right about not paying and then comming back.
Thank you all for you great company and wonderful friendships.
((((((((((((HUGS&LOVE)))))))))))))
Raven~

I really haven't been on much - I just check out this site every couple of days and will probably be getting into it more later - and since my good buddy MZ M is joining - guess I'll have to kick in the $15 to stay up to speed with everyone else.

Count me in! This site has given me so much enjoyment,not to mention new friends, that I will gladly pay a subscription to help keep it the best garden on the web. Thanks Dave and Trish for all your hard work.

Jean

Dinu, That means you don't have to pay the $15 subscription. Someone else has done it for you. So that means you gotta pass out your thanks :)

I will more than gladly pay the $15. It's not that big of a deal. I know for some paying the 15 all at once is what is stopping them. While it's not a lot to some it is to others. I hope many don't leave. I enjoy this site tremendously. And I love the fact that there are no ads. That is one of the most favorable things about this site. I hate when a site has them placed strategicly(spelt wrong) so that one goof of the scroll bar has you clicked on a link that makes you stuck forever.

Some people are saying wow 4,000 x 15 comes to 60,000 dollars. And I thought wow what a profit. But when you really look at it for what it is. Dave and Trish won't be making that much a year. Do any of you know just how expensive some computer parts are? Some software runs in the hundreds of dollars range. BUying space is pricey, bandwith, and all of that. Plus connection speed. THe amount of hours he is at his computer, working on this and that to improve the site is amazing. And worth more than $60,000. Maybe a few years from now he will see a huge profit, if thats the case, than I am thrilled for him. He deserves it. He isn't being greedy, he is trying to survive like the rest of it. Apparently this is something he enjoys, or he wouldn't have spent so much time, effort, and money on this site. We all have profitted from our experiences here. I think it's time Dave got what he deserves.

THis site still isn't like the other site, so you really can't compare. To totally different people Dave and Spike.
Basically I am just babbling so don't mind me. I think it's good that he will finally get some money out of this, It's only fair.

I hope everyone who leaves will someday come back.
Holly

The thing that amazes me the most is this: Can you imagine keeping up (if it's just him and his wife) with all the posts and pictures, to be sure that there's nothing inappropriate? You've got to look at personal homepages, all the threads, all pictures posted, the plant database and the list goes on. That alone would be a huge task and extremely time consuming. That would drive me up the wall! hehe

I have very mixed emotions here. For we UK users the UK forum has been withering, a variety of reasons here, all sad. I don't exchange seeds and plants and the recent trend towards turning all threads into "I'm right - you're wrong" arguments has made me grimace.

But there are a lot of lovely people here and I enjoy reading what's being said, even though I don't post as much as I did before the summer holidays.

I have nothing but respect for Dave and Trish and, having tried running my own business and lost my cars, house and self respect when it failed can only wish them the very best for the future and hope that all goes well - it's a big step and an awful lot of worry and responsibility to take on.

But I don't come here as often as I used to - and I'm having to ask myself if the amount of visits I make could justify the money for subscription. My computer cost me nothing as does my access (thanks to my family helping) and although I'm not broke I have to consider what I'm doing with money very carefully, just like most of us.

I don't know if Dave has a method of seeing who logs on and how often but if such a feature was available it would be obvious that I flit in and out semi-regularly but contribute little.

Since I'm still undecided perhaps I could ask anyone who knows me to email me with a suitable email address for us to stay in touch if I move away from DG ? I guess most everyone knows my addy anyway, I've never hidden it.

The situation for me is further complicated since I'm contemplating a major upheaval in my life, possibly the biggest I've ever undertaken, and my future is uncertain - who knows if I'll even have a computer next year ?

If I do 'shuffle off this magnetic coil' (stop groaning Dave, it wasn't that bad a joke!) it won't be because of gripes or bad feelings or any of the other stuff people have thrown up.

A transatlantic hug to all of you

Jo

Be careful Jo, if you're not careful, you'll likely get a sponsor...lol (If you're not sure what I mean...just read several posts on this thread...you'll see it eventually)

Thanks for going with a membership fee - I think this will solve alot of the problems that have sprouted up over the past year :)

You guys are the best.

I am officially subscribed - RiseAnn aka the lurkinator :)

Dave, just to keep your count up to date, my check is in the mail. I feel that this is a small price to pay for the wealth of information and good things that happen here.
Cindy

When I first saw this site and signed up I wondered how Dave could possibly make any money at this. No advertisements, nothing for sale.... I was even leary about signing up, figuring I would end up on some e-mail list trying to sell me stuff, but then I thought at least it would be gardening related if it happened.

So going to a subscriber site doesn't surprise me, although the talk of "equipment" buying has me chuckling. I too have a site of my own, www.perennialnursery.com, and webhosting doesn't cost that much. You simply lease space on someone elses equipment. The time involved to maintain this site is by far the biggest cost.

Good luck, Dave. I won't be back, but I'm sure enough people will kick in their money to make it worth your while.

Chris

I support you 100% and will gladly pay a subscription fee!

COUNT ME IN!!!

Im sorry I just had to say this. If someone doesnt like the "heated post" the dont read that post. I for one am glad Dave lets us have a forum where we can state our opinion. When I do state an opinion I dont expect everyone to agree, but when someone disagrees I dont take it personal I just take it as a difference of opinion.