As you know, I am always thinking about my beloved blog, the centerpiece of my creative life. When I started the blog in 2007, I decided not to permit comments on the blog itself. My blog is a monologue, not a dialogue, and I don’t care to spend my life arguing my life or explaining it to people.

The blog has grown beyond my expectations, and so has the work that has gone into it and the commitment I have to it.

There are now four million visits a year on the Farm Journal, and more than 400,000 unique visitors. We also now have an Army Of Good, what a gift.

The blog is there for the taking. I love to get messages from thoughtful people, pro or con, but so many of the messages on social media are not thoughtful, but cruel, intrusive, combative, or simply strange.  People don’t have to think about these messages, they just spit them out quite often.

There are many millions of people in America who love to argue their beliefs all day long, but I am not one of them. What a waste of time.

The best messages I get are often via paper letters or e-mails. People tell me all the time they are not comfortable with Facebook or Twitter and prefer to comment or post in a safer environment.  And many of them are young. I have been hearing these messages for years, and have decided to act on them.

Starting sometime next week, I will permit comments on the blog itself, as well as on my Facebook Page, to which the blog feeds every day, all day. The comments will be moderated. Thoughtful comments, pro or con, will be permitted. Personal attacks, hostile comments, rants and arguments will not be permitted.

All you have to do is click the “message” line at the bottom of each post, and you write your message right there. It won’t be published until I see it and approve it,

I intend this to be a safe zone, for regular readers of the blog, for people who are not comfortable on Facebook or Twitter, or people who want a bit more space to articulate ideas. Criticism (civil criticism) and doubt are welcome, hostility will never make it into the light.

Please do not ask me to update life on the farm for you (how is Fate? Where is Robin? Please post a photo of the chickens or Minnie?).

I don’t take assignments and I work hard to publish the blog daily, sometimes six or seven times day, and with photographs. If you can’t or don’t wish to read the blog, that is  your prerogative, but I can’t keep everyone who is on the Internet up to date on every animal and person in my life. There are lots of you, but only one of me. And if you care, read the blog.

If you have concerns or questions about the blog, I will be happy to try to answer them

I don’t won’t post comments about  your dog’s medical problems and other troubles, or the horrible abuse he or she endured before you saved them, and i don’t want to hear them. you can do that all over  Facebook and Twitter. I know I sometimes I do that, but that’s how I make my living, and I do it when it’s of possible use.

I’m excited about this change, I look forward to your comments. I’m thinking one day I will stop taking comments on social media, in that they are too often arrogant, self-righteous or hostile. But there are also some wonderful comments, and I’m not ready to pull that plug yet.

But this will make my blog totally self-sustaining, and I like that. I believe in interactivity, people now expect to have a conversation with their authors, and I am game.  I do not believe in enabling cruelty and rage.

So we can continue our good work and our conversations more easily, now and over time. The comments on the blog will be accessed by the message bar at the bottom of each post. As I also said,  I will have to approve each comment before it goes up, so it won’t always be instantly.

I hope this will encourage those who have been following my work but do not wish to go on social media to join in the conversation and tell me what you are thinking. This is also for people who wish to speak freely and safely. I will make sure that happens.

This is a big step for me. The blog is still a monologue, but it has also become a community, and I value the chance for us to further communicate with one another in a safe and familiar environment. So thanks for supporting my work and look for the message prompt next week.