Kiss My Aster – An Interview with Blogger Amanda Thomsen
Amanda Thomsen is the delightful and witty blogger behind Kiss My Aster. Amanda, the self-described "enfant terrible" of Valparaiso, Indiana, runs a blog where absolutely fabulous meets gardening. Along the way, there's room for a lot of vintage stuff. And that's, my friends, are the ingredients for a great interview.
Ephemera: Tell me about your interest in vintage stuff, especially ephemera, and how it fits in to what you're doing on Kiss My Aster.
Thomsen: I have always, always been interested in vintage stuff--so by the time I realized that gardening was my passion...the trend was already in place and the vintage gardening stuff just started migrating to me. A lot of my collection is stuff that's given to me. The ephemera is such a big part of it because of the thrill of having something no one else has been able to find...or something someone else doesn't even care about, but to me it's magic. It's just like with any other specialty.
ephemera: What have you discovered about your gardening interest through ephemera?
Thomsen: I've discovered others like me that cherish this stuff! Most notably The Garden Monkey's Book Flange, which makes me feel like I'm not such a crazy nut for having stacks of this stuff around! In the items themselves, I've found that gardening hasn't really changed that much...just the use of DDT has! Design, plants, and methods are all really the same. So, save yourself some money and just buy a 30-year-old gardening book and cross out the DDT on every page!
ephemera: My dad owned an Ace hardware store in the 70s. He loved DDT. If he was capable of crying, he'd have wept when they banned it. He has demons. But those are his challenges. What are some of the challenges you face as a blogger?
Thomsen: It's challenging to me to blog as often as I'd like to during the summer when my work as a landscape designer runs over in to any personal time I have. And oddly, the summer is when people want to READ gardening blogs so...I'm really at a loss. I have pages and pages of ideas and sometimes no time or will to post them. And then in the winter? There's nothing physical to write about, so I can really spend time getting some of the vintage garden stuff out there!
ephemera: What are some of your favorite posts?
Thomsen: I love my Vintage Garden Ideas posts. I love how fresh and modern they are still. And naturally, I'm obsessed with the furniture. Also I've written some posts about mulch that I'd like to take door-to-door around the country. We need help when it comes to mulch!
ephemera: Send some of that sweet, sweet mulch my way...I love a good mulch. What are your plans for the future of the blog? How do you see it evolving?
Thomsen: My blog is ever evolving. I'm convincing people to guest blog, which is fun for everyone. I'm working on a site that groups younger, hipper gardening blogs together. I'd love to make this what I do for a living, make myself into a cluttered, punk rock, pack rat Martha Stewart
ephemera: Thanks, Amanda.
