Sorry to hear that. It has always been a seasonal forum so as the canning season picks up so will the forum. It has always been that way. But when you realize that if not for Houzz buying it it would have disappeared completely it puts things in a different light..

Dave

In what way did it change? I haven't noticed any change.

Was there a question you were unable to get help with? I'm not seeing a post from you but let us know...

I don't do any canning, but I get tons of apples and I make wine. Sort of the same thing :-) Also have a small vineyard. Again, wine. Once our olive tree fruits, I'll be brining olives!!

@Dave @digdirt2 - not a troll, but a member for several years. I mostly lurk and also search, since many of my questions about canning have been answered before (and *you* are one of my favorite posters) so I've used the accumulated wisdom of the regular posters here rather than repost a question that's previously been answered.

Only posted once to the forum. That was to a thread entitled "First Time Pressure Canning" (link is [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/first-time-pressure-canning-dsvw-vd~2857130[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/first-time-pressure-canning-dsvw-vd~2857130) ). You can find my comment if you scroll down.

I've never posted to any other forum on this site than this one. Best - noBananas

So in what way is it a failed forum? I don't get your complaint.

You posted to say you are going to stop lurking? Idk seems like trolling.

I can't say I am thrilled with the ownership, but the new forum is much improved technologically.

So why don't you become an active participant and contribute in a positive way? That is the best way to rescue what you consider a "failed forum".

Change, of any kind, is difficult for some people to accept no matter the circumstances but making the effort to adapt to it is one of the best ways to grow and learn and improve things. Condemning it off-hand serves no useful purpose.

Dave

After the initial surprise and a couple of teething problems the forums have settled down to being much what they were before content-wise. But they are definitely improved technologically. It is now possible to edit or delete after posting, to do italics, etc. easily, to insert photos, videos and links with a click, to report spam fast and to get a quick response from the back room team to any queries.

It seems odd to announce you're going to leave a forum. Why not just stay away if you're dissatisfied with what you see?

Well, nobananas got attention. Perhaps that's what they wanted/needed.

I agree with the above statements about the site actually being easier to use than before. I've been on this forum for many, many years and still find it useful and interesting.

I am mostly a lurker here but am so thankful that we didn't lose the forum altogether. I would be lost without y'all.
I will agree It is different but not better or worse IMO.

I wasn't that thrilled with it when Houzz took over, but it can be like that when you've been used to doing and seeing things a certain way for many years then all of a sudden it changes. I've stuck with it. My husband's health has taken a terrible turn for the worse, 9 surgeries in the last year and 3 in the last month, so I haven't been on or contributing that much. I do check in about once a week to troll and keep up to date. Didn't plant a garden this year because I thought we'd have the place up for sale and be in Florida. If only we could see into the future.... I would have planted the biggest one ever. Regardless, I've got in season local berries to make into preserves and will be doing some canning from farm markets. Oh, and as soon as I get corn again, I hope DH won't be unexpectedly admitted to the hospital causing me to forget about it and giving it to the neighbor's horse.

Missed you bcskye. Sorry to hear about all your husband's health issues. Sure hope things settle and get back on track for you.

Dave

I'm sorry its been such a rough year for you, sending positive thoughts things improve soon. Are you getting some rest...hope so. Please take care of yourself.

Virtual hugs and loving thoughts to you and hubs Bcskye!

Thanks for the hugs, positive thoughts and well wishes. I'm going to make it a point to get on here more often and contribute more. If the soon to start radiation treatments work, I'll probably have my DH for a few more years, almost 42 years just isn't enough. If the radiation doesn't work, it will probably be a matter of weeks. Some cancer cells were found on the lining of his brain. Regardless, we will live life to the fullest as we've always tried to do. In the meantime, I have at least eight pints of blueberries, four quarts of strawberries and quite a variety of apples to make into wonderful preserves, jams and pies. Oh, what fun!

Wish I lived closer!! Prayers for you and hubs!

Geez, can't say this is a failed forum.. quite the opposite. I didn't even really realize the harvest was a cooking/preserving forum till after Houzz took over. I always asked questions and commented in the cooking section till the change and I realized there was a specific forum just for harvest eats. Yes, kind of dense of me, I know.

And in a very serious way, the switchover made me explore a lot more forums I didn't before, and that's a good thing.

Now the harvest forum has become one of my top forums to hit every day when I come on to GW- it's always the GW no matter who runs it for me. For middle of winter help! what do I do with all this kale or Dang, what to do with all this windowsill herbs I've been growing? To spring peas.. and into summer and fall harvests and the various ways of preserving all that goodness.

And this might sound mean of me.. but I'm a moderator on a very different forum than this one, and we mods talk about this kind of situation. It's a rather popular international forum with a lot of members, new and old, and this sort of announcement comes up sometimes.... But announcing "I hate this, goodbie" is 90% of the time a drama action looking for attention. Or it's a troll effort by a haunter that logged in just to complain about the forum. Or a person looking for the "magic bullet" to all their questions and notions about whatever subject X, and are disappointed that it does not magically instantly appear in their first three keystrokes of looking.

Also in my mod experience, there are two outcomes to this.. either the OP is a grumpy-butt once in the thread, and never comes back.. sometimes continuing on in other areas of the site, sometimes just never appearing again. Or they come back into the thread and keep complaining, never making their goodbie a reality.

Considering the OP post and action on this site.. I would guess a "fly by troll". Someone that isn't a member enough to really care and contribute, and potentially have a legit gripe.. but rather someone that logs on just to complain then sinks back into the shadows.

I do believe that nobananas demonstrated a good example of a

Requiem of a failed Post...

Yes, canfan. Doesn't matter to me what nobabanas says or said, I've been on here for many years and plan to stay on many, many more. I feel sorry that nobanabas can't recognize the good of this forum and how many it has helped so many preserving the Harvest. There's always lots to learn from here and no matter how old you are, there's still lots to learn about everything. Maybe that's a sign of "older" age - the older you get, the more you realize how much you don't know.

I am, I guess a lurker. Stop in often, seldom participate. Me thinks it's laziness on my part. I too did not like it when Houzz took over, was very upset about the changes, but then thought back and really I think it is the participants that are making it less comfortable. Noooo I am not pointing fingers, but remember way back when, there were many, many people participating. The site got bogged down and impossible to navigate. I think that is when people found other things to while way their time with. Now Houzz has the site, but the drop outs don't know it. In a nutshell, the problem is not with Houzz, the problem is we need more people. Okay, I did admit above to lurking and not participating. I will seriously work on that and hope other lurkers do the same.

I was really peeved off at first and I was ready to jump ship myself. I'm an old fart and kind of cranky about drastic changes in my life. Especially things that I am used to being a certain way and with something that I really enjoy. If you look up some of my old posts when Houzz first took over you can see them. I mostly just hung around out of habit and slowly began to like some of the changes. I'm kinda embarrassed about some of the things I said! I think I may like it a little better than the old GW now!

I'm glad that they saved it for sure! I have learned so much from the people here before and after the change and I hope I have helped others.

We have lost some of our old posters because of the change. I think that was because they gave up too soon. Some of them were amongst my favorites.

Some of those we lost still contact me through e-mail and I still get to enjoy their wisdom and share thoughts with them!

Thank You Houzz for saving this site!

Now that the "newness" of this site has worn off, along with Houzz fixing and improving the site features, I too find this forum a step up from the previous forum. I particularly like the ability to post photos directly from my iPad. Don't remember being able to do this on the prior GW forum.... and since this is the "Harvest Forum", below as an example, is a pic of Burpee Butterbush butternut squash from my 3 plants, posted directly from my iPad. (....Now to figure out what to do with my harvest....No reply requested. ...Not wanting to change the theme of this thread).

Hope Houzz can continue to keep up with the times and make improvements as they are needed.

Don't post much anymore but still come and read. I have lung cancer and can't do the things I used to do. The locking mechanism on my canner broke too so that sort of stopped. Just bought a new pressure canner...Hope to do some canning still...

Keep on trucking, reading and connecting, Ruthie! I wish you the very best progress with both your health and with your new cooker.

Hey Ruthie! :-) Good to hear from you. Good thoughts sent your way and please do drop in more often to chat with us.

Dave

Thanks for the good wishes..

Rather late to this thread but found it very interesting. I'm mostly a lurker but have been a member long before Spike took over, so long ago I don't even remember what it used to be called! I have found if you don't post all the time you may not get an answer to your post on some forums, haven't found that to be the case here. Just asked a ? and received help.

Sometime it just takes a while to get used to "new." I hope for a long lasting run for all the forums on Houzz!

bcskye, I do hope your hubs has a quick and complete recovery, I'll be thinking lots of strong, healing thoughts for you and for him.

Ruthie, I'll be thinking of you too, and I hope you are feeling so well you can more than you ever had, a record year with your new pressure canner! Take care of yourself.

I've been crazy busy, finally sold my other house and we've been remodeling this one. I just canned bread and butter pickles, though, and picked the first beans, those will go into the pressure canner tomorrow, so I guess I'm still alive and kicking....er....canning. (grin)

I've struggled with Houzz, and I'm still struggling. I thought of jumping off myself, but my obstinate nature prevents it. So, I keep plugging along, gardening and canning and cooking and occasionally muttering, but I know many who just didn't come along for the ride when Houzz took over, and I miss them. Some have come back, so maybe some others will too.

Annie