A Dolphin's Reflections on Steem and the Spring Garden

We turned Dolphin yesterday :)

This got me thinking about what I appreciate about being here in steem for a year and a quarter now. I am sure I can come up with a lot of reasons, but here are my top three.

1. The camaraderie

It is nice to contribute to a place where I can be myself. Not only am I not judged but I am encouraged to follow my passions. Be it eating weeds, growing trees from seed, sharing my discoveries about herbalism, cooking garden food, or pursuing freedom.

2. Being a better at communicating

Steem motivated me to continue blogging, in part because of the encouragement from my friends here, and strangers who I also consider friends, as well as the crypto rewards. Blogging regularly has helped me be a better thinker and a stronger communicator

3. Learning how to be a leader

I never considered myself a leader. I grew up fairly introverted. Homesteaders Co-op is teaching me how to be a leader. It is helping me let go of control and let go of an old version of myself. This wouldn't have happened without the help of my friends in steem.

Well, this is how I celebrated..

Today I spent the whole day in the garden. Spring is really here now and it felt good to acknowledge by being present in the garden.

In the garden there are always little surprises around every corner. Today I was delighted to find plants that had overwintered...

Like these carrots that were hidden among the weeds. I found them when I started prepping a bed for planting.

Like the garlic cloves that either didn't get very big last year or got lost in the harvest. And now they are growing up strong and we will have more garlic this year than we expected.

Like the Lovage I planted last year that hung in there all summer despite being in one of the furthest beds that didn't get as much water as the rest of the garden And now in its second season they are coming back strong.

I highly recommend Lovage if you have not tried it. Its a perennials that comes back every year and tastes like a very strong celery. As a strong herb it holds up well to other strong flavor like meat, stews, etc. and Since it comes back year after year you only need to plant a few plants one time and enjoy it year after year!

As the sun was setting I set fire to a pile of blackberry branches and tree prunings. We watched the sun go down as we tended the fire and even got to make a bit of bio char at the end. It was a nice way to end the day outside, resting our bodies and staying warm as the temperatures dropped again. In some ways the fire is like an invitation for the heat of summer to make its way around and back into our lives.