Last Updated on April 4, 2018 by Michelle
It’s not ingenious or anything, but I discovered a fantastic way to lift my spirits and breathe in some spring, even on a cold snow-is-still-on-the-ground-in-New-England, early-spring kinda day.
The solution? Visit a local flower show. Even better, again not ingenious, but better… volunteer at a local flower show, and enjoy all the promises of spring, all day long, for free.
And boy did I need a little bit of spring. Don’t misunderstand me. I love winter in New England. For the first 4 months. I’m ready now for the final piles of snow to be gone and the trees to be in bloom again. But for now, I revel in the little things. Like the fact that the chicken and duck finally get to free range again, after being forced to only venture where the plowed snow paths would allow. It’s nice to be greeted by them pecking around the back yard, where I haven’t seen them since fall.
And the syrup? It sure is pretty… all 11 gallons of it! In fact, now that I think of it, maybe I should have entitled this post “THREE things to make sure you do every spring” and included making–or at least baking with– pure, delicious maple syrup.
I talked with Melissa K. Norris recently about how our family makes our own maple syrup and why you should consider swapping out refined sugar for pure maple in this post. She’s a new fan of maple. You can listen to that podcast, or read my post, here.
My daughters inspired me.
But I can’t take credit for the not ingenious, yet brilliant, idea of volunteering at the Maine Flower Show. My teen homesteader–or you may know her as my teen gardener, or the young lady who is the true inspiration behind the beginnings of our family’s homestead–she was my inspiration. She simply did some online research, found a great show nearby (well, “nearby” for us means within a 2-hour radius of our rural farm), and made some contacts.
If you’d like to know a little more about the makings of our homestead, read this post I wrote years ago.
If you’re intrigued about our maple syrup operation, first of all let me tell you it is more delicious than you’re imaging. It’s also so. much. work. Check out this post about the whole process, step by step.
Turned out my other teen–my entrepreneur-sprited, extremely creative daughter–saw the opportunity to boost her YouTube channel views by offering a very unique talent of her own. She offered to make a promo video for the flower show.
You too can (almost) breathe in a little bit of spring if you’d like to see the Maine Flower Show through her eyes. And if you hop over to her channel and subscribe, you’ll make her day. Plus, I have a feeling you’ll love her content. Her theme is a teen who is homesteading. What’s not to love?
So it was a win-win-win. And I’m still smiling.
And the spring inspiration continues!
It was just enough excitement to carry me right into tomorrow actually. Tomorrow is the day my own presentation in the Grow Your Own Food workshop begins. I love that the Self Reliant School asked me to present a workshop on composting. Honestly, it’s like the best of what Dad taught me in the garden and Mom taught me in the kitchen. And I love sharing this knowledge! My only regret is that they aren’t here to appreciate it. They’d be so very excited that I’m sharing my knowledge–their knowledge–with tens of thousands of others.
Two things to make sure you do every spring
So, yeah, I love both of these ways I found this year to usher in spring, from volunteering at a local flower show to signing up for the fantastic Grow Your Own Food Workshop, it is going to be an amazing spring indeed.
Whether you do these two things the way I chose to this spring, or in your own unique way, I highly recommend that you do them:
- Get out there and find a promise of summer! Find a flower somewhere–anywhere–to revel in and enjoy. Even if it’s just at the floral section of your grocery store, stop, look closely, breathe in the promise, and assure yourself that summer WILL come.
- Learn something new to be more prepared to enjoy summer this year than ever before. The Grow Your Own Food Workshop is doing that for our family this year. But you could also pick up a great new book at your local library or watch a documentary about a summer topic you are longing to know more about.
“Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like. . . the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3
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