Gardening takes you a lot of places... if I grow food, then I have to cook it, so I automatically became interested in cooking, then in preserving, canning, freezing, jams/ jellies etc. Since I grow herbs then I became interest ed in herbalism, medicinal and culinary uses of herbs, herbal oils and vinegars, baked goods like lavender biscotti, lavender chocolate brownies, etc, which then lead to distilling essential oils, making soaps, candles, lotions. And of course, I have to take pictures of my garden/ flowers and that leads to interest in photography. Also birds, insects, wildlife, native plants, ecosystems. Sometimes inspires poetry, spirituality, various kinds of writing, leading workshops on things like Gardening as a Spiritual Path. And almost by definition if you are a true gardener, you are a nature lover and outdoorsy, so I like to hike, camp, spend time in the woods. Often this is done as Sierra Club Service trips, where I spend time in the woods helping to heal them, eradicating invasive foreign species and re-planting natives.
I have a "Ministry of Dirt" which includes helping some of my disabled friends with their gardens.
And of course I do some knitting and other crafts that aren't particularly garden related.
And I'm a political activist, volunteering time for a variety of peace, justice, environmental causes (Ban Fracking!!), but I'm not allowed to mention that here.
This is my life, the work I do to earn money is my "hobby."
While I am taking a break from work, sipping some green tea, I was just wondering, what is your second favourite hobby next to gardening? Interested to share?
