1.2 Planting Your First Seed

To write a true thing is to drop a seed into the earth. If it is honest, it will find its way to the sun.

You begin with a simple seed. It is not a heavy iron box; it is a thin, dry casing of text. We do not wrap our thoughts in complex code or lock them in proprietary machines. We scratch them with graphite on simple leaves of plain paper. This is the Markdown format—plain text that anyone can read with a candle and a magnifying glass, now or a hundred years from now.

Sowing in the Soil

To plant your first seed, you simply go to standard.garden.

Under the canopy, you will find a flat, empty stone surface. You paste or type your thoughts onto this bench. Because you do not need an account or a password, you simply hit “Plant”.

The soil receives your thought instantly. The wind catches the seed and hands you a tiny, unique path (a URL) copied to your palm. You can share this path with anyone.

If you do not claim a plot of your own, this seed is an annual. It will sprout, show its green leaves to the world, and then sink back into the damp earth after seven days (composting naturally).

Claiming Your Plot

If your thoughts have deep roots and need to survive the winter, you must claim a permanent plot.

1. Open the compass dial (::login).
2. Give the gatekeeper your email address.
3. A messenger bird will fly to your inbox with a six-digit seal.
4. Press the seal into the gate, choose your gardener name, and your plot is claimed.

Once registered, your seeds become perennials. They are planted under your own name and will grow year after year on your land.

Gardener’s Note: For the exact frontmatter syntax rules, metadata variables, and Markdown rendering standards of standard.garden, consult [2.2 Standard Markdown Spec](file:///Users/francisfontaine/Documents/GitHub/utopie/apps/stnd.build/modules/manual/content/3-archives/2.2-archives-standard.md) in the Manual.