Talking to Plants

A lot of people ask me how I got such green thumb. It might be partly because my dad comes from a family of poor sharecroppers; their very lives depended on a good harvest. I grew up pulling weeds and tending 10 acres of assorted vegetables and 5 acres of Silver Queen corn. Dad didn't do it for money - in fact, while he sold some vegetables at first harvest, usually by the end of summer he let everyone in the community know that if they'd come take it and use it, they could have it. I'm sure he kept a lot of freezers full. Ours stayed full.

My dad's main goal was a big harvest. He'd use tons of chemicals and fertilizers. I spent a lot of time with Sevin dust in a sock clapping a hand against the full sock to dust plants. I can remember sodium nitrate burning my too common hangnails as I grabbed a handful and buried it a few inches from each little stalk of corn. He thinks I am nuts today for not having plants white with Sevin all year long. Strangely, I recently floured a plant by accident cleaning a pie mat off, and I discovered that the bugs must have thought it to be Sevin, because they've still not touched that plant while I've had to spray others with a weak soap solution.

But I do think my secret is that I make deals with my plants. I talk to them a lot. I don't do it because someone said it was good for them to talk to them, I do it because I've always done it. I think they understand. I make deals with them. I'll say, "I'm going to plant you guys next week, and the biggest one is going to get the best spot."

If I've messed up and got more than one successful seed in a pot, I'll tell them, "Look, I don't thin plants. Whoever gets the biggest gets to stay put in the pot and you'll get some extra dirt, but the rest of you, I'm going to pull up in a few days and you'll have to adjust to a new home."

It seems to work. I think that plants sense your intent, even if they don't have a nervous system. Maybe they are more evolved than us, and natural telepaths. Surely they have been on this earth as long as we have, and had their chance to evolve ways of understanding their environment. I'm not sure how that works, I just think it does.

My husband fusses with lights and soil mixes, spray bottles and assorted gardening paraphernalia. He used to kill everything he touched. Now, he's getting better about it. Tending plants is definitely a skill to be learned. I noticed the other day he said "This sure is a picky-ass little plant." To me, that's a sign of progress. He's starting to think of them as little beings with personalities.

Plants just want a good home in favorable conditions, protection, good food and water, and to make babies. They make friends, and have enemies. They really aren't so different than we are.