Talk Dirty To Me: Life As A Plant Whisperer

I've recently introduced Roni to gardening.

During a regular trip to the store, some little kits to grow different flowers and vegetables caught my eye. I have been eyeing a sunny patch in our backyard all winter, planning out exactly what I am going to plant there come spring. I find myself in the garden center, every trip without fail. And that trip, I picked up a little strawberry kit, and a little tiny plastic greenhouse to grow cucumbers in.

Strawberries and cucumbers. A decent start for a young gardener.

When we first planted the strawberries and cucumbers, Roni was only slightly amused. She wasn't interested in touching the dirt, and scoffed at the thought of seeds becoming food. "They are just too small for that, Mommy. Why do you like all that dirt? It's nasty." When I moved the plants to the windowsill for maximum sun, she quickly forgot they were even up there.

The first of Roni's cucumber plants

I kept them watered, and was shocked when the cucumber plants started shooting up like crazy! I figured they would have needed another week, but I was happy to see them. With all the snow that suddenly fell on us this winter, seeing those little green sprouts gave me a boost of pure joy.

Usually, you can see a state highway right there.

We ended up getting a foot of snow here.

Roni woke up this morning, and for the first time in weeks remembered that she had planted things. She asked me if we could check on them. I showed her the single tiny sprout from where she planted her strawberries. She looked up at me, and I could see "Really, Mom?" in her expression. She had been so patient, the most patient a three year old could possibly be, and this little thing was all she had to show for it? She sighed heavily and said, "So that's my plants?" At least she tried to mask her disappointment, even if she was failing miserably.

One lonely little strawberry sprout

I placed the strawberry plant back on the shelf, and picked up a lime green planter. Inside, three little cucumber sprouts are growing strong. Their leaves are a deep green, slightly curved upwards toward the steady sunlight. I brought the planter down to Roni's eye level.

They seriously sprung up overnight!

"Oh, Mommy! Look how BIG these are! Are these my cucumber seeds? They've grown so much!" She beams down at the little sprouts. Their leaves are now curled towards the sunny smile that's spread across her face.

I tell her that some people say that talking and singing to plants helps them grow big and strong. Roni sits on the floor, her planter pot in her lap. She starts sweetly whispering to her cucumber sprouts. She tells them how beautiful they are, what a pretty color of green. She tells them she's growing too, and that they can grow together. She tells them that when the weather is warm, she's going to put them outside. She tells them she's going to keep them safe, and make sure they're happy. Then, she starts to sing her own rendition of the Healing Incantation from Disney's Tangled, the one connected to the magical plant.

My little Green Thumb

After a while, she feels satisfied. She asks me to move her plants back to their sunny home on the shelf. A kiss on the cheek, and some needed hand washing, and she was back to her world of dress up and dolls.

I don't know if you knew this or not, but plants really DO benefit from people talking and singing to them. You see, when we entertain our plants (and look like utter fools to anyone happening to pass by), we are exhaling on them - giving them carbon dioxide. The plants take that in, and turn it into oxygen. I suppose you could just sit and breathe heavily at your plants, but if someone was heavily breathing like a creep at me I would consider a restraining order. So maybe risking looking off your rocker by belting out your favorite show tunes is the best call. Totally a personal preference.

My point is, there's a connection there, person to plant, and plant to person. I think a lot of us get so busy in our every day lives, most of the time we just don't want to get our hands dirty. It's a strange kind of lazy, being so busy that you don't want to find time to slow down. But that's what it is, a modern version of being lazy. I enjoy taking just a little bit of time to be outside. Sometimes it's just a very leisurely trip to the mail box. But I most enjoy being able to sit underneath a tree. If I sit long enough, it's almost like I can hear the tree sweetly whispering to me. Telling me how beautiful I am. Telling me that it's growing, and I'm still growing too, and we can continue to grow together. When the weather is warm, I can come outside. Telling me that it's going to keep me safe, and happy. And I get to listen to the song of the breeze rustling the trees. I think nature is willing to speak to us, figuratively speaking, if we're willing to slow down and listen.

Gratuitous picture of the Kentucky hills I grew up in. Easy to understand why I love nature!

Maybe we should all have plants to talk to. Little green therapists, always ready to listen, with no judging, no harsh tones. That might be what so many of us are missing in our daily lives; a connection, something to be proud of, to grow with. Maybe we all need to breathe like a creeper on a little patch of dirt. <3