Like most gardeners, I do talk to my plants. The real question is—do I hear them talking back? And, well… I’m really not sure I’m ready to reveal the answer to that question, especially in writing.
What I will say is this: the plants I speak to kindly always seem to thrive, while the ones I ignore—or, heaven forbid, have muttered some choice words at—don’t seem to fare quite as well. Coincidence? Maybe. But I wouldn’t bet my tomato harvest on it.
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So when I stumbled upon the following story, I felt an immediate connection. It speaks to that complicated, unspoken relationship between gardeners and their plants—the whispered encouragements, the occasional threats (“If you don’t start producing, you’re getting composted!”), and the undeniable reality that some veggies just take up too much space in the garden (yes, looking at you, Pumpkin).
I invite you to dive into Tales of Love, Betrayal, and Tomatoes: An Unfiltered Conversation with My Vegetable Garden—a delightfully humorous reflection on what happens when we start assigning personalities to our produce.
And while you’re at it, be sure to check out the entire April 2024 issue, where we explore more fascinating (and sometimes ridiculous) aspects of the gardener-plant relationship. Who knows? You might just start listening a little closer to your own garden’s whispers.
Happy gardening—and happy talking!
Oh they hear you alright and they can also sense moods! I’ve never had any speak back to me other than showing me how they grow so well with a lot of love given to them! You probably may not have heard about an experiment made one time a while ago where live shrimp were put into boiling water next to growing plants. The plants were hooked up to a graph and they went into a frenzy on that graph-so they heard or saw what was happening to those shrimp and reacted. There’s a lot more going on in this world than we’ll ever know about!