With many people being sequestered to their homes, we’ve seen a resurgence in plant love as newbies all over are trying to perfect their “green thumb”. Even IHTG’s editor, Isis, is trying her hand at it. If you haven’t considered it, the pandemic is giving us all the needed time to engage in this activity and possibly find a love we didn’t know we were missing. We enjoy seeing black women embracing plant life. Here, three women share how green thumbing has affected their lives:
Lita: Stressed from the unknown, becoming a full-time entrepreneur, and completing a doctorate, I needed an outlet. I have always wanted to try it and noticed a lot of my social media friends and daughter had started one as well. I started with green and red pepper plants, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley and thyme. It has taught me to not be too afraid to try something new. If you are scared, do it anyway. You just might be pleasantly surprised at the end results. Recently, I tried to transplant my cucumbers to another raised bed, and they are not looking so well. So if they do not come back around, failure happens. However, you live and learn from those mistakes.
LaSha: After being gifted with a Pothos plant during Mother’s Day in 2018, she’s added to her tribe (my plant babies) ranging in size, color, temperament, and beauty. To include 21 other givers of life in my house; fern, peace lily, sansevieria, wandering jew, spider plant, and dumbcane just to name a few. “The love grew during the quarantine, I started my first garden filled with huge bright collard greens, sage, basil, watermelon, cucumbers, green and jalapeno peppers and a variety of tomatoes.”
Brittany: I’ve been into plants for as long as I can remember. My oldest houseplant is about 7-8 years old but I got into vegetable gardening about 3 years ago. I was going through a terribly depressive state where panic attacks were a regular part of my existence. Finding a way to center me outside of work, motherhood and all of the other demands was challenging. And then a tomato plant entered my life and I never looked back. There’s something to be said about caring for something and how doing so can also help you care for yourself. Plants are beautiful and can feed us, yes, but they are also so incredibly integral for our mental health in ways we don’t always recognize.
Have you considered growing plants? We’d love to hear and see your plant babies? Share them with us on social media, use the hashtag #IHTGplantlove so we can share it with everyone.
