We know they’re good for us, but why? And how? Tsh’s teen daughter Tate has discovered a new love for plants this year (thanks, quarantine), so she’s taking over the pod with this quick episode about how we can add more green to our life.
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Tate: This is The Good List. I'm Tatum Oxenreider.
Hey guys, me again, Tsh Oxenreider's favorite daughter who also happens to be an intelligent 15 year old sophomore. I would like to start off by saying giant thank you to all of you who were extremely supportive and encouraging to me in my last episode. My mom would say nearly every day to me, Tate, you need to do another podcast, the listeners keep commenting on how much they love you. Truly, it means a lot to me. Thank you. So moving along with the podcast. Today, I'm sharing an idea. If you were to walk into my room, you would notice two main things. One, my room is normally really clean as we talked about in my last episode and two, I have a crap ton of plants in my room. I'm talking all over my window sills, above my bed on a makeshift shelf. On hooks I made myself, scattered around my desk, anywhere possible. As of right now, while I'm recording this episode, I have a total of 34 plants. Technically I've only bought two of them. The other ones I found in my yard or garden that I found interesting. I took some cuttings with permission from neighbors or I scavenged from houses who didn't really want them anymore. My dad works all around town, going to different houses and anytime he finds a stray plant that's been discarded or looks unwanted, he'll ask the owner if he could take it and bring it home to me. Most of the time they say yes. One time he found a Henson chick succulent that was not doing too well. So he brought it home to me and I cared for it and now it's doing better than ever. There are new leaves coming on it, it’s so colorful now.
I also enjoy tending to my outdoor garden with my mom. It brings a sense of peace to me, and it gives me time to think while getting vitamin D and air. Now my indoor plants aren't just for decoration, as beautiful as unique as they each are. They're also a form of personal therapy to me.
One of the first things you probably think of when it comes to plants is how they provide clean oxygen. This year, our air is filled with disease, pollution, smoke, you name it. It's probably there. So we need as much fresh air as we can get. This may sound weird, but I can tell a difference in air quality when I step into my room. Not only do they provide clean air, but they also reduce dust levels by 20%, decreasing the risk of illness. So if you or your child has severe dust allergies, put a plant or two in the room.
There are countless studies on the psychological benefits of having plants or even just gardening. One survey was conducted at four San Francisco Bay area hospitals. In the survey, 79% of patients said they felt more relaxed and calm with plants in the room. 25% said they felt refreshed and stronger after spending time in a garden and 19% said they felt more positive.
Consider another study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology, where one group of participants worked on computer tasks while another group transplanted indoor plants. After completing their assignments, the groups switched. The research has found that the participants felt more comfortable and relaxed after the transplanting task. The study concluded that individuals could reduce physiological stress and psychological stress by interacting with plants. I have seen myself change drastically in my mental health since I discovered my love of plants. I feel calm when taking care of them, releasing my stress by deadheading a few leaves here and there. It's a little hard to explain how I feel emotionally because it’s almost like a relationship. I feel happy, peaceful, even helpful sometimes when I'm in my room. I'm hoping you really understand, raising more plants is fantastic for our environment. By gardening, I've noticed a higher population of bees, butterflies, birds, even squirrels in our yard, and they all support our earth. We're going to take a quick break, but then I'll be right back. Stay tuned.
[AD BREAK]
Alrighty, guys, we're back. Now after super inspirationally, a very vague explanation as to why I love plants. You may be wondering how you can get into loving plants as well. Visiting your local gardening center to look for inspiration is a great idea. Whether it's just for indoor plants or even an outdoor garden. The employees there will know all about what you were looking for And will answer any questions you may have. You don't have to find your plants from a store if you're mostly interested in indoor plants. The majority of my plants are plants that I've found in my yard and successfully propagated and have even blossomed beautiful flowers. Plus it's free. You could also do what I did and ask neighbors if you could get clippings to propagate and grow for yourself, or even just find plants that are being discarded. You can ask your local gardening center or even just Google the best ways to propagate. If you don't know what propagation is or how to do it better, I hope this has been helpful or at least informative to you guys.
[LISTENER VOICEMAIL]
Hi, Tsh. My name is Cassandra. I live in Sacramento, California, and I have two ideas that are making my life a little bit better during this time. One is that we've designated a day of the week that we listen to eighties music and then another day for nineties and then we do a record day, a reggae day and that just makes it a little more fun and we play the music loud right before dinner, right after nap time. The other thing, the other idea that made our life a little bit more exciting since we can't go to restaurants or anything like that is we do something called outdoor kitchen. We just load up a little tray of all of the things that we need to make a meal. My three year old loves to help mix things. We just go outside on the table and we have a little camping stove. Sometimes it's a lot more hassle, but it's so much fun. We just put the sprinkler on and she can run through that. It's just really fun. I just wanted to share those two ideas that we will be doing to get through this darker time for for the world. Alright, take care.
Tate: Thank you, Cassandra, for sharing with us what's on your Good List this week. A little reminder that the best way to never miss an episode of this show is to subscribe on your favorite podcast player and to subscribe to my mom's free weekly email, which you can find a link for in the show notes of this episode, number 48. Also, my mom's latest book, Shadow & Light, A Journey into Advent, is now available at your favorite bookstore or in the links of the show notes of this episode. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have by using the contact form linked in the show notes below, and I will do my best to answer. Thank you guys so much for listening and giving me so much support and love. It means a lot to me, truly. Music for the show by Ken McLeod and thanks as always to Caroline TeSelle and Kyle Oxenreider for their help, as well as our furry intern, Ginny. I’m not Tsh Oxenreider, I'm Tate Oxenreider and thanks for listening to The Good List. Until next time.
Plants