I’m a seed collector. Blame it on my Scottish heritage. Blame it on the fact that I’m fascinated with natural science. It may be that I collect seeds so that I can give them away, thus sharing my love for gardening or perhaps because I know that gardeners (myself included) are more willing to experiment with plants if they don’t have to shell out three dollars for an ounce of seeds.
The life of an annual plant (one who completes its life cycle in a year or less) is like our own in fast motion. First, the tiny seeds produce a miniature plant. The plant matures and produces flowers for sexual reproduction. The flowers are fertilized by winds and insects, producing a tiny genetic suitcase for future identical flora.
Besides containing genetic information, I’ve now been told that each seed that I’ve carefully stored for spring planting is giving off a life force field. In an article in the SLO Tribune by Shirley Powell, readers were told of a workshop where she learned about auras, or energy fields, given off by living things. The attending group was asked to place three popcorn kernels on a table and hold their palms about two inches above the seeds. Some in the group were able to feel the life force field given off by the kernels and some were not. The next experiment involved placing packets of fresh seeds on the table next to packets of ten-year-old seeds (most likely no longer viable). All six in the group were able to pick out the living seeds using only their palms. While I felt something as I held my palm over my seeds, it was not the familiar warmth of the animate objects we associate with living things. I’ll keep practicing.
Last year I met a local resident who stated that in a speech that I had given to a garden club, I had said that after the first rains, I’d sensed that the trees had relaxed, getting their first real drink in nearly a year. She said that she shared my belief that when the trees were stressed, you could actually feel it. Could this have something to do with the life force and auras that were written about in Powell’s article?
I’m sure I’ve given all of you on the East Coast, fodder for your “California jokes”. Even I, on occasion, find great humor in our professed “psychic awareness”. As for me, a professed frugal gardener, I’ll plant any seed I can get my hands on, whether or not I can feel its life force.
