Bertha Sees Europe!
See what Bertha saw, as she roadtrips and camps with her parents through Austria, Germany and Italy!
Bertha, admiring distant Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany (Disney’s inspiration for Cinderella’s Castle!)
Hi, I’m Bertha! I live in Copenhagen with my mom and my two human friends. They say my Leafve pot arrived just in time for me to come on vacation.
Do you want to come too?
Then just keep reading - I’m taking notes!
We get up really early to catch the ferry to Germany. We travel in a tiny car with a roof top tent on it, and I am impressed by how much stuff my friends are able to bring.
Just look at all of that - I’m right behind there somewhere, safe in the cupholder.
After the ferry, it is a long drive to The Czech Republic.
They say my roots are still too fragile to come on adventures in castles and caves, churches and ossuaries - after all I was only planted a few days ago.
Good thing I’m safe and cozy right here in my cup holder.
Anyway, we make it to Austria, and right now we are camping in Poysdorf - a little town in the wineland, pretty vineyards all around, and quiet streets.
Next stop is Hallstatt!
It’s still Austria, but it’s so different. This is a beautiful lakeside mountain town.
It’s a bit touristy, but the salt mine and hike to the waterfall is a must-do for my friends.
I’m making sure the camp stays tidy while they’re gone.
Welcome to Italy.
We are staying near the Ligurian coast.
My friends are sipping Aperol Spritzes, and I’m sipping from my self watering pot, while we relax and go shopping for local foods and do laundry.
My friends are still scared that they will break me if they bring me along, so I’m guarding the camp while they explore the pretty towns of Cinque Terre.
Now, here comes a history lesson from Tuscany!
Do you want to see something really old?
These are the city walls of Lucca that my friends showed me. The walls wrap 2,6 miles around the historic center, and have been there since the city was founded almost 2000 years ago.
After that, we come to Florence to see the famous Cathedral and more. There is a lot of reading about history in the car, and I definitely do not fall asleep, Nope.
It’s time to go back north.
I am just getting used to the heat - it’s almost 90 degrees out, so you can imagine how hot it gets in the car sometimes.
I’m really glad I have my water reservoir!
We’re driving through Germany now. I want to be mad about leaving Italy, but Germany is beautiful!
It has mountains, campsites and fairytale castles. We are stopping at castles Neuschwanstein and Wartburg.
I’m not kidding when I say we get around.
What is the silliest thing people do in your country?
We are at the border to Denmark, and let me tell you about the most Danish of Danish things!
Taxes on alcohol and sugar are lower in Germany, so the prices are lower too… Tadaah, the Bordershop!
It’s this enormous shop of alcohol and candy, that is placed on the German side of the border. Many Danes make day trips to stock up, or at the very least shop when they’re driving back from somewhere.
So of course, we do too - the car is now packed with chocolate and beer. Weird thing to do, if you ask me.
Ferry time.
We’re sailing home now. I’m finally able to really get out, and let me tell you; the sea air is amazing!
My friends take me in their backpack up on the deck of the ferry, and I see the waves and the birds, and Germany disappearing behind us, with Denmark appearing in front. I’m totally not getting too excited about this.
Bertha & Mama plant.
That.was.a.lot!
It was 16 days, 4,400 kilometers (2.700 miles), 4 countries, and I am exhausted.
I’m really happy to be home safe again. I enjoy the view from my window - and I can’t wait to tell my mom everything that happened.
Where do you want to go on a roadtrip with your Leafve friend?
Until the next adventure, xoxo Bertha.
Why Your Car Needs a Plant…
The Science of People, Plants, and Cars
Everybody loves the smell of a new car, which is weird, because that smell is generally a cocktail of offgassing toxins - solvents, adhesives, plastics, rubbers, and fabrics used in car construction. Even leather seats are treated and dyed with harsh chemicals.
Enter: NASA. In 1989, NASA tested 31 house plants under sealed space station conditions and found that some plants removed traces of benzene and others of toluene, and all of those plants ate formaldehyde for lunch. And guess what? All of those chemicals are among some 200 chemical compounds found in our vehicles. And what about our time sitting in cars? According to Jeff Gearhart, Research Director of the Ecology Center in Michigan, research in 2019 found that the average daily American commute totals approximately 35 minutes. That equals 152 hours or 19 work days a year, time spent just going to and from work. That’s a lot of time sitting and absorbing a cocktail of chemicals.
Even if you’re tiny Leafve can’t handle all of those toxins (rolling down your window is actually more effective), studies also proved that just gazing at a plant in a work environment lowered blood pressure, could reduce physiological and psychological stress, fatigue, and muscle tension, and could increase productivity by 15%. Well-being and increased memory-retention improved by 20%.
You of course will name your Leafve… researchers found that developing a “mild attachment” to a plant added “slight but meaningful emotional involvement” that intensified the benefits of plant care!
Bottom line? Plants are good for our physical and mental health!
We all need Leafves in our homes, cars, offices, and road trips!
🪴☺️🪴
Sources:
NASA “A Study of Interior Landscape Plants for Indoor Air Pollution Abatement”; July 1989
“Journal of Physiological Anthropology”; 2015; 34(1): 21.
“HortTechnology”; 2019; 30(1): 55-63
CNBC “This 3-minute, $3 habit could lower your stress and anxiety at work”; Fri, Jan 3 2020
Forbes “Think You Don’t Need Houseplants? Science Says Different”; Feb 10, 2018
How Could Giving a Present Make Me Feel So Lonely? - An Unexpected Attachment
It all begins with an idea.
During Leafve’s development, I had occasion (after years of attempts) to FINALLY score a table at The French Laundry in Yountville, California, known without exaggeration as likely America’s most-famous restaurant, and for good reason. It was truly a remarkable experience - nothing can beat the exceptional talent of its Owner and Executive Chef, Mr. Thomas Kellor, and the exquisite sense of occasion he imbues, even into an ordinary Tuesday night like the one enjoyed with my friends.
After the hours-long dinner had finished, I drove my friends to their car, but thought it fun to go back and enjoy some time in their outdoor lounge with a glass of wine. As I opened the door to the outside courtyard, the only other person seen was a man standing at the end of the long entranceway, dressed all in white, which was surprising - I’d not seen anyone all night dressed like he was. His leg was kicked out to one side, almost posed, like he was waiting for me to come back.
As I got closer, I realized this guy I was approaching was Chef Kellor himself, in the flesh, presumably hanging outside for some fresh air, and not for me to fumble my words. I was carrying Penelope, my roadtrip Leafve friend, to keep me company while hanging out in the lounge (it was late and most tables were empty). Mr Kellor asked about Penelope, and I cooly gave him the basics, demonstrating the wick action, self-watering, etc. I thanked him for a fine dinner and was seated by the host. As I sat, the idea came that Penelope would make a nice thank you gift for Chef. He kindly came over and gratefully accepted Penelope.
As happy as I was to share my first-ever pre-launch Leafve, what came next was really surprising to me. Penelope and I had spent about two weeks together on this roadtrip, and now all of a sudden, her space in the cupholder was empty. I missed her, and was feeling sad! Dumb as that may sound, my reaction was in line with my research about the science of forming bonds with other organisms, no matter how ‘insignificant’ that organism may seem. I had had a bond with Penelope, and felt its loss. Without dramatizing the notion overmuch, plants can be ‘people’ too - they can provide a presence of life for us. My only hope is that Chef Kellor will enjoy a similar ‘relationship’ with Penelope. (I will definitely follow-up…)
In short, plants are more important for us than most may think. I can’t wait to hear how others will feel, with their Leafve friendships!
“Keeping a Plant on Your Work Desk Improves Health” - Science
It all begins with an idea.
While it has been commonly assumed that plants are rad and amazing for us (a hike in the woods!) a recent scientific study in Japan has collected evidence to prove our collective hunch correct, this time in a workplace setting.
Masahiro Toyoda, Yuko Barnes, and Midori Kaneko at the University of Hyogo in Awaji, Japan worked with people in a workplace control group, who aren’t generally involved with a green environment. Their experiment proved the psychological and physiological impact induced by indoor plants.
Which basically means that plants on our work desk makes us think and feel better!
The participants participated in two phases: a control period without plants, and an “intervention period,” in which they were able to see and care for a small plant of their choice - an air plant, bonsai, San Pedro cactus, foliage plant, kokedama, or an Echeveria (succulent) placed near the monitor on their desk.
Over the course of four weeks, participants recorded their pulse (a good indicator of your body’s stress response,) before and after looking at the plants, and filled out surveys that gauged their psychological state and anxiety levels. About 27% of participants experienced a significant decrease in their pulse rate by the end of the plant-tending period, and most participants’ anxiety scores decreased too. All from caring for and “gazing at” their plant, in just three-minute intervals.
So what makes a Leafve desk plant especially helpful? Having plants to look at presents a healthy, restorative distraction from draining office tasks, according to the study authors. Other research suggests that nature can serve as an antidote to over-stimulation or “attention fatigue” as well as boost cognitive performance.
Beyond just looking at a leafy green plant, researchers wrote that developing a “mild attachment” to the plant (naming your Leafve!) added “slight but meaningful emotional involvement” that intensified the benefits. (Researchers noted that dead plants “did not have a very profound effect on participants’ psychological stress.”)
Takeaway? Plants are super-good for us, especially in environments that would normally fatigue us, like our cars and office spaces!
Sources:
Masahiro Toyoda, Yuko Yokota, Marni Barnes, Midori Kaneko. Potential of a Small Indoor Plant on the Desk for Reducing Office Workers’ Stress. HortTechnology, 2019.
Cory Stieg, This 3-minute, $3 habit could lower your stress and anxiety at work. CNBC.com Health and Wellness. January 3, 2020.
Do Our Leafves Think? Six reasons to believe they might have an opinion about us too...
It all begins with an idea.
1) Plants communicate through fragrances.
Plants can communicate by emitting scents called volatile organic compounds through the air. If a leaf is being eaten by an insect or caterpillar, the plant releases a warning scent, which nearby leaves pick up. These other leaves will act, by emitting a different compound to repel the insect, or to attract predators of the nibbler like birds or wasps, to come to the rescue.
2. Sagebrush shrubs have regional dialects.
Professor Rick Karban of the University of California at Davis found that sagebrush shrubs are more effective at communicating with neighbouring plants, than with those growing over a hundred miles away. The sagebrush plants use different regional dialects for communication!
In a scientifically rigorous experiment, they found that the southern sagebrush shrubs did not respond to cues from their northern cousins as much as to those from southern plants, and vice versa - the shrubs don’t seem to understand their distant cousins as well as their neighbours. Professor Karban and his team were able to measure and confirm this by using both northern and southern sagebrush clippings in both northern and southern locations, to make sure it’s actually the dialect that’s different, and not the topic of conversation, as it were.
3. Plants can learn to associate a sound with ‘food’ (a light source) like Pavlov’s dogs.
The Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov famously found that his dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell with the arrival of food. He rang a bell before serving them their meal, and the animals came to salivate at the mere sound of the bell, before dinner was dished up.
Dr Monica Gagliano of the University of Western Australia tried a similar test with pea seedlings and found that the plants learned to associate sound with food! The plants learned to make an association, remembered it, and acted upon it. Which led Dr Gagliano to ask, “Who is making the choice?”.
“Who”, not “what”!
4. Plants can play telephone and remember the message.
Plants can communicate through substances they emit through their roots, as well as through fragrances sent out from their leaves. And if potted in a row, sharing roots in each pot, they can play telephone. They can pass a message from the first root of the first plant down to the last plant in the same row of pots. And they can remember the passed-down message, and act on it when necessary!
5. Trees feed their relatives.
Trees can share nutrients, and do that more with kin, than with unrelated trees. In any given patch of forest, the trees are all connected to each other through an underground fungal network, with fungi linking the trees’ roots in a symbiotic system called mycorrhiza. A pioneer of this aspect of plant science, Prof Suzanne Simard, has dubbed this the “wood wide web”. She has observed that trees pass both information and nutrients to each other through the mycorrhiza.
What’s more, they can distinguish between related and unrelated trees, and, for example, send more carbon to their kin than to strangers! It seems to be that trees really do have a preference for sharing with kin, and that it’s the tree making that choice, not the fungus. Dr Brian Pickles of the University of Reading, who collaborates with Prof. Simard, tested this on tree seedlings. He potted them together with both full siblings and unrelated seedlings. In a lab, not a fungus-rich forest soil. And indeed the siblings shared more with each other than with the strangers! The difference was small, but potentially enough to tip a seedling from the dying category into the surviving category.
6. Plants can sense more than we can.
Plants don’t have brains, and yet without brains, and without neurons even, they can do many things that we need brains and sensory organs for.
So without eyes plants can perceive a lot of information about light, without noses they can perceive chemical information like smells, without ears they can perceive the vibrations of sounds. Plants are very perceptive about what’s going on in their environments. They can sense touch, and taste, too, for example they can identify herbivore predators nibbling their leaves from the taste of the herbivore’s saliva.
So plants have the same five senses humans have? “And then some,” says Prof. Rick Karban. Namely plants can also perceive electrical signals, temperature, electromagnetic forces, heavy metals, pathogens, gravity and more.
For a fascinating 28 minutes of reporting on this subject, check out this podcast from the BBC…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b1r1d4
Source:
Six Reasons Plants Are Cleverer Than You Think, “Radio 4 in Four.” BBC Radio.