How to get your first job

a plant sitting post from Bea, plus an adorable crochet air plant hanger

Let’s be real: nobody is going to hire a ten year old as a full-on, parents-going-out babysitter. My mom says if they do, there’s probably a reason that you don’t want to learn the hard way. I asked her about that and she said when she was 11 or 12 she and Uncle Sky once babysat for a really bad toddler whose parents were visiting their neighbor, and after a whole day of chasing the kid around they got paid like a dollar (not each, just one dollar total). The family also had a dog named after a bad word, but Mom and Sky ignored that warning sign.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t do other things to show how responsible you are! You might be able to be a pet sitter, if someone in your neighborhood has pets you know well and feel comfortable about feeding and taking care of. I was a junior counselor at Clapping Hands Farm’s Art Party Camp this summer, and it was great. It was really fun watching the little kids, and the senior counselors were nearby if you needed them.

But what about plant sitting? That’s a great way to earn money and practice taking care of something. I wrote about it in our book, Plant Pets, but I’d also like to tell you about taking care of a specific family of plants this summer.

First of all, I want to tell you how I got the idea: when I was eight my mom and I visited Jeff at the Orchid Gallery in Pittsboro. He has thousands of orchids, but they’re not all his, or for sale. Some of them he’s taking care of for other people while they travel, or because their orchids need a spa vacation.

My mom’s student Shelby loves plants, but she was spending the whole summer as a white water rafting guide (lucky!). So she asked my mom if she could hire me to take care of her plants. We said sure!

She has a lot of plant pets. We have them until Friday and we’ve loved having them here. Some of them have gotten really big! I’m proud that they’re doing so well and that none of them have died.

Here are some basic steps for being a great plant pet sitter:

1. Ask how many plants the person is bringing, and what kind. Shelby brought us twelve plants!

2. Set up a place to keep the plants. If you’re sitting for a lot of plant pets, it might need to be two places. Think about what each plant needs and how you’ll remember to water it. We kept Shelby’s plants in my room and on the screen porch, because I’m in both of those places a lot and they get good light.

3. When the plant parent does the drop off, ask a lot of questions, especially about plants that you’re not familiar with. For example, Shelby had a few cacti and those are not my specialty. But I asked her what they need (not much water, good but not direct sunlight). I enjoyed getting to know those little guys.

4. Introduce the plants to your plants, and get them on a schedule of watering and feeding (if you have them a long time). Check on them more than usual to make sure they’re okay. Text pictures to the plant parent to show them how they’re doing, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

5. A nice thing to do is to give a little gift so the person really remembers you and tells her friends about you. Shelby asked us to repot her enormous monstera, and brought us the new pot and soil when she dropped it off. But there was no saucer. So the next time Mom and I were at the PTA thrift shop, we looked around and found a big platter for 50 cents). Perfect for catching water! Harriet also added this watermelon guy to one of Shelby’s spider plants!

6. Finally, a great idea is to ask if the plant parent minds if you take a cutting for propagation. You can do this when they pick up the plants, so they can see the health of the plant you’ve taken such good care of. Propagating from friends is a great way to get new plants.

CROCHET PLANT HANGER

I’ve gotten really into crocheting. I learned how to do it at Clapping Hands Farm’s Toys and Games camp. I started by learning how to make a rectangle, but I’ve been teaching myself how to make other shapes. I make jellyfish, octopuses, mice, purses, and plant hangers!

I’m not following a pattern. I just think about it, and use what I’ve learned from practice at Clapping Hands. I also use thick beginner yarn to help what I’m crocheting keep its shape.

To make the plant hanger, I made a cup, started a chain, then connected the chain with the crochet hook on the other side. Then I did the same thing on the other side, so there are four straps. I’m sorry that this is not a very good how-to, I can make a video if you want? Here’s what it looks like:

This plant hanger is great for air plants, which you can tuck inside. The yarn grips the air plant really well. The hanger will even be good for absorbing any extra water you use to mist or soak your air plant.

What do you think?

Also, guess what? If you come to my launch party on August 31 at McIntyre’s, you’ll learn all about propagation! And take home a plant! And you can buy a signed copy of Plant Pets! 11 am on August 31—hope to see you there!

P.S. Congratulations to Julia McNamee, who won an early Plant Pets book (for subscribing) *and* a hand-crocheted octopus! Julia, Cat, and Georgann, we finally have our early copies and will be sending them out this week!