It’s cool, isn’t it? You sing a song and whoosh! A plant! The work of a few seasons passes in a few short verses. Incredible.

Why not sing all plants like this? Why not make all the world’s food and fibres from quick songs and soft magic?

Because it is always a trade.

Your energy becomes the flower’s, or the carrot’s, or the grain’s. You only get out what you put in – sing while your heart isn’t in it and you’ve got a very floppy sunflower. You’d eat more of your crops to sustain your singing, and that just doesn’t add up.

It takes from the soil, too. The soil changes and grows as the seasons pass, and too many adult plants will leave the land barren. The earth needs food and rain and rest, just as we all do.

Besides, with all those roots shooting into the ground, think of how many moles would get tangled up?