>> this is a van nilla plantation. >> is it just this one? to the north of veracruz, the vanilla plant was originally only pollinated by bees, until it was discovered you could do the same thing by hand. >> i never knew they were vines. >> yes. >> i thought it was a bush or a plant. >> no. >> vanilla comes from the seed pods of a hermaphrodite orchid. the flower has to be pollinated within a single window of a few hours, or it will die. now, get ready for a bit of biology. >> the vanilla plant is like a woman. if you want to pollinate, you need to speak very lovely and then open it. and you're going to take out the pollen from the male and put it inside of the female orchid. >> so, we're impregnating the woman. >> yes. and then you need to wait nine months in order to make the crop. >> like a baby?