Friday, May 4, 2012

A Child's Gardening Poem

I put a seed into the ground
and said, "I'll watch it grow".
I watered it and cared for it,
as well as I could know.
One day, I walked in my back yard,
and OH, what did I see?
My seed had popped itself right out,
without consulting me!

This is a poem that my son memorized when he was about five years old.  I remember telling his kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Waddell, that he might recite it if she asked him to do so.  Later that day,  when I enquired about it, she looked at me and said, "Are you kidding?  He didn't just say the poem, he put it to music and he had a rock and roll version and a country version!"  Funny little guy!

It is a very good thing for children to see and understand how plants grow in your yard or garden.  Our son learned very early of the importance of earthworms and bees and how the right amount of rain and sunlight is crucial for the plants.  I cherish the memory of my son sitting in the carseat in the back of the car and when I remarked on the heavy rain that was coming down, I heard this small voice say, "We need the rain"...

Audrey from www.audreygoeslocal.blogspot.com  just did a wonderful post on her beautiful garden. and I hope that she will read this poem to her little gardeners, her little girls!  (Sophie, your green beans reminded me of this poem, thank you!)

22 comments:

  1. What a lovely little rhyme! Thanks, Kay.

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    1. Hey John!
      So glad you like it too. I think that I could know so much if only my teachers had realized all they had to do for me was to make it rhyme! :-)

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  2. I love growing things from seed, it feels like such an achievement, even though the seed does most of the work itself. Right now I have seed trays and plant pots cluttering up the windowsills!

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    1. Dear Tracey,
      Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a real greenhouse and have all that space and light to start seeds? The seeds don't care though, as long as they get the right sun and water, they come right up!

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  3. I enjoyed that post Kay. The growing season on the Isle of Lewis is short. I am still unable to put out tender plants. Although we have had the mildest (around 3c) winter - albeit a very wet one - there is still he danger of frost until about mid-May. I live on a peninsula and it can be mighty windy at times and so if I am planting trees or shrubs, then I plant in multiples of three. That way, at least one and hopefully two will survive and mature.
    I still have a lilac growing slowly in the front garden. I have planted a lilac tree in every garden we have had. The locals up here thought I was mad to try and grow a lilac tree by the sea but it is amazing what you can do if you try!

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    1. Dear Pat,
      Thank you! I love your idea of putting out three and hoping for one or two to make it, sounds like a good plan to me.
      Lilacs! Oh, how much that reminds me of England. We don't have then in the South, but that is such a heavenly fragrance. Nan has written about them in her blog, letters from a hill farm.
      Nan is from New England and has very different plants and flowers than what I know in Georgia. (And I love her blog too, let me know if you already read her blog!)
      Now, plants are amazing. They try so very hard to live. Sometimes, plants live where they are supposedly not meant to, no one told the plant this info, it just keeps trying to survive no matter where it is planted!

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  4. Kay - I love this little rhyme. This year my husband built me a raised planter and my little girl and I planted seeds. Unfortunately the rabbits have already eaten my tomato plants but my broccoli is doing great. I must remember to take photos of our progress. Thanks for sharing this gardening poem - I'll have to teach it to my little ones.

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    1. Dear Mairead,
      It must disappoint to have lost tomato plants, but I do love the bunny rabbits!
      If my blog is good for only one thing, teaching children to love the rhythm of words, that would be fine by me! Let me know if your little ones like the poem too!

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  5. What a cute little poem! it's good for kids to learn poetry and songs too.

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    1. Hey Jenny Woolf!
      Poetry is overlooked these days for children, not "edgy" enough, I guess.

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  6. Beautiful poem, beautiful flowers and plants. My black thumb salutes those who can grow such things!

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    1. Dear Mimi,
      Thank you! Really, I enjoy the garden. And I enjoy that my husband does almost all the work on it.
      That last photo is of my Dad's garden.
      I like to surround myself with talented people.
      xx

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  7. Oh Kay, so precious. I love it. I added this one and the last poem in our garden journal. I'm working to memorize them myself so I can help Sophie. The stories about Richard are priceless ~ he sounds like such a great kid (I know he's grown now). Thanks so much for sharing ~ I have so little time I'd never be able to find these myself!!!

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  8. Dear Audrey,
    So glad that you like it too and I hope that Sophie will.
    Glad you like my story about my son, but Richard is my husband's name. But my husband and my son are both very much alike, just little boys at heart!

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  9. What a cute little rhyme. Your son sounds like he was adorable. It is so important to teach our children about this wonderful world of ours; how things grow, how every creature has its place here, so that they may grow to love and respect our planet and everything in it.

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  10. Dear Martha,
    Thanks, as you can tell I memorized it too!
    I think respect for all living things should be taught at a very early age too.

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  11. Your header photo is very nice. It must be an English bluebell wood.

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    1. Hey John!
      Yes, that was like heaven to me. It was taken in May of 2010, and the bluebells were a bit late that year, and I would like to think that they waited just for me!
      I did a post that said "England At Her Best" which I got from the sign that said the bluebells were "At Their Best!", which they were!
      My son took that photo, he is a lot like his Dad!

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  12. What a wonderful little poem! I will share it with my girls today. Despite our urban'ly challenged outdoor space, we plant our little porch garden each year and watch with wonder as amazing things grow. Have you read "The Gardner" by Sarah Stewart? It is a wonderful picture book for children, and their parents.

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    1. Thank you so much for your comment! I love children's books. I have not heard of the one that you mentioned but it sounds like my kind of book!

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