A Gardener's Dream

Rain every night, a good steady fall,

Warm sun all day, and no wind at all.

Earth light and soft, easy to seed,

No couch at all, not even a weed.

All seeds germinate, the carrots no gaps,

Just simple thinning, I was a happy chap.

Broad beans grew well, no sign of black fly,

Runners went mad reaching for the sky.

Pigeons found other brassicas to munch,

Sparrows did not want my peas for lunch.

No slugs seen, there was not a snail,

Across the ground, no silvery trail.

Molluscs and birds left strawberries alone,

Red and ripe but firm they had grown.

With currents and gooseberries the bushes were bowed,

The size of rasps made me really proud.

Salad crops, in abundance grew,

Parsnips and carrots were long straight and true.

Potatoes were large, the best I have seen,

No scab or holes, soil fell away clean.

Harvesting produce, the weather just right,

Not one insect wanted to bite.

Suddenly the sound of wind and of rain,

I had fallen asleep in the shed again!

© Mick Suter 1998

Terry Smith and Said Gousy of QED (left) were in the party of twenty-two people from Dartford who visited Uplands Allotments for the Arts Project