THE ETERNAL OPTIMISTS

                                                                            
                                                                                 XXV

I always have liked growing things,
So now with more time on hand
I thought I'd take an allotment
And join the little band...

Of optimistic masochists
Who, in all weathers can be found
Trying to wrest a harvest
From the reluctant ground.

Either it's too cold and wet
So that the seeds all rot,
Or else your struggling seedings die
Because it is too hot.

But gardeners as a race
Are notoriously hard to please,
Some want it sunny for their strawberries
Some want it wet for their peas.

We have some fair weather gardeners
Who come out with the flowers of spring,
Plant their beans and tomatoes
And vanish when the swallows take wing.

For any allotment gardener
An optimistic nature is a must
To cope with slugs and codling moth,
Mildew -  mould and rust;

Snails - rabbits - caterpillars
And flies - green, black and white,
Birds - moles - foxes
And various types of blight.

You think you will save money
When you have a bumper crop,
Then as your yield increases
Shop prices start to drop.

But when you eat a ripe strawberry,
Warm from the sun's morning kiss,
You realise that in no supermarket
Can you buy flavour like this.


November 1994