Garden Bedtime Tales
By
Gypsy Joy.
It all began in a drought year when every gardener’s heart at times got pinged and skipped a beat and the farmers sighed day after day. It was a pity that everyone seemed to have forgotten how to do a raindance, it might have helped. At least it would have made them laugh. The loss was upsetting to all. The seeds and seedlings tried their very best but since their thirst could not be blessed by rainy days and the wind and sun chased the rain clouds away, many went astray.
The youngest members of the pumpkin patches and the last to fully blossom, ripen and grow had become the worry children of not only many a farmer and gardener but also of the elders in the pumpkin patches. Frequently one could hear the soft whispering from one pumpkin elder to the other about the slow growers. What was one to do during a drought if even the tender care of the farmers and gardeners could not make the youngsters big, plump and juicy and inside full of seeds.
In a few months it would be halloween and the whole village needed pumpkins to carve and lit them with candles so the children could collect their halloween treats in true
“Trick or Treat”
fashion. Grandmothers and Moms needed to bake pumpkin pies and Grandfathers and Fathers had their mind set on carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds. The pumpkin elders shook their heads as they wearily waited for a miracle to happen.
Drawing courtesy of
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/galleries/156-boys-and-girls
One day little children passing by a pumpkin patch in their pastoral village asked the lady gardener how come that there were sooooo many little pumpkins in the gardens and on the farms this year. Patiently the lady gardener explained the story of growing pumpkins from seeds and seedlings. The blessings needed of God and Mother Nature, the help of the bees and other good garden insects. The warmth of the sun, the freshness of the wind, the importance of rain and water, fertile soil, regular weeding and so on… AND the sadness of the year’s drought.
When she was finished the children looking very serious advised her to get in touch with Cinderella’s Godmother who would surely know what to do if God and Mother Nature did not know anymore how to help the gardeners and farmers with the drought. After all she was the one with the magic wand.
One cannot ignore the earnest advice of children and so the lady gardener did her utmost best to get in touch with Cinderella’s fairy godmother. It was never fully explained if she had found the fairy godmother but one thing is sure from that day on when the little boy and girl had visited the lady gardener, the little pumpkins in the pumpkin patch everywhere in the village seemed to grow bigger and bigger.
Although, it must be told that a few pumpkins stayed extra small and some did not make it at all. But, many gardeners, farmers and buyers in the village felt the pumpkins in the year of the drought had done their utmost best and they were very pleased, indeed. They all felt it would be a good halloween year for all.
Good Night and Sleep Well!
