Growing more than stones

Inspired by our local community farm, part of the Transition network...

Farm ‘em, boyo (a transitional tale)

You think you know veg?
Walk a mile in my choux-fleurs,
Haul water-carriers,
Thirty kilos apiece,
Hop to it, Aquarian -
Pour, refill, repeat.

Rain in sight?
A blight upon the blight,
Tweeze out the leek-moths,
Scare the pigeons with a hawk-kite,
Build
Poly-tunnels, fences, gates and stiles,
Sheds, raised beds,
Heat-sinks, staging, fruit-caging,
Shift the porcine rotavators,
(Actually, I must say piglets are fun)
Shovel some dung,
DIY and PYO,
Plant and tend
A native fruit-and-nut grove,
Fix tools to make and mend.

So, plough straight the furrow,
By coulter and ard –
You’ll soon see how easy it is to grow
Stones;
But food’s a bit harder,
If you want your larder full and varied,
By fork, hoe and barrow –
Did I mention the digging,
The orchard or vineyard?