i've got to go make pickles now

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in spring i said would you please till

and he of course said yes i will

how big shall the garden be

i answered him well let me see

...

i need a garden big enough

to grow my favorite veggie stuff

and then i think i need some space

to grow some pretty queen anne's lace

...

some watermelons beets and greens

carrots peas and purple beans

colored peppers at least five

parsnips turnips okra chives

...

cherry grape and steak tomaters

red skin golden sweet potaters

onions lettuce eggplant leeks

asparagus and blackeyed peaks

...

(oops i meant to call them peas

but listen on i beg you please)

radishes and cucumbers

artichokes in great numbers

...

i watered every single day

it used up all my time for play

i didn't swim or read or sing

the garden was the only thing

...

and then about two weeks ago

i realized what i'd made to grow

and wondered how to eat it all

before the freeze-up in the fall

...

the freezer's full each bowl and pan

all the jars i use to can

the ceiling's full of strings of herb

i've freebie boxes by the curb

...

i've taken all the fences down

and asked the deer to go to town

and the chipmunks and the squirrels

and the rabbit boys and girls

...

i have five gallon buckets left

which when they're filled i cannot heft

sauerkraut fills one or two

i kept back one for pickles too

...

and so i'm heating vinegar

sugar salt coriander

sweat runs down my fevered brow

i've got to go make pickles now

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