Candy probably isn’t what comes to mind when you think about a Spring garden poem. Daffodils? Tulips? Clover? Sure. But candy? Not so much. For that matter, what does candy even have to do with a garden?
Well, if you have ever had the luxury of picking fresh peas and eating them straight out of the pod, I think you might agree that they are the garden’s version of candy. Pea plants are quite beautiful, too, with their long, climbing vines, delicate white flowers, and the twisting pea greens. These Spring vegetables are certainly worthy subjects for a Spring garden poem, if you ask me.
Melissa Ellen Neil thinks so, too. In her poem, Shelling Peas, she takes us on a journey to a Spring day long ago. “Shelling peas isn’t easy,” she begins. The real question, of course, is about who finds shelling peas such a challenge, Melissa or her mom. The answer may surprise you.
At the very least, this sweet Spring garden poem will remind you just how delicious fresh peas are and how much goodness a garden gives us. It might even inspire you to grow peas in your own garden. That’s the power of poetry, right there. Or is it the power of a tasty garden? Maybe it’s both. I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Whether A Spring Garden Poem Or A Story That Will Make You Laugh Out Loud, There Is Plenty Here To Enjoy.
This story comes from our archive spanning over 30 years, and includes more than 130 magazine issues of GreenPrints. Pieces like these that imbue the joy of gardening into everyday life lessons always brighten up my day, and I hope it does for you as well. Enjoy!
Shelling Peas
By Melissa Ellen Neill
Shelling peas isn’t easy.
I shelled my share as a kid.
They pop out of their shells,
they get eaten
they roll out of the bowl
and roll around on the floor.
We shelled
we ate
they rolled.
Mother mumbled
over each half-bowl of peas
swept the porch floor
and next year
planted more. ❖
By Melissa Ellen Neill, published originally in 2018, in GreenPrints Issue #113. Illustrated by Linda Cook Devona
Do you have a favorite spring garden poem? Or have you written one yourself?
Two Poems!
FOREVER POTATOES
It belches forth new green things
At every warming after the cold.
Leaves unfurling, uncurling, reaching to spring sun;
Praising, pleading, yearning for life to continue.
Bursting with gladness to be born,
To greet other growing green things.
Allowing, and even welcoming crawling,
Or flying creatures to come eat,
To rest, to share pollens and so to recreate.
Nena Jones September 2010
MY DIRT YIELDS ON ITS OWN
My dirt gives me forever
Of what I did not plant;
Of what may volunteer.
From seeds cast too broadly
Or seeds clung to fur
And stuck on my muddy shoe,
From birds flying over
Dropping their undigested things
In a bit of sunny soil.
Rain assists.
Nena Jones November 2010
A charming poem. It is so true that half the peas get eaten during processing!