Re: Gardening songs...

[Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>]

Graham: Chris Roth is the author of a great little book called "The Beetless
Gardening Book," a collection of his original garden-oriented lyrics set to
familiar Beatles melodies. It would work for you if you can find the chords
to the songs; they're not provided in the book, but I would imagine
somewhere in Britain, in some old hippie's mouldering archive . . . or maybe
everyone in the UK born after 1965 has the music genetically implanted.

You can see the book at http://members.aol.com/growseed/

Its put out by Carrotseed Press Box 1174, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 USA
0-9657090-2-7 $8. Since Chris is a friend of mine, I will tread on copyright
by reposting a lyric sample from his website. You can figure out which
Beatles song it's from (note to the lyrics: Green Gulch is a noted organic
community near San Francisco).

"A Hard Clay Soil"  
(excerpted from pp. 32-33 of The Beetless' Gardening Book: An Organic
Gardening Songbook/Guidebook, by Chris Roth. © 1997.

I've got a hard, clay soil 
And I've been working like a dog 
To add humus so that when it rains 
I've got a garden, not a bog 
But when the dry season comes 
Instead of fertile, rich crumbs 
It's still like a concrete log 

You know I work all day 
Digging ditches, adding mulch 
I've tried forking, and been known to pray 
For soil imported from Green Gulch 
But when I get home at night 
I know the garden's alright 
As our veggie bin starts to bulge 

When I'm home everything seems to be right 
When I'm home - but then I'm dreaming of bentonite, -nite, yeah 

There are more nutrients in heavy clay 
Than in pure sand, which drains too fast 
But if I could really have my way 
I'd like a loam that's made to last 
I'd leave these harsh hillsides for 
The fertile valley floor 
A garden there would be a blast 
Ow! 

I'd leave these harsh hillsides for 
The fertile valley floor 
A garden there would be a blast 

When I'm home everything seems to be right 
When I'm home - but then I'm dreaming of bentonite, -nite, yeah 

I've got a hard, clay soil 
And I'll be working 'til I rot 
'Cause in pleasure and in toil 
What you've got is what you've got 
So at the end of the day 
I'll still be feeling ok 
'Cause I've been doing what I ought 

I've been doing what I ought 
I've been doing what I ought