Monday 21 September 2015

The Fruit And Vegetable Song

Cauliflowers fluffy and cabbages green, 
Strawberries sweeter than any I’ve seen. 
Beetroot purple and onions white, 
All grow steadily day and night. 
The apples are ripe, and the plums are red, 
The broad beans are sleeping in their blankety bed. 
Blackberries are juicy and rhubarb's sour, 
Marrows fattening, hour by hour. 
Gooseberries hairy and lettuces fat, 
Radishes round and runner beans flat. 
The apples are ripe, and the plums are red, 
The broad beans are sleeping in their blankety bed. 
Orangey carrots and turnips cream, 
Reddening tomatoes that used to be green. 
Brown potatoes in little heaps, 
Down in the darkness where the celery sleeps. 
The apples are ripe, and the plums are red, 
The broad beans are sleeping in their blankety bed, yeah!

I know it isn't a Christian hymn - but this song always reminds me of Primary School Harvest Festivals in the 1980s. I love the evocative descriptions of the produce.

Did you, or your children sing this one? And did the teacher make you all do the 'jazz hands' very enthusiastically at the end, when you went 'Yeah!' [and all the Mums at the back would smile]

10 comments:

  1. I didn't recognise the song, but thought it looked like a primary school song as I read the lyrics.

    Thankyou for the nudge to get knitting hats for Innocent smoothies, a late reply I know, but I'm catching up after an internet free trip away. I loved the knitted hat photos, I usually only make some less elaborate stripy ones, but might branch out and do some rabbit ear hats too this time. Thanks for the link. Best wishes, Vee x

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  2. How that took me back to when my daughter was little and came home from school with it to learn for the harvest Festivcal. I'd not heard it before that and really loved the bit about the beans in their blankety beds and even now if we have broad beans we refer to them as being in their blankety beds!

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  3. So cute! I've never heard that!

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  4. I LOVED this song!! (well actually I still do haha!) I have been working at SL for the past week and in their singing assembly they were singing "The farmer gathers his hay today" along with other harvest songs - took me back to primary school!

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  5. We sang it every year (until 2 years ago when we missed harvest! Oops!) x

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  6. We still sing this at Stafford Leys !!

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  7. It definately brings back memories of teaching in the early eighties!that and "Autumn days When the grass is jewelled.."Thanks for reminding me xx

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  8. Absolutely - and well into the 90s at my primary school!

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  9. which music book for children has this song?

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  10. Try this; http
    ://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/cauliflowers-fluffy-harvest-song-6119422. Also "Come and Praise" other sources available on internet (sometimes it's called The Paintbox Song")

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