Secret Strawberries  

by Tom LaPorte

Part I

“Oh, what a day! Our happy spring day has arrived, Natalie.”

“What Mommy? What happens today?” Natalie Grace asked cheerfully.

“Oh, baby girl, today we plant our strawberry seeds,” her mommy said.

“Yippee! Can we have strawberry pie tomorrow?” Natalie Grace asked.

“Oh, my precious little girl, these June-Bearing Strawberries will take two to three months before we can pick them.”

“Then can we have strawberry pie?” Natalie Grace asked.

“Yes, yes we can have strawberry pie and strawberry jam and strawberry jelly and some fresh strawberries all by themselves.”

Natalie Grace and her mommy turned the soil and gently planted strawberry seeds in rows. They talked to the little seeds in a very caring voice. 

“Soon you will grow into big beautiful plants,” they cooed.

Each time Natalie Grace and her mommy watered the ground they talked to the seeds underneath. They told the seeds how soon they would all grow into yummy strawberries. 

“Oh, Natalie Grace come see the tiny green stems poking out of the ground!” her mother called.

“Oh, Natalie Grace come see the little white blossoms!” her mommy shouted with glee. 

“Oh, Natalie Grace come see the plump pink berries!” her mommy said ecstatically.

“Oh, Natalie Grace come see our stunning strawberries! They will be ripe and ready tomorrow,” her mommy said jubilantly. 

“Oh my! Natalie, every single strawberry has been eaten or has holes pecked in it, all but one,” her mommy cried out in dismay.

“What happened to our strawberries?”

“Oh, those birds!” her mommy complained. “They came and ruined our strawberry patch. They ate all but one. I think they left the one just to make me mad.”

“Mommy, do you think the birds were listening when we talked to the strawberries? Maybe the birds were waiting just like us.”

“No. Those were our strawberries and those pesky birds ruined all of our hard work and left us with nothing.”

“The birds didn’t ruin everything, Mommy. They shared and left us one. Do you want to share the last one with me?”

Natalie’s mommy gave the single strawberry to her daughter. Natalie Grace enjoyed it and took the longest time to eat the one small strawberry.


Part II


“Oh, what a day! Our happy spring day has arrived, Mommy.”

“What Natalie, what happens today?” her mommy asked cheerfully.

“Oh mommy, today we plant our strawberry seeds,” Natalie Grace said.

“Oh, my baby girl! Don’t you remember what happened last year?” Natalie’s mommy asked.

“Yes, mommy, I remember. We grew strawberries and the birds shared them with us.”

“Oh, my sweet, sweet girl. Instead of all that hard work, I’ll take you to the market and buy some strawberries. Then can we make strawberry pie!” 

“Oh, no, Mommy. I want to grow our own strawberries so we can have strawberry pie and strawberry jam and strawberry jelly and some fresh strawberries all by themselves.”

So, once again Natalie Grace and her mommy turned the soil and gently planted strawberry seeds in rows. They talked to the little seeds in a very caring voice. 

“Soon you will grow into big beautiful plants,” they cooed.

Each time Natalie Grace and her mommy watered the ground they talked to the seeds underneath. They told the seeds how soon they would all grow into yummy strawberries.

“Oh, Mommy come see the tiny green stems poking out of the ground!” Natalie Grace called.

“Oh, Mommy come see the little white blossoms!” Natalie Grace shouted with glee. 

“Oh, Mommy come see the plump pink berries!” Natalie Grace said ecstatically.

“Oh, Mommy come see our stunning strawberries. They will be ripe and ready tomorrow,” Natalie Grace said jubilantly. 

“Oh my! Natalie, I’m so sorry but every single strawberry has been eaten or has holes pecked in it, all but one,” her mommy cried out in dismay.

Natalie Grace came running out of the house. “Is it the strawberries? Are they ready?”
“Oh, those birds did it, again!” her mommy complained. “They came and ruined our strawberry patch. Just like last year they ate them, all but one. Now I know they left the one just to make me mad.”

“Oh, no, they didn’t,” Natalie Grace explained. “They shared again. Only this time I shared, too. I planted these for the birds to have. Then I planted another patch all by myself behind the garage,” Natalie Grace said as she took her mommy’s hand and led her to the secret strawberries. 

There they found so many strawberries; they looked like red smoke billowing up from the lush green ground.

“How did you keep these from the birds?” Natalie’s mommy asked in a surprised voice.

“I read a book in the library about gardening. I learned how to cover the plants with netting. And whenever I came to take care of this patch I whispered so the birds didn’t hear me talking to the strawberries. I knew the birds were waiting just like us.”

“Wow. You sure played a good one on those pesky birds. They had a treat without ruining all of your hard work.”

“See, the birds didn’t ruin everything, Mommy. Last year they shared and left us one, and this year I shared with them. Now, I want to share my secret strawberries with you,” Natalie Grace said proudly. 

Natalie Grace handed her mommy a single strawberry. Her mother enjoyed it and took the longest time to eat the one small strawberry. That night Natalie Grace and her mommy ate strawberry pie while making jams, jellies and all kinds of tasty strawberry treats.

Natalie Grace and her mommy both plucked ripe strawberries and ate them at the same time. 

“Yum!”