Children

---

A farmer and his wife planted a field of pumpkins.

"We will ask God to bless us with Sunshine and rain to make our pumpkins grow." said the farmer.

And God did! Soon there were pumpkins vines everywhere and tiny little pumpkins began to form, hundreds of them.
As the farmer and his wife watched them grow they talked about what to do with so many pumpkins.

" I think I shall make pumpkin stew and invite all of the neighbours." said the wife."

"What a fine idea, and we should have Pumpkin bread don’t you think?" farmer asked.

"Of course! oh my, it wouldn’t be a fine dinner unless we had pumpkin pie too" replied the farmer’s wife."

As they rocked on the front porch the farmer said " We will just thank God once again for such a fine crop of pumpkins before we rest for the night."

That night while they were sleeping some deer came to visit the pumpkin patch. What tasty tender vines thought mother deer. Just right for my little fawn. Soon all of the deer in the herd were enjoying the new tender vines on the north side of the field

The next morning farmer went to look at his fine pumpkin patch . He saw the trampled vines on the north side. He hurried back to the house to tell his wife about the loss of pumpkins and damage that had been done.

She wouldn’t be discouraged. "We shall still have plenty, let us not be to greedy to share with a few animals." She answered. So again they were happy and rested well that night.

The next morning after milking the cows and feeding the chickens the farmer walked over to his pumpkin patch to see the fine vines that were left.

Wife was in the garden picking some flowers when all of a sudden she heard farmer making some awful sounds. "shew! schram! Whooeee!" he was yelling at the top of his lungs. She dropped her flowers and ran as hard as she could to see.
What ever could be making him sound that way.

When she reached the edge of the pumpkin patch she saw something black all over their pumpkins and farmer was running back and forth waving his arms at the black things, as he did she saw the cloud of black lift and move away.

"Farmer, what did you scare away from our tiny pumpkins?” she panted quite out of breath.

asked wife.

"It was four and twenty blackbirds.. I must stay or they will be back and destroy the rest of our patch."

So Farmer sat up all that night to guard the pumpkins. He was so tired that wife knew she must help him, so she decided to do his chores for him. As she went to feed the cows hay she noticed the straw was scattered all on the ground. This gave her an Id
! Quickly she began to gather it into bunches .
Soon her hands were full so she would lay one bunch down , and get some more. Again and again she worked filling her hands and lying straw in bunches she had straw sticking out of every bunch and they were tossed every which way. When she turned to look
t them she laughed . "If it had farmers hat and trousers on it would be just his size." she said to herself.

The Idea to help farmer came to mind. "That is what they could do she thought." she hurried into the house and came back with a pair of farmers clothes and old hat .Quickly she stuffed the straw into the shirt and pants.
About that time farmer came into the barn and he too laughed.
"Wife what are you making, it looks much like me?"

"Well I thought if the birds could see you all the time they would not come and ruin our pumpkins." she said.

He now remembered just how tired he was and replied, "Right you are wife but I can not stay , I am much too tired even after one night."

"Oh no, you can not stay but look! Your clothes can!"
"The birds will see the wind blowing your clothes and your hat and they will think you are still there."

"What a good idea you have and a pole will keep him standing upright.

“What shall we call him, farmer two?” ask farmer

"No I think sense they will be scared of him ,we will call him "Scarecrow"

Scarecrow had done a good job, and at harvest time the pumpkins had grown into a great size. As the gathered many pumpkins wife said, "We shall make stew, and bread, and pies from the large pumpkins. What should we do with all of these small ones?’

"Wife, said farmer, "I think boys and girls would like to see our pumpkin-patch and the Scarecrow, lets invite them all to our farm ."

"Oh yes and then they will thank God for our pumpkin also."

And so each year God blessed them ,and now all of the school children want to see the Pumpkin patch
each fall.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE