--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden…" description: "\"“He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden beyond the asparagus beds: fruit trees and strawberry beds and bean poles and a chicken-wire enclosure where raspb..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/philippa-pearce-41771_fruit-trees_he-criss-crossed-the-kitchen-garden-beyo_1120139.jpg" --- # He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden beyond the asparagus… ![“He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden beyond the asparagus beds: fruit trees and strawberry beds and bean poles and a chicken-wire enclosure where raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes and currant bushes lived sheltered from the attack of birds. Beside the gooseberry wire grew a row of rhubarb. Each…” quote by Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/philippa-pearce-41771_fruit-trees_he-criss-crossed-the-kitchen-garden-beyo_1120139.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/philippa-pearce-41771_fruit-trees_he-criss-crossed-the-kitchen-garden-beyo_1120139.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8b/philippa-pearce-41771_fruit-trees_he-criss-crossed-the-kitchen-garden-beyo_1120139.jpg) > ““He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden beyond the asparagus beds: fruit trees and strawberry beds and bean poles and a chicken-wire enclosure where raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes and currant bushes lived sheltered from the attack of birds. Beside the gooseberry wire grew a row of rhubarb. Each clump was covered with the end of an old tub or pot drain-pipe with sacking over the top. Between the loose staves of one of the tubends was something white—a piece of paper. It was folded, and addressed in a childish hand—if one could call it an address: ‘To Oberon, King of Fairies.’ Tom certainly did not want to be mixed up with talk of fairies and that kind of thing; and he moved very quickly away from the rhubarb bed.”” [Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-pearce/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child creates a whimsical, secret message for a fairy king, showing imagination and the desire to protect innocence. **In simple terms:** A child writes a note to a fairy king, hiding it among garden plants. Key Takeaway Protect imagination and cherish secret worlds. Themes imagination childhood secret worlds Mood playful nostalgic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - garden play - writing secret notes - protecting imagination - encouraging creativity Key Concepts fantasy playfulness creativity Questions to Reflect On - How do you keep imagination alive in adulthood? - What role do secret messages play in your life? A Different Perspective May blur lines between reality and fantasy, causing confusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fairies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairies/) [Fruit trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit-trees/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) ## Related quotes > [“THE SHADOWS Table of Contents Old Ralph Rinkelmann made his living by comic sketches, and all but lost it again by tragic poems. 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"I shall look forward to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-pearce/good-bye-mrs-bartholemew-said-tom-shaking-hands-with-stiff-politeness/) [Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-pearce/) > [“A habit of solitude in early childhood is not easily broken. Indeed, it may prove lifelong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-pearce/a-habit-of-solitude-in-early-childhood-is-not-easily-broken-indeed-it/) [Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-pearce/) > [ The children's writer not only makes a satisfactory connection between \[the writer's\] present maturity and his past childhood, he also does the same for… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-pearce/the-children-s-writer-not-only-makes-a-satisfactory-connection/) [Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-pearce/) > [“...And you probably have little idea of how delicious - how toothsome - how scrumptious - they are when eaten fresh. 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"If you don't get it, you may yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippa-pearce/if-you-don-t-get-it-you-don-t-get-it-if-you-don-t-get-it-you-may-yet/) [Philippa Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-pearce/) [Explore all 10 Philippa Pearce quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippa-pearce/) ## More Fairies quotes > [“This was going to be worse than the time I table danced in the diner in high school!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bryson/this-was-going-to-be-worse-than-the-time-i-table-danced-in-the-diner/) [Kathy Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bryson/) > [“The folk of a Celtic type, whether pre-Celtic, Celtic, or Norse, have all spoken a Celtic language and exhibit the same old Celtic characteristics—vanity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-a-macculloch/the-folk-of-a-celtic-type-whether-pre-celtic-celtic-or-norse-have-all/) J.A. 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Barrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-barrie/) > [“Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; And charging along like troops in a battle All through the meadows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/faster-than-fairies-faster-than-witches-bridges-and-houses-hedges-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you use magic outside the school, we are going to get into more trouble than ever. I’m still not allowed to eat sweets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/magda-m-olchawska/if-you-use-magic-outside-the-school-we-are-going-to-get-into-more/) [Magda M. Olchawska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/magda-m-olchawska/) > [“What's it like where they live?" "It's everything you want it to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-zettel/what-s-it-like-where-they-live-it-s-everything-you-want-it-to-be/) [Sarah Zettel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-zettel/) > [“If we turn now to such vestiges of cult as are associated otherwise than with time and season, we discover a definite recognition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-spence/if-we-turn-now-to-such-vestiges-of-cult-as-are-associated-otherwise/) [Lewis Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-spence/) > [Again, if there are really no fairies, why do people believe in them, all over the world? The ancient Greeks believed, so did the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/again-if-there-are-really-no-fairies-why-do-people-believe-in-them/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Her father...was all front to back in his transparency: what you saw was what there was, there was nothing clandestine in his character, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-wiggins/her-father-was-all-front-to-back-in-his-transparency-what-you-saw-was/) [Marianne Wiggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-wiggins/) > [“That's where both the Fae and the dragons fail…"They are defined either by narrative or reality. They don't go beyond that. The only person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-cogman/that-s-where-both-the-fae-and-the-dragons-fail-they-are-defined/) [Genevieve Cogman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-cogman/) > [“for frail but surprisingly strong fairies who had lost their way above ground for burned mermaids and sick vampire girls for wild wolfish women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/for-frail-but-surprisingly-strong-fairies-who-had-lost-their-way/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“I hope to be bowing in front of you for a long time.” He takes my hand, drops to one knee, and kisses my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tricia-copeland/i-hope-to-be-bowing-in-front-of-you-for-a-long-time-he-takes-my-hand/) [Tricia Copeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tricia-copeland/) > [ “Maybe \[aliens\] have been in our lives a lot longer than we want to admit. People have always seen strange things—elves and fairies—and now… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomm-quackenbush/maybe-aliens-have-been-in-our-lives-a-lot-longer-than-we-want-to/) [Thomm Quackenbush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomm-quackenbush/) [Browse all 389 Fairies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He criss-crossed the kitchen-garden beyond the asparagus beds: fruit trees and strawberry beds and bean poles and a chicken-wire enclosure where raspberry canes and gooseberry bushes and currant bushes lived sheltered from the attack of birds. Beside the gooseberry wire grew a row of rhubarb. Each clump was covered with the end of an old tub or pot drain-pipe with sacking over the top. Between the loose staves of one of the tubends was something white—a piece of paper. 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