I found these lyrics in Sing Out! Magazine, Volume 27, No. 5 (Sept/Oct 1979), page 78.
BARNYARD DANCE (Carl Martin)
It was late one night In the pale moonlight And all the vegetables went on a spree They put out a sign that said "Dancin' at Nine" And all the admission was free
It was peas and beans Cabbage and greens Well it was the biggest sight you've ever seen And when old man cucumber struck up his number You oughtta heard the vegetables scream
Well the little turnip top did the backwoods flop The cabbage tried to shimmy and it could not stop Little red beet she took his feet And the watermelon dived with the cockeyed beat
Little tomato, agitator Shook the shimmy with the sweet potato And old man garlic dropped dead with the colic Down at the barnyard dance This morning Down at the barnyard dance
I have found Sing Out! song transcriptions to be pretty good, but not infallible. I couldn't find a Carl Martin recording, or a printed source that was more closely tied to Martin. For comparison, here are the lyrics from the Digital Tradition (quite possibly taken from Red Riley's post above):
BARNYARD DANCE
Late last night in the pale moonlight All the vegetables give a spree They put out a sign saying dancing at nine And all the admissions was free. There were peas and beans, and cabbages and greeens. It was the biggest crowd you ever seen And when old man cucumber struck up his number, You shoulda heard them vegetables scream.
Well the little turnip top was doin' the backwoods flop. The carrot shook the shimmy and she would not stop. The little red beet kicked off his feet And the watermelon died in a cockeyed heap. Red tomata, agitator, shook up the shimmy With the sweet potata. And old man garlic dropped dead of the colic Down at the Barnyard Dance.