Chương 102: 101 Emily's Garden

End of Ebril"Well Cara, what do you think?" Emily gestured in an arc around her newly expanded garden. At over two acres, it was much larger than anything she'd ever grown before. It didn't even include the new berry bushes, or John's asparagus-lined ditch banks he loved so much. That man loved asparagus to an unhealthy degree. Not that Emily didn't enjoy asparagus on occasion herself, minus the awful smell of one's urine after eating it, of course.

But it hadn't been nearly so profligate before John installed his irrigation ditches. The stuff just grew like weeds now. Cara simply said, "Mhmm." She was not a particularly talkative woman, but "mhmm," was less eloquent than her usual replies. Emily liked the older woman and enjoyed her steady presence with the younger Farm Mistresses. Tess in particular could be a little too opinionated about some of Emily's choices. Cara always shut her down, and the older woman brooked no nonsense while food was being cooked.

Once Emily got her Bookkeeper skill high enough, she'd appoint Cara as her head of staff. It would probably end up as her level 15 skill. She would easily hit that this fall. Then hopefully they'd get enough extra land for her to evolve after next fall's harvest. Farm Mistress was a rather wonderful sounding class in her mind.

"Would you care to elaborate?" she asked Cara.

"Sure, why not," the woman said with a smile.

"The cabbage is coming up nicely. As is the leaf lettuce, and that damnable kale is running amok. No doubt to John's enjoyment." Cara shook her head, then continued on, "that man might love it as much as his darned asparagus. Now don't get me wrong, asparagus is fine as an occasional treat, but he wants it for every meal! And he hates dandelion shoots, but loves kale. If you ask me, I'd take a dandelion leaf salad over kale any day of the week."

"John's salad choices aside, does everything else look acceptable to you?" Emily asked, amused, derailing Cara's mild rant.

"Aye," Cara answered.

"The onion shoots are starting to come up nicely, looks like just about every one we planted is doing well. We will be overwhelmed by peas and carrots soon enough." Emily smiled at that.

"It will certainly allow us to pickle to our hearts content this summer. The new garlic beds are flourishing. Assuming we can acquire all the necessary enchanted crockery, the homestead will be well supplied this winter."

"Aye, that'll help with yer leveling." Cara said.

"You're getting 10XP per crock for pickled vegetables aren't you?" Emily nodded.

"Correct. And 1XP per pound of most of the various vegetables we are growing." Cara smiled wistfully.

"As if we needed any more confirmation that the nobles are messing with the System. Your Bookkeeper class has more quests than any other class I've ever seen. Combine it with the known acreage needed to evolve it, and you have a tailor made wealthy noblewoman's way to evolve all wrapped up in a pretty bow."

"It does seem that way," Emily agreed.

"John's hot house potato barn has allowed us to get our tomatoes, and peppers growing over a month early as well. We shall have fresh tomatoes by late May at the latest. Same with our peppers."

"That is great, I'll admit," said Cara.

"I wasn't confident it would make as big a difference as he said it would. You should push for that greenhouse next year."

"We shall see," Emily answered.

"The cost may be prohibitive, and his warm potato barn is working just fine."

"True," Cara conceded, "but he also wants to do some experimentin' with potatoes, and strawberries. You'll need more than his barn to do that."

"Very true. Well we shall see. Our tomato harvest may be impressive enough for us to even begin selling our surplus." Emily mused, looking in the direction of the barn.

"Aye, and all our peppers are doing great," said Cara.

"Indeed," Emily let out an involuntary laugh.

"Do you know, John said that on his world the country that is where our Home Isles are is known for its incredibly bland food? Apparently they spice very little." Cara looked scandalized.

"How can that be?"

"Well, he says that the people there colonized from the continent first, not the other way around. It is true that there are very few spices native to the Isles after all." Emily explained. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Aye, that I'll concede. Still, it feels wild." Cara said, shaking her head.

"Anna and Tess will have the beds ready for the sisters by tomorrow. Then we'll plant beginning of the week?"

"Yes," Emily responded with a smile.

"I do love that name. Much better than the triangle as we have always called it. We shall plant the sweet corn, then pole beans and squash after. That will take up half an acre on its own." John had said the "sisters" moniker had come from the people native to this land. Women took care of the garden, so the name fit rather well in her mind. Cara, always blunt, asked her about Colin.

"Have you spoken with that boy of yours about his choices?" Emily's brow furrowed, and her mood soured.

"I have not," she said tersely. Cara looked at Emily with resolve, "You really need to do something. Otherwise, you'll end up like me. I told my husband that we never should have arranged that marriage. We met his wife before we arranged the betrothal. She was disrespectful even then."

"This is a very different situation Cara," Emily said with exasperation.

"Maybe, but if you don't ask Colin to think about his life choices, you could lose him just like I have. If he goes off with Tieg and his bunch, you'll be lucky to see him once every few years. And they're hard men. Too hard if you ask me."

"True," Emily said.

"But he will be leaving to join the military no matter what happens. Much as I hate it, my boy is an adult now. He was always such a good kid. I think he worries about having enough power to make sure what happened to us when his father died never happens again."

"You're right," Cara said, nodding.

"There are easier ways to go about it, though. He should join the regular army. See how he likes it first. My husband did the same, found he hated it. Still served twenty even then! Then only did his time in the militia after. If Colin loves being a Scout, he can go with Tieg's lot after regular trainin' still.

"Maybe, I shall speak with John again to see if he has any more insight. John has been mostly staying out of things, just being supportive and letting me deal with things on my own terms. I would not mind if he played a more proactive role, but I understand why he has not." That ended the conversation for a few minutes while both women quietly looked at the garden and thought about their situations. Cara broke Emily out of her thoughts first and asked her about the new woman who would join them after Bhealtaine.

"Did Emily ever hear what that Craftsman's wife has for a class?"

"Oh yes," Emily said, grinning.

"I could not find out what her primary class was, but she also has a secondary class that I was able to ascertain. Care to venture a guess?" Cara frowned and crossed her arms over her bosom as she said, "With that smile, I'm guessing it's something good. Hmm." Cara thought for a few minutes before she started to think out loud, "It can't be Butcher the way you're grinning. Now that poor Laeth has it, it isn't a need. She doesn't have a Brewer class does she?" Emily smiled and shook her head.

"No, but I hear one of the men who will be joining us does. There will be a Distiller as well. John says he wants to begin making potato vodka. He says that where he is from, they make a wonderful huckleberry vodka."

"Just what the men need," Cara groused.

"Alright, out with it. I'm too old to keep guessing." Emily let out a genuine laugh at Cara's comment. Sure, she was sixty, but she was level 20, and had another sixty good years in her.

"She has a Seamstress class." Emily said, putting an end to the mystery. Suddenly, she put her hand to her stomach and let out a very unladylike burp. Cara's smile was wicked.

"That'll come in mighty handy when you need your dress let out. Have you told John yet?" Emily gave her a sharp look.

"Come now. I am only a few weeks late, and you know as well as I, it is unwise to speak of it before the end of the first trimester. I want to make sure before I spring this on John." Cara frowned.

"You think he will be upset? And surely he has noticed the signs?" Emily shook her head.

"He has not. He said he was infertile on his planet." Cara snorted.

"He wouldn't be the first man to make that claim, if you know what I mean." Emily playfully slapped Cara's arm.

"Be decent! I suppose if women can become fertile after evolving, men can as well. I did tell him as much when we were married."

"And what did he have to say about that?" Cara asked.

"I told him if it was a concern there were ways to mitigate the risk. He simply said, what will be will be. But I don't think he actually believed it was a possibility." Emily replied. In a deadpan voice, Cara said, "Well the way the two of you have been carrying on, if it was a possibility, you certainly made sure the odds were high."

"Miss Cara!" Emily said, indignant. Wistfully, Cara said, "I'll not deny, it can be a pleasant way to pass the time, and deal with stress. My Robert, may the System bless his soul, sure tried to convince me of such any chance he got."

Among the most robust sections in the Homesteader's Almanac is the proper care, maintenance, and storage of a family's garden plot. A properly sized and tended garden can mean the difference between life and death on the frontier. It can be difficult to have access to the proper nutrients during a long, cold winter without pickled vegetables.

The gardening section of the almanac has detailed explanations on when you should plant to ensure that a late frost doesn't kill your burgeoning warm-weather plants like tomatoes and peppers. Conversely, cabbage and kale like the cold weather and should be planted much earlier. The almanac also has a wonderful section on the skills and perks that almost every wife should take to maximise her effectiveness as a proper homestead wife. When an absence of gold is felt, preserves can keep you from tightening your belt!

An excerpt from, the gardening section of The Homesteader's Almanac, by the The Western Territory Homestead Project of the Royal Research Academy, multiple authors.