CHAPTER 241: CLEARING THE FIELDS

The big project on most of the farms was to harvest the volunteer grain that had been growing wild in the fields so that they had seed for a proper crop, and then some left over for flour, if possible.

Most of that had to be done by hand, as there were so many other plants mixed in the fields, but the Ravi Family’s workers had found themselves a field that was nearly all potatoes, and they had most of the family out digging them.

A tonne of potatoes might not be quite as versatile in the kitchen as a tonne of grain, but it was close. Plus, the fact that they were going to be able to dig it up and put it in the cellars, once those were cleaned, was enough to make any other refugee jealous.

Dominic stopped where they were working and Omar Khalil, the current head of the family, and former Guard Captain of Causman, came over to say hello.

"My Lord, how can we help you today?"

"If you happen to recover more than you need, I will buy the excess potatoes for the Manor’s pantry. The cook is always happy to see more fresh food incoming, and they’re good for nearly everything." Dominic explained.

"That works for us. With so many of us, we will have more than enough coming out of this field. How much is the Manor willing to take?" He asked.

"Well, we’ve got a fairly decent garden, but between potato bread and side dishes, I would say that the Manor will need at least a tonne before the next harvest. But I will take two tonnes if you gather that many." Dominic explained.

They would get some of that themselves, but he was also expecting guests, which would increase their consumption.

The former Guard Captain chuckled. "We can do that. This is almost all potatoes, and even with the loss to weeds and grass, there are forty acres of potato plants here. We’re likely to fill the entire storage cellar at the old farmstead and still have more to distribute.

Honestly, if we get the garden Witch out here a few times a month, we will have to send weekly merchant trains back to the cities, or we will run out of space for food storage."

"That’s the sort of news that I love to hear. Alright, I will go check on the others. Did you need anything urgently?" Dominic replied.

Omar shook his head. "We’ve found three good carts that can be pulled by the men, and we’ll be days trying to clear this field. There wasn’t an implement to pull potato plants, so it’s all pitchforks. But you can only ask for so much out of a free farm."

Such an implement surely existed. But there was a good chance that nobody here ever had one.

Originally, there were enough Witches in the area that they probably just used magic to plant and harvest half the crops.

Dominic checked in on the new tractors next, and topped off their bunker with coal so that they could keep working for a few days. Nobody needed anything but time to settle in, and a good meal, so Dominic finished his rounds with the Alator Family.

They hadn’t arrived with much, and they were cramped into a small farmhouse, which now had a large yurt set up next to it.

But they had also had good luck with vegetables of all sorts in the fields they had claimed, and the more able-bodied were now out cutting corn, which was past ready to harvest.

"It looks like your pantry will be alright." Dominic greeted the old general.

The elder Alator Family members all smiled and nodded happily. "We’re waiting to put anything in the root cellar. We’ve cleaned it out, but we found hundreds of canning jars, and the lids had been stored in cooking oil, so they’re not rusted at all.

Once we get them sanitized, I will start making soup for storage.

Is the mill working? We will have lots of corn to grind after we set aside for seed."

"Of course. If you don’t have the constitution, ask one of the younger folk to help. It’s a magitech mill, no need to hitch an animal to it. I don’t think that anyone has used it yet, so it might need cleaning." Dominic agreed.

"Then we will see you soon."

Dominic returned to the Manor that night in high spirits, which only got better when he smelled dinner and saw the smile on Alexis’ face.

"I take it that the message to the King went well?" He asked.

"Better than anyone could have hoped for. Castle City is asking for relief supplies, and they’re paying a premium. I promised that we would inform the Merchant’s Guild when they get here with the next convoy. Even with their cut, if we can gather enough crops to fill even one or two bulk wagons, it will cover the expenses of the families we’ve got here for months." She explained.

"I will inform them tomorrow. They’re doing really well at harvesting what was already growing. It’s uncanny, like the crops were native to the area." Dominic replied.

"That’s because of the good magic." Millie’s voice informed them from the kitchen.

"Was there still Garden Witch Magic active here, Millie?" Alexis called back.

"Yep, lots of it. All over. I wonder where she went?"

The half-elf’s voice trailed off at the end as she got distracted by something in the kitchen, but Alexis just nodded in satisfaction.

"So, it looks like your initial suggestions of multiple magic users in town wasn’t so farfetched after all. We’ve already got more skilled magic users than a small city, and we don’t even have a mercantile store yet." She joked.

"Actually, we do. The Khalil Family will operate it, and they’ve already ordered inventory. We will have to see what sort of people the Merchant’s Guild brings us with the next batch. We might have more than just the basics by next month."