(no subject)

[sunbaked_baker]

A ten-year-old Rae Seddon is sitting at one of the tall bar-stools, this afternoon, swinging her legs as she peruses a giant seed catalog set before her on the counter. Springtime has come to Milliways again, even if it's still late winter at home, and that means that summer's coming, and with it the fair! She has had lots of fun growing vegetables and technically-fruit for the fair gardening competitions in the past, and wants to grow something this year, too.

But what to grow? It's hard to choose!

Rae has narrowed her choices down to 'something she hasn't grown before,' but that still leaves a lot of options.

"Hmmmmmm," she says, eloquently giving voice to the conundrum as she turns a page.

Comments

[run_barry]

Barry wanders up to the counter to take a nearby seat, his long legs perching on the rungs of his stool.

Bar turns up a banana milkshake and a plate of peanut butter sandwiches for him; quartered and stacked in a neat little pyramid.

The sandwiches get a quirked smile, but he still lifts one up from the top of the stack while he takes a drink from his milkshake. The thoughtful sound from the girl turns his head and he gives her a smile and asks, "Making a tough decision?"

[sunbaked_baker]

The red-haired girl looks up from her seed catalog, and nods emphatically. "Very," she affirms, smiling. "It's growing season already and I'm not sure what I want to grow."

[run_barry]

"Oh yeah?" He munches on a sandwich, tilting his head at her. "Well, why did you want to grow something? Did you want something pretty, or something you like to eat? Maybe both?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"There's gonna be a fair out by the lake in July, and they do competitions for best vegetables and fruits and flowers and things like that," the girl explains. "I've won before, and I enjoyed growing peppers and tomatoes and sunflowers, and helping Autor with the asparagus and strawberries... but I want to try growing something new - something I've not grown before. Preferably something to eat, though flowers are nice, too. But deciding exactly what I want to grow is hard. There's so many to choose from!"

[run_barry]

"Oh yeah? That's cool. Congrats on winning before."

He starts to lean over to look at the catalogue, then pulls back and gestures at it. "Can I see?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Sure!" The girl replies, grinning and moving the catalog where he might see as well.

"There are lots of different things to grow. Most of the fruits would take waaaay too long, though - trees take ages and even the bushes would probably take a couple of years to bear. The fair's in July, so it's got to be able to produce before then. Most of the vegetable varieties could make it..."

[run_barry]

He bumps over a seat to get a better look, bringing his shake with him and dragging over the sandwich plate while looking at the book.

"Yeah, definitely way too long," he says about the trees.

"You might also want to think about where you'll be growing things," he suggests. "Different plants need different kinds of space, and sunlight even."

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae nods, shifting so she can point at a listing of celery seeds, and the description of how to plant them to do well, and when one can expect a harvest. "Is that what they mean by '12-18 inches' then? I had thought that was about how tall the plant was to get."

She pauses, then spies another listing. "Well... Yeah I guess that has to be spacing requirements, because cabbages don't get nearly that big. Least not the ones I've seen."

"But different sunlight needs? I thought all plants loved the sun, and more sun meant happier plants."

[run_barry]

"Yep, looks like. And if you see here, it tells how much sunshine they like," he replies, pointing out the information on the page.

"Pretty much all plants need at least some sunshine for photosynthesis, but some of them need a lot, and others don't do so well with too much."

[sunbaked_baker]

She thinks on this, reading over the kinds of garden plants and their various levels of preferred sure light. It makes sense to her, after a bit of consideration.

"I suppose it's a bit like people... sunlight's a plant's food source, right? Some people need more food than others, but anyone can get sick if they eat too much and feel weak if they don't get enough. But people can stop eating when they're full, or eat more if they're hungry, and plants are stuck with the amount of sun they get from where they're planted. If it's too much or too little, they can't do anything about it."

[run_barry]

Barry listens as she speaks, eating more of the sandwiches and nodding to her question then smiling at the conclusion she draws.

"You got it. That's a good analogy, you're pretty smart."

[sunbaked_baker]

She smiles but looks back down at the catalog, shifting slightly, not so sure she counts as smart. "Thanks."

"I just like making good things. That means figuring out how to make things turn out the best they can, beforehand."

[run_barry]

"Planning ahead is good," he notes with a nod.

"So how does the competition work? Is it just Best in Show, or are there categories for things like biggest or most interesting?"

[is_the_motion]

"Need any help?" Bonnie asks, bringing over some hot chocolates.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae looks up beaming as she sees Bonnie coming. "Maybe! Its very difficult to choose what to grow for the fair this year!" She says, giving Bonnie a hug as soon as there's no danger of spilled hot chocolate.

[is_the_motion]

Bonnie hugs her back.

"Two months to go, so you'll want somethin' that can grow fairly quickly unless yer goin' to grow it in a longer time at home. Lettuces might be good, if you can keep away the slugs?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Lettuces sound good," she considers, figuring she can find a way to keep slugs away. "Maybe cabbages? Or brussels sprouts?"

[is_the_motion]

"Cabbages really need to be over wintered, and Brussel sprouts take about ten months." Bonnie says. "Not that there might not be a way here. You could plant cabbages now for next year's show."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Really?" Rae says, surprised. "I would've thought they'd be fast like lettuces, being so similar and all."

"What about celery, or carrots?"

[is_the_motion]

"Nope, totally different type of plants." Bonnie says. "Celery I'm not sure, carrots you might get in ten weeks depending on the variety."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Hmmmmmmm," Rae says, perusing the seed catalog until she starts catching quick-growing options. "If I can get a bunch of different kinds of greens and fast-growing things - lettuces, spinach, radishes, baby carrots... maybe turnip greens and little turnips? Would a homegrown salad work as an entry all together?"

[is_the_motion]

Bonnie considers.

"Well it's usual to only exhibit one type of veg, but I ain't got a problem with that and I'll be a judge, so you go ahead. However, it's much harder to impress a judge with an entry like that, because we're lookin' fer things to be uniform."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Why should an entry be uniform?" She asks, curious. "Some of the best tomatoes are the weirdest-looking ones."

[is_the_motion]

"Because it tests yer skills as a gardener." Bonnie says. "An uneven crop suggests a plant has not been so well looked after. Can a knobbly fruit be tasty - sure - but you won't find one at any county fair."

[sunbaked_baker]

"We see 'em at ours all the time. Heirloom tomatoes are really tasty, even if they looks weird. They're supposed to look weird," she says, still very obviously not thinking uniformity is even a trait worth using as a judging rubric if it makes people overlook the actual quality of the fruit or vegetable.

"What would uniformity in a salad even look like?" They're supposed to have all sorts of different things in them. That's what makes them good salads."