Abandoned - Trilogy - part 3 - O'Leary's Farm - Story 41

[Abandoned]

Thanks for vote of confidence and info, I will have to look into that and give it some thought. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


  In spring of year 5  we cleared plant debris from the fields and removed most of the dead trees that remained after the tornado cut a path through our land.  There were still several  ruined structures but we did not have enough workers to scavenge for usable materials. 

  In late spring, we were very happy to welcome 2 families from Sunrise Mountain and Morningside.  Hatti, the seed merchant, again dropped the families off here.  My sister sent  along a small sack of seeds for us in case we had a growhouse or planned to build one.   She also sent more coffee beans and pastries and a small jug of maple syrup.  I missed my sister very much.  Jack said perhaps we could go for a visit before Palmers started school.  It would not be this year, our second child was due in autumn.  By then we had houses built for the newcomers and there were two other newborns in O'Leary's.

  There was also a new trading post built and we stocked it with whatever surplus we could spare in the hopes of making a trade when a merchant came up from Newport.

  It was nice having extra helping hands.  One of them was now our regular hunter and we had a steady supply of venison and leather.  There were more of us now to collect wild foods and branches for firewood.

  We were disappointed in early winter when Robertie, the seed merchant, came from Newport.  He only had sugar beet seeds.  He would see what he could do to get the seeds we wanted, but would not  take an order.  He could not guarantee he could bring them.  There had been colder and snowier weather in the highlands and the north, floods and tornadoes in the midlands, and drought in the south, not to mention pirates and lost cargo. There were food and seed shortages almost everywhere, enough for their needs but not much extra to spare.  I was getting an idea.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6


  In spring of year 6 only one field was planted with squash even though both fields were clear of debris.  A compost bin had been built, and Jack found it to be a good place to find earthworms to use as fishing bait.  He was still fishing from the dead tree rather than having a fishing pier built.  Last year the squash field produced 480 squashes compared to 256 the first year.   I asked everyone to save the seeds before they cooked the squash and a seed collector's hut was built where I could sort and dry the seeds before putting them in a sack, just like Grandma used to do.  Grandma called the seeds heirlooms.  Surely the seed traders would be happy to get more seeds.  I collected seeds from the wild roots and wild oat plants too.  I soon had 4 sacks of seeds and we planned to ask the seed trader to give us 100 trade units for each sack.  He would make a huge profit when he sold the seeds.

We built a growing house to plant the seed my sister sent from Morningside.  Since we had a nice supply of wild oats on hand, we decided to plant potatoes to put into the cookpots with the rabbit meat.  After a busy day I liked a meal that was cooked all in one pot.  To insure that the growing house had a steady supply of compost, a special garden supplies market was built nearby.  Compost, plant debris, and fertilizer could all be collected by a worker and stored close to where it was needed.  The compost bin and growhouse workers would not have far to go to pick up what they needed.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  In early spring of year 7 a new house was being built near Kings and Lanetta's house.  Their son Donner wanted to marry Ronniel and Mine's daughter Jeralda.  They were both 16 so none of the parents objected to the match.  Sadly, later in the year, the young couple just had their first child when Lanetta died in childbirth, she did not see her first grandchild.  The family was devastated, more so because we had no cemetery.  Lanetta was laid to rest in the front yard of the family home.  Kings promised he would build and maintain a cemetery for the town.

  Another house was built for the family of three that arrived from Newport.  The town had grown a little too big for their liking and they did not like the warm weather and summer storms which seemed to be worse each year.  They were headed north but decided to stay with us here.   Their first child was just about to turn one when their second child was born in late summer, the same time that Jack and I had our first daughter, Dionna.  O'Leary's farm had a population of 22, 12 adults and 10 children.

  The newcomer, Talonzalo, had been a hunter back in Newport so their house was built by the hunting cabin and he took over as hunter.  When Robertie, the seed merchant, returned in late autumn, he was happy to hear that the family settled here with us and he would let the folks back in Newport know on his return trip.  Robertie only had oat seeds with him this trip and the cost of 4000 trade units was more than we could afford.  Robertie was as disappointed as we were, he would have liked to have our sacks of seeds.  He would gladly give us a trade value of 100 per sack in the future.  Hopefully he would have some seeds we wanted on the next trip.

It snowed soon after he left.  By then the cemetery had been staked out and a slate fence built around the area.  As he promised, Kings would keep an eye on it for the town.  By winter a gatherer's cabin and a bitty shed was built by the hunter's cabin and not far from there a forester stand was built.  The two workplace would be ready and waiting when we had enough workers.  Maybe next year.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 8


  Our need for workers in early spring of year 8 forced us to have one worker for the cleaning shed who would then make the compost when there was enough plant debris.  The growing house would stop production until we had a sufficient supply of compost for the worker to then move on to the growing house.  Our food supply was good and would not suffer overmuch.  We would have a few more laborers to gather wild oats and roots.

  After clearing the land last autumn for the cemetery, another hedgerow was discovered.  It was quite overgrown and in early spring we saw that it had a large number of chestnut and apple tree seedling sprouting.  There would be chestnuts and apples to harvest this year and there were plenty of branches.  We thought sometime in the future there would also be berries.

  Robertie, the seed trader, returned but only had lettuce seeds.  He didn't recommend them for seed gathering and trading.  Lettuce seeds were not in high demand especially not by smaller towns because the keeping quality of lettuce was not good.  He would keep an eye out for seeds that produced longer lasting produce that would store well.  When asked, Robertie said he would gladly take seedling from fruit and nut trees. There was a high demand for seedlings and they would have a high trade value indeed.  We built a potting shed and assigned one of our few workers to begin potting up the seedling immediately.

  A family of 4 arrived from Newport after learning that the couple they knew settled here last year.  The new family had a son with the same name as our Shedric, who was named after Grandpa O'Leary.  As it turned out, the newcomers were relatives, descendants of Grandpa's brother who their daughter was named after.  It's a small world.

  By autumn we had a second trading post built so traders from Morningside, Sunrise Mountain Mines, and places farther north, could make port and trade with us.  The seeds and seedlings we had so far may get us some much need wool for warm coats.

[kid1293]

Rabbits everywhere. This is fun

[Abandoned]

  ah ha, you spotted the cute little rabbits I scattered around the map.    They are in their element with all the gardening. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9


  Year 9 began with a cold rainy spring that was not pleasant for anyone working outside.  There were a few days with very high winds that brought down a lot of branches to be collected.  We needed firewood but did not have many laborers to collect it.  We would have to switch the compost worker back to the cleaning shed soon, although there was still some plant debris and compost in the garden supply shed.  The shed was also a good place to store seeds and seedlings until the trader could pick them up.  The shed was half way between trading posts and the trader worked first stocking one trading post and then the other.  We were hoping to trade for wool soon.

  It was still raining when Robertie, the seed merchant, returned with carrot seeds.  He did not hesitate to make the trade.  The carrot seeds cost only 2,500 trade units which was less than most other seeds.  Carrots produced a lot of seeds and Robertie said he would take as many as we would have to trade.  Carrots were easy to grow if the ground wasn't too rocky and they kept well over the winter months.  We would have to wait until next spring to plant them.

  It snowed in late autumn just before Bentony, the food merchant, arrived at the other trading post with carrots.  Our food supply was good and we had just collected wild foods and roots. There were still plenty of mushrooms to gather.  He only had 250 carrots and said he would have no trouble trading them at his next stop, someone always wanted carrots or carrot seeds.  We would plant our carrot seeds next spring.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 10

  Early spring of year 10 was cold and wet but our 2 farmers managed to get the squash and carrots planted on time.  Despite our varied diet, our overall health was suffering.  We built a bitty herbalist in a location we thought was convenient for most folks.

  Hatti stopped by the east side trading post in spring.  He had nothing to trade but brought greetings, coffee beans, and pastry from my sister and friends back in Morningside.  He also brought 2 families from farther north where the winter had been extremely hash.  They asked if they could stay.

  We built a house for the family with 2 small children near the school.  We were in need of coats so Mere went to work as tailor.  The other couple had no skills other than fishing so a house was built for them by the fishing tree.  Jack would work at restocking the west side trading post before returning to tool making.  The new couple would take turns fishing.  I was still gathering seeds for the traders, and the carrot harvest was completed before the house by the fishing tree. 

  Robertie only had spinach seeds this trip.  We did not trade for them knowing the spinach would not store well and besides, we did not have a spare worker for another crop field at that time.  One worker was taking turns working in the cleaning shed, the compost bin, and the growhouse.  It would not be too many years before we had a new crop of educated workers.  Our Palmers turned 7 in late winter and became the first student in the school I attended before the tornado struck O'Leary's Farm.   The schoolhouse only needed minor repairs and a good cleaning.  We wished we had spare workers to clear away the debris that remained from the buildings destroyed by the tornado.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11


  Our overall health had improved slightly but had dropped again by spring of year 11.  We thought, to be on the safe side, we should build a doctor's house.  We also hoped the fruit and nuts from the hedgerow would help.  An apple a day should keep the doctor away, so they say.  We had a nice variety of meats, venison, rabbit, and fish, and plenty of vegetable and wild foods.  With more workers we could have a steady supply of plant debris, compost, and potatoes.

  O'Leary's Farm got more workers in spring.  A couple and their adult daughter came from the Sunrise Mountain Region and were dropped off at the trading post by Hatti, the seed merchant.  He had no trade goods with him and was headed to Springfield hoping to get some.  Another couple with an adult daughter and young child came up from the south.  They were turned away from Smallville and decided not to stay in Newport, they would stay here.  We build a house north of town for the family from the north and a house south of town for the family from the south.  With extra workers we assigned a forester and gatherer and a compost worker.  The family in the north house said they could fish if we decide to rebuilt the old fishing pier at the nearby point.

  In late summer Antino, the general goods merchant, came down from the north with fish.  He said he could probably get us some wool but he wasn't so sure about Brussels sprouts, cabbage, or wheat seeds.  He would see what he could find.  We would be ready if any of the river traders brought the seeds we wanted, we cleared a 10x12 field.  We also moved the old cart and emptied the storage crates next to the carrot field so it could be enlarged next spring.

  The new families brought O'Leary's Farm's population to 46, 24 adults, 4 students, and 18 young children.

[Abandoned]

Mod Note:  Berries have been added to the hedgerow which can be found in the newly released update of Kid Abandoned Places. 

Info and link to download can be found here:   http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=2093.0

[Jinxiewinxie]

Which mod makes your crop fields so pretty? Is it Better Fields?

[Abandoned]

The crop field texture and 14 new crops are from Red's NMT3Series Crops mod:   

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=328

There is also Orchard mod:  (not used in currant story)

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=418

[Jinxiewinxie]

Thank you!

[Abandoned]

Chapter 12


  The carrot field was enlarged and ready to plant in early spring of year 12.  We now had a worker for the cleaning shed, the compost bin, and the growing house.  As usual, we gathered wild foods and branches.

  A bitty church was built next to the growing house.  We did not have a cleric but folks were free to stop by the church any time the felt the need.

  The carrot harvest in the larger field increased from 480 carrots to 600.  We still did not have grain seeds so the third crop field had not been planted.  A new house was built close by for one of the adult girls who expressed an interest in farming.  Antino, the general goods merchant, did not have grain seeds when he arrived that winter, but he did have cabbage and Brussels sprouts seeds, plus wool. We traded for the wool and the Brussels Sprouts seeds which would be planted the following spring in the big field.