kore_logs | [Open] Farming Club Shenanigans

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[Open] Farming Club Shenanigans

Who: The Farming Club! Also open to anyone who wants to come by and harass them.
What: Agricultural avengers assembling to till some soil, plant some crops, water the ones they've already got, and converse amongst themselves in a lively fashion.
Where: A large patch of open space between House 11 and the edge of the woods.
When: Day 79-81 (please indicate which day in the thread header!)

Ned's not really one for leadership, but it isn't quite so daunting when he knows he's just acting as a kind of deputy. Erik was the one who said he should get everyone together, and so get everyone together he shall. He put out a message on the network the previous evening, naming a time and place and politely (and a little awkwardly) requesting that everyone whose name is on that trusty list for farming duties show up to help get some more things planted.

They won't be able to accomplish it in one day. Some things will need to go in other places with different soil types (according to Lydia, anyway), and some things will need to wait for the greenhouse to be built. But in the meantime there are plenty of things to be done. Grass needs to be cleared, to give them a larger plot to plant in. Someone mentioned irrigation systems. He thinks there are other things - ways of regulating sun and shade, of keeping the crops safe from birds or other dangers. He hopes he'll have enough willing hands to help do them.

Ned's brought all the tools he can find - shovels, trowels, gloves, seeds, and assorted other items. He has also set up a wobbly table that he found in the church basement, with a few pitchers of cold lemonade and a dozen or so glasses on top. There is a social component to this too, he knows. It's part of all of them working together, against the people who brought them here, looking into a future in which they aren't starving and at one another's throats, but dependent on one another to keep all this going.

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Charlie's sorting through the seed packets, making mental notes of things like sun exposure, how to get some of the seeds started. She's familiar with all of this. She spent time with Irv and Norma, helping them with their crops so she knew a thing or two. Not that she counted herself an expert.

She also brought books to the table from the library. All of them were on gardening. From expert to beginner and there was even a book on growing things in buckets. This might be useful if they ran out of room.

There were also enough sticks and things from the trees around where they can easily build things like tomato cages, poles for beans to climb up and just generally section parts out if they need to.

"This reminds me of home," Charlie mumbles to herself. Whether she's overheard or not, that doesn't matter. She's enjoying a peaceful sort of nostalgia and that's so very rare for her.

Brigid is more used to small gardens, than something of this size. But hard labor? That she can do.

She's back in the tank top, now cleaned from her battle with the bears and the ash and soot that had covered it. In her hands is a hoe that is slowly breaking up ground that she probably shouldn't be able to. Her strength really is a boon.

She wonders if there's a possibility of getting a few cows, or even goats. Brigid hasn't seen chickens, but there must be wild birds they can take eggs from.

St. Raphael might be able to help, but she hates to bother him with so petty a thing. Maybe the library will have something. She's heard a few geese she thinks and they're always good for both meat and eggs.

Coming to the end of a row, tearing up the earth easily, she straightens and then starts on the next.

Ned had invited her to come out to help, and she's eager to. However she can, she will - and maybe she's a little late to the first meeting because she spends most of the day reading in the library, trying to figure out the best ways to clear plots of land, or plant certain types of food. She ends up running to the assigned meeting spot with an armful of books, hair out of place but expression enthusiastic.

During the first hour, she's not exactly shy, but overwhelmed. She introduces herself to several people the best she can, and then hides next to Ned for a while to try and absorb everything that's going on.

She also tries the lemonade, which she's never had before, and promptly drinks about four glasses before remembering that she should probably leave some for everybody else. Oops.

She can be found pretty much everywhere, from the refreshment stand to the plots of land. At some point she gets her hands on a shovel and starts working at the grass - and at another, she's standing in front of the tools with a thoughtful look on her face.

Hm. That sure is a tear with a gardening shed she can see.

"Hmn?" Balthazar's been wandering in and out of the proceedings, doing heavy lifting here and there, but mostly just socializing. It looks like a party to him, okay?

He's added a book on wild plants to the pile Charlie brought, and picked up one on container gardening in return. He glances up when she speaks, smiling slightly. "Where was home, then?"

Charlie looks up from the book she was reading, putting her finger in a section about how to identify edible mushrooms. She can't recall if she's met this man or not, but if he's here then he must be part of the group and that means she'll possibly see him often. So why not?

Hopefully, he doesn't mind vague.

"New Hampshire. Briefly." And then all over the forty eight states since getting to the other two is a no go. "My grandparents had a farm."

"What has your attention?" Charlie's curious. She's picked up one of the books on edible plants and had been amused to find a recipe bit the way the girl was behaving had her attention. She headed over, looking towards where Ellie was looking, turning to look at Ellie again.

What's the deal, Ellie?

Ned notices that he has acquired a small, Elizabeth-shaped shadow, but he certainly doesn't mind. He can sympathize. Of all the people here, he's pretty sure she's the newest to town, and she doubtless doesn't really know anyone. It's only natural for her to stick near the one person she does know, and the one who (no matter how uncomfortable it makes him) has wound up somewhat in charge of things.

"Let's start by digging up some of the grass, okay?"

He picks up a shovel and offers her one, with a small smile. "Thanks for coming out to help, by the way."

Right, farm club. His brilliant idea once upon a time to get himself back into helping, doing something or whatever he can to keep himself busy. It's something he could still use, in a way, and he doesn't mind Ned asking so much, not after the day he's just had. Hey, farm club hadn't come at a bad time. He'd kinda liked it once upon a time, and it wasn't like he couldn't use some of the supplies they had hanging around.

He's definitely not bustling about, more a slow meander between things and not much talking to other people - he feels awkward tossing in random, benign, hopefully helpful comments - "that's some real good hoeing," this and "where'd'ja find tomatoes, those are the bomb" - but he does it anyway, tries to make small and aborted conversation that he doesn't really know what to do with.

More often than not he's standing off to the side and surveying. If not smoking, he's picking agitatedly at his lip or playing around with things in his pockets.

The peet pots are nice, though. He's standing at a table with a stack of them at one point, counting them out and doing some kind of mental math in his head. "Yeah, these're perfect."

Ned isn't sure how he should divide up his attention - should he be assigning other people tasks, overseeing them, or working on his own? From the look of it, most people seem to be settling in to their individual tasks well enough, and he's grateful. He isn't cut out for this bossing-people-around business, even if they are willing to be bossed. That's more Erik's specialty than his.

If people have questions, they can come him, but in the meantime he's going to be making himself useful. He starts shoveling at the grass, clearing up space for more planting. As he does, though, he keeps an eye on what other people are doing, watches for any disasters in the making. Though he feels like a fraud pretending to be an expert, he at least knows a couple of things, can provide a little oversight.

On the second day of planting Ned is a little more confident, a little easier with his quasi-leadership role. He spends a little less of his time doing work on his own and a little more milling around, talking to the others, making sure they know what they are doing and don't need any help or instruction.

He recognizes Brigid, though he can't quite place her or remember her name, and it's rather embarrassing for him, actually. He knows they talked, but when? Must be getting old already, he thinks.

Ned notices the ease with which she is wielding the hoe and things that a compliment can't be a bad way to start off his conversation and the inevitable awkwardness when he asks her to reintroduce herself.

"Bet you won a lot of carnival prizes," he comments, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Like, the ones with the hammers. I mean, because you're strong- it made more sense in my head." Oh, good. He'd managed to take that compliment and get awkward all over it already. Might as well lump all the awkward together, then, "I'm sorry, I know we've talked before but I kinda forget your name."

At some point Ned sidles up to the jittery, smoking guy who keeps making the sort of weird comments to the other workers but not actually doing much. He really isn't the sort to tell him off or ask if he plans on actually doing any work, but he feels like he ought to say or do something. Leadership is hard. He can at least say hello, asks if he needs supervision or has questions.

"Hey, uh. I don't think we've actually been introduced. I'm Ned." He gives Jesse a little wave before shoving his hands in his pockets. That's a pretty clear sign that no handshakes are required, right? Yeah, it definitely is.

"No. Uncle never allows us to compete." It's just the way it is. They're werewolves and the Alpha thinks it's unfair to let them loose on carnival games where they're too good. It's weird but it works.

She looks up, shoving hair out of her face. "I'm Brigid." She extends her hand. "We talked after the rumors were posted." She remembers that part.

"Oh, hey-" And he's setting down the peat pots long enough to raise his fist for a bump, or, not. It kind of abandons itself awkwardly as his hands fall to the table again, and he just introduces himself instead, leaning onto the surface. "Jesse. Hey, you're, uh." He half-points to Ned, gestures vaguely instead. "You're the guy who set this stuff all up, right? Yo, where'd you find all this stuff?"

Rat's been hanging around in the library reading up on gardening quite a lot, but it's probably just as well he left the books there since other people seem to have brought them. What he does bring is a single dusty volume on irrigation systems, a handful of papers, and some long pieces of pipe that aren't too rusty. Who knows where he's managed to scrounge them from, and putting them together without welding equipment might prove tricky, but he's trying. He's lugged them here wrapped in his own jacket, since he lacks anything better to carry them with, and since they're neither small nor light his arrival may not be unobtrusive. Once he gets them close enough to where the tables are he has to stop to cough and catch his breath.

Edited 2013-06-08 02:02 (UTC)

That's the girl, the one from the network with the- the whatsits, the tears. She's just sitting there looking at some tools like they're gonna start doing something any time soon. He gestures to her and wanders a few steps closer. "You think they're gonna get up 'n dance?" he jokes, claps his hands together with a half a laugh.

Or maybe it's one of those things she's looking at. Either way, he's been thinking of bending her ear about something; it's always worth a shot.

Vague works! He finds it hard to answer questions about where he's from, too. He tried honesty once, but when he answered that he was from Heaven, the woman he was chatting with thought it was a pickup line and rolled her eyes at him. Ah, well.

"Oh, then you definitely know what you're doing! That's good, I haven't a clue." He smiles and offers a handshake. "But the little green things next to the house are ones I planted, so I suppose that's a start."

"Feeling any better?" Balthazar shows up next to him, reaching to help with the burden. "You'd better heal up; you need your voice."

His expression is warm and friendly, but there's a question in his eyes, too. He's realized by now that the way he rescued Rat probably begs some significant questions.

Soil will need to be tilled, and it's a tiring, monotonous sort of job, the sort of job that robots were created for. Even if Daneel wasn't exactly designed for hard labour, he's still capable of it.

And if someone else might find it too warm, he won't.

So he's out, digging away, removing stones and clearing grass. He's tireless, patient, moves fast.

Wallie's not exactly involved in this. Still, he's out walking about, getting some sun and some good weather and some exercise, and... well, he's not the sort of guy to turn down a task that needs to be done. Shonsu might be above this sort of labour, but Wallie certainly doesn't consider himself to be.

So he picks up a shovel and comes over to work beside Ned, as casually as though he'd already volunteered to do this.

"Stop me if I'm in the wrong spot," he says. "Just along here, right?"

He gives a friendly smile as he feels somebody else help lighten his burden, but when he sees Balthazar there may be a slightly flicker to his expression. He still as questions, but he's also been trying to decide whether or not he really wants to ask them.

"I'm doing better. Might need a few more days. Anyway, all the best jazz singers are raspy." His grin widens, but it's deliberate this time. His gaze is searching Balthazar's face a little, holding the questions he hasn't asked yet. "You doing okay?"

Elizabeth glances over at Charlie, and then smiles. It's nice to meet people in person, really, she much prefers this to the communicators.

"Oh, there's a tear close by. Right there." And she gestures to it - the air fizzles, and opens up just a tiny bit, like looking through a crack in the wall. Sure enough, there's a gardening shed that's visible through it. "I was only wondering if I should wait to bring it through. I should ask Ned."

Ned's been so nice to her from the start that Elizabeth just naturally gravitates towards him anyway. It's not like she isn't used to people being nice, it's just that, after spending however long being shot at by every policeman in Columbia, she's a little wary of people in general. She gives him a smile when he hands her the shovel, taking it with her usual vigor, and looking for a place to start.

"I've nothing else to do but read all day, and after years of solely that, it gets to be a little tiring," Elizabeth says wryly. "I'm not entirely sure how useful I'll be, in this, but I can try."

She pushes the shovel down into the ground carefully. Curiously: "Have you been able to use any of the supplies from the tear, yet?"

Edited 2013-06-08 18:52 (UTC)

Oh, hey, it's the cursing guy from the communicators. His joke makes her laugh a little, and she brushes her skirt off a little before answering. "If only they could. It would brighten up the place a little, I think."

She turns to look at Jesse fully. "I'm not sure that I ever introduced myself. I'm Elizabeth." And she curtseys!

Elizabeth is checking up on something in one of those books near the tables, so when she hears that coughing, she looks up. Oh, that's Rat, and she doesn't quite flail, but she does hurriedly put the book down to scoot over to him with a glass of lemonade and a concerned look.

"Are you alright?" She very, very lightly sets her fingertips on his back, hesitant to touch but wanting to steady him. She's sure it's not even that bad, she just... you know. Wants to make sure.

"A what?" Charlie looks again more carefully, eyes widening just a bit when she sees it. It's fascinating and, yeah. There's a garden shed right through there.

"But...how's that work?" She's never seen anything like it. She looks at the tear again, tilting her head slightly as if she's trying to see into the faint sliver of window she can find.

"I say open it, anyway. Who knows? Maybe we'll find more seed packets?" Wait. "You can manipulate those?"

Yes, this did just occur to her. No, she's not normally this slow. This is just really, really new.

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