[Cozy Fantasy] [Farming LitRPG] The Chronicles of Emberstone Farm

Chapter 110 - Crop-perating in an ex-pear-iment

🙞❤︎🙜

The cloudless sky was the color of the Microsoft Windows’ Blue Screen of Death. I hoped it wasn’t a portent of things to come.

I got up off my bed and yawned, stretching my arms above my head before walking to the large picture window that I had set on the northern side of my bedroom.

The main house was the traditional kind that was like a fortress. The inhabitants of that type of house looked inwards and enjoyed the security provided by the four walls enclosing them.

The [Ranch House] where I lived, on the other hand, was designed with a different philosophy in mind. The indoor and outdoor areas blended together as seamlessly as I could make them.

Last year, I had painstakingly decorated my backyard, but this year I removed all the walls around my [Ranch House] and simply enjoyed the view instead of making my own garden. Perhaps my long underground adventure had given me a taste for open skies and unmanicured wilderness.

Taking a cup of piping hot coffee from my inventory, I sipped it while enjoying the view of the Ancient Hill Forest right outside my house. The ecology of this world was different from that of Earth, and I was hardly an expert on forests, so I couldn’t classify what type of forest I was in except that it had moderate rainfall during all the seasons except for winter.

Actually, did oak, beech, maple, and the scholar tree even grow in the same type of forest on Earth? I had a vague idea that they definitely didn’t, but the trees here were not exactly the same as they were on Earth. Things here grew partly through the power of qi, and strange life forms could be found in unexpected places.

I looked out at the strand of beech trees near my house, and I thought that the tall, straight trunks were quite graceful and beautiful. According to Shuye, they were a special variety that had been planted here by his ancestors for their forked branches which were used for divination ceremonies. Oak trees were considered the king of the forest, while the beech tree was the queen. I could see why. Their delicate green canopies in early springtime looked like fine lace.

I enjoyed the view for a few more minutes before taking a shower, putting my work clothes on, and heading out for breakfast at the main house.

“Good morning, Teacher,” said Lari.

“Good morning,” I said. “Where are the others?”

“They went on ahead to start planting, and left me behind here to let you know that they had started,” he said. “Teacher, may I go now?”

I looked up. It was nearly midmorning already because I had slept late today. “Sure, go ahead.”

The kids all knew what to do anyway. I ate a leisurely breakfast before joining my apprentices at the field east of the house and north of the river.

“Did you guys finish watering the plants?” I asked them.

“Yes, Teacher,” they chorused.

“All right. What do you think about the soil in this field?” This was the very first place where I had started farming. Back then, I planted potatoes here.

“It seems the same as the others,” said Kharli.

“I can’t see any difference,” said Lari.

“Yes, cultivators can sense qi, but normal humans like us cannot. Shuye reassures me, however, that the energy here is quite good, better than the other parts of the farm,” I said.

“I wish I could sense it,” said Kharli.

“So do I! But it’s fine. The reason why this soil is the best is because I planted cover crops thrice here. Once after the spring harvest, then the summer harvest, and, finally, the autumn harvest,” I said.

“And cover crops make the soil quality better,” said Mo.

“Yes, theoretically we should be able to grow the more difficult crops here because I prepared for it,” I said. “The [Wild Seed Mix] I used is meant to make the nutrients the soil easier for plants to use.”

[Wild Seed Mix:

Contains a mixture of seeds, mainly wildflowers, grasses, and legumes that are used as cover crops, which are plants grown to cover the soil surface to protect it from erosion, improve soil structure and add nutrients to the soil.]

My apprentices nodded to show that they understood.

“I’m excited. Let’s do it!” I said.

Then we got to work plowing the soil, spreading fertilizer on it, planting tea seeds, and then watering them.

[Tea Plant Seeds:

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) contains spiritual energy that potentially offers health benefits and may boost cultivation slightly.]

Spiritual tea was a rare and prized substance in this world. Growing it was difficult, but I really wanted to do it.

“Teacher, will the tea give us more exp?” asked Mo.

“Yes, but not by that much,” I said.

In truth, the choice of tea was more of a cultural thing rather than to raise our farming levels. Socially, tea farming was on a higher level compared to rice farming. It would be nice for me to be able to grow my own tea that I could serve to guests. Furthermore, I knew for a fact that cultivators prized it above all else, except for Cultivation Pills.

“Madam Fengying is already predicting that all the human cultivator clans will be going wild for our tea,” said Kharli.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said. “Besides, harvesting is only one part of tea production. It has to be dried and stuff.”

I wasn’t quite certain about the details, but one didn’t just pluck tea leaves and call it a day. There were many steps to producing various types of tea. Fortunately, I should be able to build a [Tea Machine] soon.

“I’m sure the chef knows how to do it,” said Lari.

“For sure,” I said. “Still, my plan is for us to just use the first harvest for ourselves. I’ll only sell after we produce at least medium-grade tea. I don’t want us to be known as anything less than the best tea producers in the world.”

“Aren’t we the only ones who grow spiritual tea?” asked Kharli.

“Not quite.” When I first transmigrated into this world, I was told that I was the only spiritual farmer here. That was true, since no one was actively planting spiritual crops. However, there were some human families and clans that had spiritual plants, trees, and animals that they had inherited from their ancestors. The Fox clan was one example. They had a spiritual tree that they used for purification rituals. “I heard there are some clans that are secretly hiding their precious tea plants from outsiders.”

“That’s just a rumor though, Teacher. No one has seen publicly available spiritual tea in generations,” said Lari.

“Maybe. One more thing that I have to add is that the best tea is generally grown in the mountains where it’s wet and there’s a mist that covers the plants every morning,” I said. “Here we will have to cover the plants right before harvest so that the leaves don't get too dried out in the sunlight.”

“Cover them? With magic?” Kharli looked confused.

“No, I mean like with a cloth.” I pointed at some nearby trees. “We’ll hang them from there and there.”

“Oh, I thought it was some sort of System magic,” said Kharli.

“Sorry, no. Just a mundane cloth is enough. Are we all done? Energy bar empty?” I asked. When they nodded, we returned to the rice fields where I inspected the seedlings. “These are big enough. Let’s flood the fields.”

We carefully opened the irrigation gates to allow the water to slowly trickle into the rice fields. We spent the rest of the day keeping a close eye on the process. It wouldn't do to wash away our crops through our inattention.

“Are we going to plant more tea tomorrow?” asked Kharli.

“It’s the last day of planting season,” said Mo.

“Why? Do you guys have something else that you want to plant?” I asked.

“We were just thinking about the crocus flowers that you gift to Lord Shuye,” said Kharli.

I could tell by the way that the other two were looking closely at her that this was something they had all decided to say. Kharli was their leader in many things, especially when it came time for them to speak up as a group.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Why don’t we grow a field of those? One of the most expensive spices in the world is made from the crocus,” said Kharli. “That’s what Haoran said.”

Haoran? Oh yes, he was one of Deming’s assistants, the one who worshiped bees.

“Uh…” I didn’t know what they were talking about.

“Saffron!” said Lari. “They call it red gold!”

“Well, do as you like,” I said. “I’ll plant more tea.”

If Haoran said the crocus flower I had was the same one that produced saffron, then no doubt he was correct. Saffron wasn’t in Adventure Incarnate, however, so I was reluctant to try it and potentially lose one whole day’s planting time. The crocus flower was normally planted as food for the bees on the farm and sold or given away as a gift to the Farm Guide. There was no in-game mechanic where one harvested saffron from the flower.

Still, I decided that it would be best to give the kids my permission because I was curious to know if they could successfully produce something that was not in the System.

Wouldn’t that be awesome?