The Protagonist System

246 Farming A New Way Part Two

When I finally had all three buildings finished on the outside after a week, I had given Emma a dozen more rides on the improvised merry-go-round. Martha had held onto her for dear life after the scare I accidentally gave her. She really was the best mom in the world, because she thought Emma had died and didn't blame me for it. That was more than enough proof of how much she loved me, despite me being adopted.

A lot of my seed and plant deliveries had arrived as well and I stored them in the nearly empty barn under preservation charms. I had the room, because most of my farm equipment was over at the Kent Farm until I had my own farm sorted out. The orders also covered up the things I had stored in my inventory from the different worlds I had visited.

With my work inside my greenhouses mostly hidden from view, it was time to enchant the insides to enlarge them. I had initially thought only a small amount was good enough, then I stood inside one of the giant greenhouses and realized the things were so damn big that it was difficult to see from one end to the other anyway. Making them much bigger on the inside wasn't going to be noticed.

I had pretty much cleared out the local lumbermill of their summer stock, actually. It made them all pretty happy, too. It took a lot of lumber to build a building large enough to cover a good portion of my land and I had built three of them and nearly filled my property. The supports for the massive reinforced glass roof numbered in the thousands for all three buildings and I would need to lighten that load significantly.

I went to work figuring out the best layout for everything and if I wanted the same enchantments covering the entire space or if I should do them in sections. I knew I needed some to cover everything and a few of them that were only good for the specialty stuff. It would be a waste of both time and magic to put them on everything.

So, some overall enchantments on the main supports was required for both maintenance and the time dilation aspect, then individual sections could be built and then enchanted for each crop that would be placed there. I also thought about using a few large mirrors enchanted to always show the sun and set them up in certain areas where constant light was needed.

That thought made me consider making many smaller ones to set up like recessed lighting all over, so the buildings were always lit by natural light and not by florescent bulbs mimicking sunlight. Yeah, making one and then using my copy spell to make hundreds of them was a much better idea than trying to wire the whole place up for lights and light switches.

I would need to add heating and cooling runes to the rafters as well, just to maintain a constant temperature. Sometimes, the bright sunny days could generate a lot of excess heat and regulating it was going to be a priority. I needed to protect all those water pipes, too. Reinforcement runes would need to be liberally applied all over, apparently.

Maybe I could add solar panels in a few areas underneath the glass ceiling to create a power generating station? The technology actually existed here in a stable form and I could probably monopolize the market by making them more efficient and powerful. I added a small pile of them to my list of material orders and moved on.

The more I thought about the things I needed to do, the more things I realized I needed to do. It made me chuckle at all the ideas I had to write down, just so I wouldn't forget to do them. I would need to keep track of which section did what, so some signs and directions were needed as well.

My next idea was to make shelves along one of the walls in the first section, then transfer and create more soil to fill them. Instead of spreading the strawberries out into a large flat area for growing, I decided that using racks upon racks of two foot wide shelves on the walls, that were twelve inches above one another, would increase my growing area for the small crops by a factor of a hundred.

There was only room for ten shelves in the twenty foot tall space; but, I could add aisle shelves as well and marked off a large section for strawberries. Once I had that idea, the next section was set aside for blueberries, blackberries in the next, and raspberries would be planted in the section after that. I wasn't going to get into the different varieties available until the growing model was proven to work.

I allocated the next several sections for the vine plants, like grapes. Again, the aisles would work well for them and increase my growing capacity when put onto shelves. The next part was set aside for important specialty crops, like cocoa plants and coffee. Unlike the berries, those needed to be chosen carefully, because people were very finicky about their chocolate and coffee flavors.

The last part of that greenhouse was set aside for the orchard. I spread out the different varieties of apples, oranges, peaches, and pears. It was going to be quite exciting when my farm started producing those healthy things consistently over the entire year and not just for the specific growing seasons they were normally known for.

I also threw in some nut-producing plants as an afterthought and filled out the area between the orchard and the other crops. When my design was done, most of the first greenhouse was going to be all shelves and aisles. It would stop everyone from even trying to gauge how big the place was inside, which meant my expansion enchantment could be easily hidden.

The other two greenhouses were a little easier to plan out, since they would be filled with staple crops, arranged in the best and easiest configuration to be planted, harvested, and rotated. It was going to be a working farm and I would need to work out how to make smaller machines for the same jobs the larger ones did for full-size farms.

Reducing them in size wouldn't work, because the crops themselves weren't smaller. The attachments would need to work on any machine they were used with, too. The tiller, planter, and harvester had to have the same capacity while also being smaller and easy to use inside a building.

That was going to take some planning, maybe a few patents, and contacting the company that made the original machines. For now, I'd do everything by hand, just like they did it in the old days before farming machines had been invented. It would also let me keep a closer eye on things, too. On that note, I was going to need to set up some computers to keep track of everything for me.

I would need the basement built for that, since there wasn't room in the trailer for them. Even though it was a double wide one, it was still only a trailer and didn't have a lot of extra space for things like that. Plus, it was going to be used for any guests that visited and I didn't want to put anything sensitive inside that someone else would see or have access to.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Now that I had the layouts for all three buildings, I went to work physically to make the plans become reality. It was going to take quite some time to do up the first one, with all the shelving and planting; but, it was going to be worth the effort. I was going to have the most versatile farm in all of Kansas. Whatever food you needed would be found here and that put a huge smile on my face.

*

Margaret Jessome had been hearing things around town the last few weeks about the Kent boy's farm and she was only a little surprised at the rumors. Parties every night? He was a teenager and was living on his own already, so it was understandable he was enjoying himself. The rumor he already had the three giant greenhouses completed already was slightly unbelievable, though.

It wasn't until she asked the mother of one of the football players that she learned how that was possible. The young genius had hired every other farm kid to help him and the parties had been them celebrating after building each of them. None of their parents admonished them for it, either. They were young and used any excuse they could to have a party.

Margaret couldn't stop her curiosity from running away from her and she left the bank at the end of her shift before supper and drove all the way out of town to where the Clark Farm was. The name made her softly laugh, because no one wanted to confuse themselves by calling it the Kent Farm. It might insult Johnathan Kent, too.

She pulled into the driveway of the large barn and mentally nodded at both the size and the position, because it had the best access to both the road and the fields around it. It didn't occur to her that didn't matter, not with greenhouses taking up most of the plot of land.

Margaret stepped out of her compact car and went over to the double-wide trailer. She was sure Clark was home, because his brand new truck was there and the smell of food was coming from inside. She knocked on the door and started to smile the same fake smile she used at work, then the door opened and her mouth went dry at seeing Clark wearing a frilly blue apron and faded jeans. That was it.

“Oh! Hello there, Margaret.” Clark said and smiled warmly and stepped back. “Come on in! I was just putting the finishing touches on the trimmings for the roast.”

Margaret nodded and walked inside. She hid her surprise at how home-like the place felt and the smells filled her nostrils. “I didn't know you could cook.”

Clark let out a little chuckle. “I spent an equal amount of time at my Ma's hip as I did at Da's.” He said and led her over to the kitchenette and sat her at the counter. “Are you only stopping by or are you free to join me for a meal?”

Margaret watched as Clark really was putting the finishing touches on a delicious looking and smelling roast. She decided she didn't want to grab take-out for supper again and her husband wouldn't be home for a couple hours.

“I was stopping by to see what you've done here and to confirm a few rumors I've heard floating around town.” Margaret said and smiled slightly at his wide eyes. “I'd be delighted to stay and eat as the subject of the rumors confirms or denies them with his own mouth.”

Clark looked sheepish and carried the finished platter over to the dining room table. “I'm not sure I should incriminate myself like that.”

Margaret felt amusement at flustering the strapping young man so easily. “I can assure you that there's nothing too bad about the rumors, Clark.” She said and saw him visibly relax. She couldn't let him do that, though. “Is it true you've had sex with half of the single girls in the county in your den of depravity?”

Clark seemed to choke on his own spit and sputtered out a half-assed denial, making Margaret laugh for the first time in public. Everyone assumed she was a hard-ass, because she was so difficult to convince to invest the bank's money into failing farms. The reality was that she had a great sense of humor and just hadn't had any chance to exercise it.

Margaret reached over to pat him on the back to help, while also getting a very nice feel of his bare shoulder, then she ran her hand down his muscular arm and pat it. “Are you okay, Clark?”

Clark cleared his throat a couple times before he squeaked out. “M'fine, Margaret. Jus'fine.”

Margaret smiled widely and took over the meal as she dished out the food onto two plates, expertly carving the roast to give them both great cuts of meat, and put the right amount of side dishes on their plates to balance the meat and not overwhelm it with too many vegetables or potatoes.

She sat down again and started eating, motioning for Clark to do the same. The pair ate the food and Margaret barely hid how much she enjoyed the meal. She couldn't let the young man think he could influence her so easily by plying her with delicious food. She could be, she just didn't want Clark to know that.

“Well, now that you've fed me, you might as well give me a tour of the place.” Margaret said and stood. She wasn't sure why she wasn't being bogged down or felt sluggish after eating so much.

“Sure, Margaret. Let me just put on a shirt...” Clark started to say.

“Nonsense! The blue frilly apron matches your eyes.” Margaret joked and Clark stared at her with wide eyes. That just made her laugh and she dragged him out of the trailer.

It was soon time for Margaret's eyes to widen as Clark showed her the inside of the first greenhouse. It had shelves upon shelves of prime soil everywhere and she couldn't really tell where they ended. Clark started to explain what he was doing and Margaret was fascinated at the ingenious idea.

It would take a bit more work to plant it all and to maintain it; but, it really would increase his yield by a significant amount. They walked on to the racks where the vine plants would be growing and Margaret couldn't keep her wonder hidden as he told her how many different specialty plants he could cram into the same space that would only be a single field of wheat.

The wheat was going to be planted in the next greenhouse, as was the corn. Their yields would be almost triple, because there was no growing season inside a greenhouse. All year was when it could be planted and harvested, thanks to the consistent temperature of being in an enclosed environment.

It was the same for the other crops as well. With the extra space the different method of farming provided, and no limit on when the crops could be planted and grown, the Clark Farm was going to be in full production of all the crops he had by the end of October.

The only exceptions were the trees in the orchard. They had to use a golf cart to travel to the end of the first warehouse where the many juvenile saplings had been planted.

“Next year should have them a foot thick, if not more. I think. With no cold restrictions putting the trees into hibernation for half the year, they are going to sprout right up to full size really quickly.” Clark told her. “I might play with manure and fertilizer to find the optimum balance to get the most growth potential out of them and my other crops.”

“It's like a growing lab.” Margaret said, with more than a little awe in her voice.

Clark smiled and nodded as he drove them back to the exit. “That's exactly what I'm doing, Margaret. Once I work out the best procedures for maximum growth potential, I can refine them and produce the best and tastiest crops at an accelerated rate.”

Margaret nodded, not realizing Clark specifically worded it that way to plant the idea in her head that his crops would grow much faster than everyone else's. He wasn't going to take over any of the markets, since he only had the one farm. He would end up making them more competitive and would give the local population more options. He might even get a grocery store chain to buy his products.

“You're ambitious.” Margaret said and knew Clark wasn't boasting. His business plans had accounted for nearly everything and after seeing what he had already done with one greenhouse, she didn't doubt that his plans were going to work out like he had predicted.

“Is it ambitious if you know it's a sure thing?” Clark asked her with a smirk.

Margaret couldn't help but blush at the innuendo, especially after spending the last hour with the handsome young man. “Yes, it's still ambitious, because you had the courage to go through with it and then put your words into action.” She motioned to the greenhouse as the cart came to a stop by the door. “When word of this method gets out...”

“Please don't let it.” Clark cut her off. “This is a chance to revolutionize growing practises for certain crops; but, it'll only work if it's proven and not dismissed as a fad or a novel idea.”

Margaret thought about that and nodded. “All right, I'll keep it out of any reports I add to your file until after you prove it's viable to reproduce.”

“Thank you.” Clark said sincerely and led her out of the greenhouse and walked her all the way over to her car. The both of them remained silent until Margaret sat behind the wheel. “Thanks for stopping by, Margaret.”

“It was my pleasure, Clark.” Margaret responded with genuine warmth before she could stop herself. She felt her face heat up and started the car, backed up without looking at him, and drove out onto the road and sped away.