It was hard labor, using only a shovel, hoe and rake. With each shovel, he turned the rich soil over. He saw the earthworms wriggling back down into the earth. He smiled and looked around. After the bastard, who’d shot at them, they’d not seen another person. They’d also waited a month and had driven to the city. They’d been cautious. It had been early morning, both agreeing that most people might not be up and about. They’d left just after the sun had risen.
“I’ve not seen any cars. What’s going on I wonder?” Trish had worried. He wondered as well. As they drove closer, neither had seen anyone walking around. Homes were either closed up or torn apart. Windows smashed, doors ripped off the front of homes. It looked as though the rioting had gotten worse. When they were roughly ten miles from the city, ahead, they saw a large roadblock. Hogan had slowed down. They were about a half mile from it and wanted to go no closer. There were no people out and about. They could see uniformed people walking back and forth, behind the barricade. Other than that, there was no activity, no noise, but for the wind that blew into the window. The stoplights were out, no power to them.
“Let’s go home, this makes me nervous.” Trish had said, and Hogan had heard the fear in her voice. They took a different route home, but it was all the same. Broken homes and they could see a massive structure in the distance, a Hive. It must house thousands, if not tens of thousands. Was that why the streets were empty? The thought of it even now, made the hair raise on Hogan’s arms. Kansas City was quiet, a ghost town. The once vibrant city was no more. Only a dry and empty husk left in its place.
He turned and watched as Trish made her way to him. She had a soft smile on her face, her cheeks pink with the effort of walking on uneven ground.
“Plants are looking great. I think we can maybe start planting in about three weeks. They should be strong enough. I’ll get them used to the sun, before we plant them.” She grinned, picking up a shovel.
“What do you mean, get them used to the sun?” Hogan laughed. He’d never heard of such a thing.
“Seedlings are delicate. That’s why they only get a few hours of sun a day, if they got the full-on sun, they’d burn up. Crisp. Once they’re big enough to plant out in this field, I’ll start leaving them in the sun, longer and longer each day. By the time we plant them, they’ll be used to the full sunshine.” She smiled.
“Who knew? I just helped when I was asked. I never knew what went into planting them.” Hogan laughed.
“Well, it took trial and error, as well as a little researching. For instance, I thought you planted sweet potatoes like you do regular potatoes. Not true. When you plant potatoes, you cut them up, making sure you have eyes on each of the potato bits. For sweet potatoes, you must plant them half into soil and let stems grow with leaves. Then, you pick those stems off, they’re called slips. Each of the slips have tiny little roots. Then, you plant the slips.”
“Holy shit. That’s just crazy talk. Are you going to plant corn?” He asked, laughing when she smacked him.
“Yep, I have to, most of that will be dried for the chickens. Some that I dry, we can grind down to make corn meal. I’ve got an old grinder in the barn. We’ll have to clean it up. I don’t think it’s been used in fifty years. I figure if we could plant a lot, then we’ll be better off, feeding ourselves and the chickens.”
“This is kind of amazing. I know that my father-in-law did this and I was always impressed with their garden. But I never knew the extent of it.” He stood, looking around the field, a hurtful pang shooting through his heart. He’d never see Bart or Milly. He’d never see his girls or Laura. He didn’t even know if they were alive. He hoped they were, but now and then, the pangs of sorrow overtook him. Had it been six months?
“You alright?” She asked, concern on her face.
“Yeah, sure, so what’s the planting schedule?” He asked, pushing the sadness back.
“Okay, so we’ll first plant broccoli here in this section. Next week I’m thinking, or the next, we’ll watch the temps. We’ll also put out the beets, cabbage, Brussel sprouts. Don’t make that face. They’re good for you.” She laughed at Hogan’s face at the mention of Brussel sprouts.
“Christ, I’ve never eaten so healthy in my life.” He grinned.
“Be serious. Anyway, when it warms up a bit more, we’ll plant carrots, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes. Then, once it really gets warmed up, we’ll plant the corn, tomatoes, peppers, peas, lettuce and kale.”
“So, we don’t plant all at once?” He asked, surprised.
“No, we stagger them out. Some plants can take the cooler weather at night. Many plants do the majority of their growing at night. If the night temperatures are too cool, then you don’t have much growth. The plants absorb sunshine during the day, you know, photosynthesis and grow at night. If it is too cool, they just don’t grow as well. That’s why if you have a cool and mild summer, plants aren’t as productive and have a lower yield.”
“Christ, we better hope for a warm and hot summer.” Hogan said worried.
“That’s why farming is so chancy. There are so many factors, early or late frosts. Too much rain, not enough rain, too much sun, not enough sun. It’s all a gamble. That’s why I want to plant as much as I can. We can also stagger the planting and
