Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2014 20:09:00 GMT -5
High summer was a busy time of year for House Gardiner. Though the plantings were done, there was still plenty of work to be done. Late July meant starting to cut and dry hay for stocking through the winter months. The strawberries were finished, but there were other fruits coming ripe, and the weather in the region started to get a little chancy. Too much rain was as bad as too little rain when it came to the crops and the herds. Reed spent plenty of time in the saddle, inspecting herds, farms and water-flow.
But the mornings were his favorite times when he was in Lockewood. He could rise early and steal a precious hour or two in his green-houses, checking on his works in progress and updating his notes. Agricultural advancements weren't all that exciting to most, but Reed welcomed his people's new ideas. They had a few fields going this year that had not only been let to lie fallow last growing-season, but enriched with a new kind of compost. He was curious to see what the effects would be on the crops planted there.
For now, he stepped into the moist heat of the green-house, wearing just a shirt, trousers and shoes. It was too warm in the building for anything more, and he'd have to be careful not to stay in too long. Reed had made that mistake once, and it had taken him almost a week to recover. Moving with purpose, he bent to study several new plants, a smile spreading across his face to see how they were flourishing. Turning to another tray, the smile fell. They weren't doing so well, and he'd have to ask Rosemary's advice on it.
Amused at himself, Reed didn't think of himself as a Duke, a lord, or even a noble. He was just a farmer, really, a man with a green thumb.