The Starfield Farming Sovereign (Elizabeth Schofield) novel Chapter 79

Chapter 79 Keep Building

The two groups started from opposite ends, clearly divided, avoiding any chaos.

Elizabeth was pleased with their organization.

Then she looked at Fiona, who still seemed a little dazed.

Finished

The moment Fiona met Elizabeth’s gaze, she snapped back to herself and hurried to assure her, “Ms. Schofield, don’t worry! I’ll make sure the children understand–everything they saw today will stay confidential. Not a single word will get out!”

Elizabeth shook her head and glanced around. “No need for secrecy. The moment you stepped in, I shut off the mirage circle. The people outside can already see everything.”

Fiona followed her line of sight and froze. The townsfolk who’d been plowing and the Black Rats prisoners trembling in the expansion zone had all stopped what they were doing. Every single pair of eyes was fixed in shock on the suddenly revealed green field.

That lush, vibrant sea of green, so violently out of place against the wasteland of Garbage Planet, hit like a giant exclamation mark stamped onto their vision, shaking them to the core.

Elizabeth saw the stunned, conflicted look on Fiona’s face and concerned she might struggle with her questions, said softly, “Fiona, if you wanna ask something, just ask.”

Fiona took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She pointed at the endless rows of green and asked the most fundamental question. “Ms. Schofield… so the reason you had us clear trash and turn the soil… it wasn’t just to plant potatoes, was it?”

“Of course not,” Elizabeth replied without hesitation.

Fiona instinctively let out a breath of relief.

Thank goodness…

So not just any patch of land can grow crops.

Maybe the Kingdom’s research institutes recently developed some groundbreaking soil purification technology.

And as Mrs. Hewitt, it won’t be strange for Ms. Schofield to have access to that kind of resource…

Unfortunately, she relaxed too soon.

Elizabeth sighed in mock frustration. “There’s so much land here. If I used it all just to grow potatoes, wouldn’t I end up eating potatoes every single day? I’d get sick of them.”

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Finished

She started counting on her fingers. “I need grains. Vegetables. Fruits. Spices. Medicinal herbs… so many things.”

She sighed again. “It’s just a shame I haven’t found enough seeds yet. Who knows how long it’ll take before I can grow everything I want?”

Fiona froze.

She suddenly felt like a complete fool.

It wasn’t that the land couldn’t grow crops. It was that Elizabeth wanted far more than potatoes.

Is she planning to recreate the diverse agricultural ecosystem of ancient Earth right here on Garbage Planet?

Letting out the frustration of not having enough seeds, Elizabeth turned and rummaged through a pile of usable scrap until she found a relatively flat alloy panel and a charred stick of charcoal. She began sketching rapidly across the surface.

When she finished, she noticed Fiona still standing there in a daze. “Fiona?”

“Huh? Yes!” Fiona jolted upright.

“Go find five people who are quick and careful,” Elizabeth instructed. “I’m going to teach them how to build ridges and trenches.”

Ridges?

Trenches?

What are those?

“Okay, Ms. Schofield. Right away!” Fiona hurried off and soon returned with five young workers, including Peter, who’d done an excellent job building the fence earlier.

Elizabeth propped up the alloy board. On it was a simple farm layout she’d sketched in charcoal.

She pointed to the drawing and began explaining. “Do you know what field borders and ridges are?”

The five workers–and Fiona listening in–looked completely lost. Clearly not.

“A field border,” she said, pointing to a thicker line on the drawing, “divides the land into sections. It’s mainly for walking paths and separating different crops. I’ll show you how to build them. After the soil is turned, every acre should be divided into square plots. That makes

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management easier.”

Finished

Then she pointed to the raised strips she’d drawn. “This is a ridge. You mound the soil into raised strips, and crops are planted on top. Different crops have different ridge requirements.”

She began planning based on the seeds she currently had.

“Potatoes reproduce fast and yield high. They’ll be our main crop for now. I need an acre set aside using a ‘high ridge, deep trench‘ layout.”

“The ridge base should be 28 to 31 inches wide, the ridge height 10 to 12 inches, and the ridge top 12 to 16 inches wide. The trenches between the ridges should also be kept 12 to 16 inches wide. That acre will be exclusively for potatoes.”

“For the remaining land, use a ‘high ridge, single row‘ layout. It’s more versatile and suitable for most vegetables, as well as sweet potatoes and strawberries. Ridge tops should be 20 to 24 inches wide, the ridge height 10 to 12 inches, and the trench width 12 to 16 inches.”

After explaining field borders and ridges, Elizabeth continued marking trench layouts across each acre on the plan.

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