Prepare the Garden

“I was expecting things to look more… metal-y.”

Solaria laughed softly at the comment from Blossom, standing behind her in the open airlock as the agriculturalist surveyed the floor where her family grew their Arboreal mushrooms. “Well, about two centuries ago you would have been right,” she said. “But we’ve had plenty of time in this baby to get everything nice for our farming.”

“Some mushroom farms don’t care about looking nice,” Blossom pointed out, finally venturing into the space to explore more thoroughly.

“Well, those are the big industrial ones, I’d think,” Solaria said, shaking her head as she followed. “It’s just me, my husband, and our kids here - why bother with all this if we don’t enjoy ourselves?”

“Good point,” Blossom said. “You’ve done a lot to be able to grow them as though it were the wild. I guess that helps for having a more varied diet, too?”

“Yeah, it’s a sacrifice for our production capabilities, but I think having access to eggs, meat, fish, and various fruits and vegetables makes up for it.” Solaria grinned, pointing up as a creature flew overhead. “Honestly, before Aerius Station was built, we made most of our money selling spare eggs. The fact Aerius Station was built with space for animal agriculture really helps out for all the stations and domes up here.”

Blossom nodded along as she walked through the trees and grasses. “Yeah, I remember early in my career studying about the challenges of living in the Empyrian nations.”

“It’s gotten ever easier,” Solaria said.

“Oh, this looks like the perfect spot for what we wanted to do~!” Blossom stopped in a small clearing of the room. “You must have removed a big tree here recently…”

“Yeah, we needed to, before its roots or branches could threaten the plating of the floor,” Solaria said, sighing. “It was a shame, it was a really lovely tree. When Halo was very little, I used to read her stories under it during breaks from work. Sold it to a rich dextro out on Ambrosia who told me he’s hiring an artisan to turn it into a table. Show off his wealth by having real wood, I guess.”

“I guess that’s one way to do it,” Blossom muttered. Louder, she continued. “Well, it works great for our purposes at least.” Kneeling in the dirt and grass, she opened up her basket, pulling out some older logs she had brought up from Aerius’ surface. “I’m surprised you’d never had bloom shrooms up here before, honestly.”

“Well, they’re a more ornamental mushroom than a food one,” Solaria pointed out, kneeling as well. Using a trowel, she shifted dirt and grass to create a nice stable groove for the log to settle into. “I’ve generally focused more on the food ones, but after the last Great Mushroom Harvest, I started seeing a lot more interest in them on the stations and figured it would be a good investment to grow at least a few a year.”

“Well, like you said, it’s gotten easier up here - and the easier things get, the more everyone can think about having nice things too.”

“Fair enough,” Solaria agreed. She helped Blossom to settle the log into the groove, admiring the pink moss that grew on it. “I wouldn’t say we’ve never cared about nice things before - we certainly have, but it was more the things we easily produce here, or that the Artifice makes, and sometimes stuff from the Isles.”

Blossom nodded, though her focus was on taking a small cutting from the pink moss. Once it was cut, she went to the nearest tree, a mid-sized one, and worked to carefully attach it to a branch. “Yeah. I remember reading that the Strip used to be an agricultural spot before Galactica re-established contact back with the rest of Aerius.”

“Well, I’m not into history enough to say much one way or the other, but I guess it would make sense. The domes on the moon have some good spots too, though, I’d figure they’d have been more dominant than the Strip just based on size.” Solaria shook her head, rummaging through Blossom’s basket till she found the substrate they had mixed the spores into, and the biodegradable gloves. She put the gloves on first, and then opened the substrate. Sticking a hand in, she scooped it out and began to spread it onto the log, covering it carefully.

“Well, I think the domes were established later though, weren’t they?” Blossom asked, coming back to don gloves herself and begin joining in on the work.

“I… maybe…?” Solaria grimaced slightly. “It would’ve taken more work to make them, so probably? The Strip just has a magical field, you don’t need much for that compared to an actual dome.”

“I should probably read up on it more,” Blossom said, frowning. “I’ve been getting a lot more people contacting me for advice or help on agricultural stuff since my shop started up.”

“Like this?” Solaria teased slightly.

“I mean, yeah, but I already vaguely knew you from internet forums and some of the interviews you did about this farm,” Blossom retorted as she scooped out another handful of substrate to coat the log. “And you already know what you’re doing. Most of my questions come from people who are totally new to this stuff, and like- I know the answers to probably ninety-nine percent of the inquiries I get. It’s just… Occasionally someone sends me one of the most… bizarrely specific questions that leads me to have to spend some of my off hours in the Archives, asking Nepra about things and hunting through books to figure out what I need to know to help them.”

Solaria refrained from pointing out that Blossom didn’t have to help - the other dextro already knew as much. “Maybe you could try doing something to teach others more? I know the big farms have pushed more traditional farmers out of business in some nations, like the Isles, where hobbyists would have otherwise been able to learn from them, so it makes sense they’re reaching for anyone they see who is visible.” As she talked, she continued working, of course - the log was rather large, since she had brought it into Galactica herself, while Blossom had needed to travel by ship.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, and I do want to, once I’m more settled in with running my store.” Blossom leaned back on her heels, sighing. “I like it a lot, it just requires me to be in place more often than I’m used to doing. I’ve been thinking I might need to get an assistant who can be present all the time so I can travel as needed to get new supplies and help out others. Especially the new supplies, though - Boone has suppliers, but I’ve heard how unreliable they can be, and I don’t think I want to rely on any to get spores and tools for my shop.”

“Makes sense,” Solaria agreed, finally peeling off her gloves as she noticed they were done with the substrate. She deposited them onto the log and shifted to sprawl in the grass. “Sorry for peeling you away from your shop, then, I could have just learned to transplant moss down there…”

“Oh hush, I’m getting really good food out of this and you’re saving me a way longer hunt for a lot of other spores than I might have had - especially the crystal ones. Some of the big farms have been guarding those so jealously that I was wondering if I’d actually be able to find any before you reached out to me.”

Solaria shook her head sadly. “I hate that they’re still doing that.”

“…still… wait, how did you get yours in the first place, then?” Blossom asked, squinting at the older dextro.

The orange flush in her dark cheeks was very interesting. “…don’t worry about it, it was a very long time ago.”

“Solaria!”

“Okay- look- the Isles are nocturnal. Up here, we don’t really stick to one or the other… I just kind of… popped down on an outdoor farm when everyone was asleep, got what I needed, and left.”

“Solaria!” Despite Blossom’s outraged noise, she was still laughing as she pulled her own gloves off at last. “What a way to do it…”

“It worked, and that’s what matters,” Solaria declared, grinning. She stood up, offering a hand to Blossom. “But now - let’s get down so I can show you the other levels of the farm. I promise not to talk your ear off about the mechanical challenges of the Aqueous level.”

“Thank you, I like agriculture, not all the math stuff you sometimes do,” Blossom said drily, accepting the hand to rise, and then she picked up her basket.

They headed back into the airlock again, and then into the elevator to continue - it was going to be a busy night, after all, as Solaria showed each level of the dome to Blossom.