Network Post - 002

[loving_goddess]

Alright, to anyone who was looking for cuttings or saplings from my apple tree, I have several ready and potted to bring home. Please come to [INSERT FARM HERE] at your earliest convenience if you still want them. Any spares will be planted here to continue the growth of the orchard.

Speaking of which, I've branched out- [Martel] into oranges as well. Thank you to everyone who's purchased one of my apples or anything else from my farm, I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. Certainly not so quickly. Next on my list is peaches, so watch for those!

Anyway, aside from orchard-related news, I've been thinking about something. I've encountered quite a surprising amount of people with abilities and skills related to healing and medical treatment in general, several of us from very different disciplines. [From pure technology to magical healing hair, the valley's got it all, it seems.]

Yet, to the best of my knowledge there's no real organization among us. Allow me to be the first to advocate for everyone who has any sort of medical skill to come together, have a meeting, perhaps, where we can share information and let each other know who we are, where we're located, and how to get in contact with us. We certainly can't take over the hospital itself, but with a bit of effort, we might be able to head off many difficulties, and I'm sure we have much to learn from each other.

That's all for the moment! Thank you all for listening, and remember to come by as soon as you can if you're looking for an apple sapling!

Comments

[whisted]

[She knows he's going to spend the next, like. hour or two. examining all the cuttings, right?]

They're already rooting?

[loving_goddess]

I may have helped things along a little bit.

[She gives him a wink. Yeah, he'd asked her not to help him out like that, but technically these saplings aren't his until he pays for one, sooooo...]

[whisted]

[His soft 'hm' as he studies the cuttings isn't particularly accusatory, but it is there.]

Still grow like-- any unhelped ones?

[Or is there a copy of Growing A Tree With Minimal Magical Assistance For Dummies lying around or what.]

[loving_goddess]

I'm afraid not. It's more efficient to spread my efforts out across all the ones I'm growing, so that's what I do. You'll find that at this point they're basically the same as one grown without assistance.

[Save that she can't accelerate them again for a while without risking damaging them.]

[whisted]

So... just-- treat them like trees?

[To be clear.

Look, he's nervous about killing his very first actual tree.]

[loving_goddess]

Absolutely! Which brings us to our next topic... what do you know about caring for a tree?

[Because if she has to drop some knowledge on you, you better believe she will.]

[whisted]

[Listen: knowledge-drops are his fave. But first, there's his week of book-reading to stumble his way through.]

Decently big hole away from the house or other roots. Backfill around the roots with-- loosely packed soil. Stake while it's getting settled. Deep watering when it's planted and-- every day for the next few weeks?

[loving_goddess]

That's an excellent start. Ordinarily I'd talk to you about finding the right soil, but in this valley I'm quite sure you'll find great soil anywhere you look. So we can skip that.

[So very lucky for everyone here, given how complex trying to find good soil could become.]

Cover the roots with hay or straw for mulch, and make sure the tree is planted where it will get a great deal of sun. Apple trees want as much light as they can get.

[whisted]

--hay or straw.

[Right. That's easy enough. That does slightly distract from his minute inspection of the nearest cutting, because zeroing in on instruction has to be more important.]

Sunlight-- all day? Or is morning or night more important?

[loving_goddess]

When they say "full sunlight", what they mean is about eight hours a day. What's most important is that when the sun's up in the sky, it's shining down on the tree. If it gets put in the shade for an hour, that could stunt its growth significantly, so be careful.

[whisted]

[There's a brief duck of his head, mental calculations being shifted and resorted to be certain they comport with that advice.]

How d'you... grow them together, then?

[loving_goddess]

It's just a matter of finding the right amount of space around each tree. When they first go in, it will look immensely wasteful, but soon enough it will become obvious why they're planted the way they are.

[whisted]

Okay.

[Another pause, another moment's rearrangement, and then the left field comes.]

Closer to or-- farther from bees?

[loving_goddess]

Bees? I suppose that doesn't matter much. If you have bees on your farm they will find the flowers at some point no matter where you plant the tree. Bees can travel a surprising distance in search of nectar.

[whisted]

Flowers near it all right?

[loving_goddess]

It depends on what you mean by "near". I wouldn't advise planted any other plants too close to them until you're certain they've started to take, even grass, but then I've always been protective of my trees. Once it starts to grow, most of the trees roots will go deeper than the roots of the smaller plants, making it less of a problem.