She had a lot of possibilities to choose from when deciding what to plant.
The beavers had brought plenty of root seeds, seed potatoes, onion seedlings, and even some sweet potato slips. Beavers were apparently great fans of root vegetables, which formed the bedrock of beaver agriculture and cuisine. The foxes had supplemented with some additional spring vegetable seeds, so she had a good selection when it came to vegetables to start—much more generous than a single bag of turnip or parsnip seeds.
She decided to begin by planting short rows of each of her chosen root plants. She thought it would be more interesting and instructive to plant a small number of many different kinds of plants rather than a large crop of a single type. This was a home garden after all. It wasn’t as if her farm was a business. She didn’t need to really consider what was the best decision from a financial perspective. She didn’t have any bills for upkeep, no taxes to pay (that she knew of at least), and no current need for any substantial amount of funds, since they hadn’t actually needed to purchase any land for the canal project. The beavers and foxes had worked together to build her an absurdly huge farmhouse. They had built a chicken coop for her, brought her chickens, stocked her house with provisions and seeds, and were planning to build a barn for her. They had even offered to run her errands for her and get her anything she required that she did not already have. Demi had absolutely no complaints as far as any of that went.
It was too much, really.
I need to think about what I can do to help them, she resolved.
Still, it had been an enormous amount of help.
I guess being a goddess really is like playing on easy mode, Demi reflected. I mean, it makes sense that it would be. There’s a reason that those modes are called “god mode.” I guess I just didn’t expect that I’d have such a generous start. I’m really grateful to everyone who has helped me since I got here. I want to make sure that I help them as much as I can to repay their kindness.
She wanted to give more than she got. She needed to.
In terms of her nonexistent bankbook, at some point, she probably would have to start considering her expenses and work to develop a few streams of income, but at the moment, it wasn’t high on her list of priorities. Right now, what was most important was learning about the logic of the world, learning about her powers, and learning exactly what “being a goddess” really entailed.
She also wanted to do her part in the development of the canal and the water lock, and to help the new fox settlement, Hollystep. Those were her projects too, after all, and she needed to be free to help when her help was required.
In her considered opinion, it was a perfectly rational decision not to plant an immense number of vegetables, even though she had the space and resources to do so. She didn’t want to feel chained to the garden, doing nothing but caring for dozens and dozens of parsnips all day long.
She also didn’t want to end up stuck eating nothing but parsnips for a month.
(Of course, she did have plenty of other food in the house at this point, but Demi knew that she would feel guilty not making use of the first crops she’d grown in this fantasy world.)
It was when she was practically laying out the space for the gardens that she found herself pondering something. She had planned to lay out an ordered garden, one like the ones she knew from home, with clean, measured rows of vegetables, like with like, in different boxes and beds.
But was that really the way she had to do things? Was it even the best way to do things?
Perhaps it was at Forest Home, where the great gardens produced the fresh produce for the estate house: the herbs, cut flowers, apples for cider, nuts for roasting, and many other things besides. There was an impressive team of gardeners there outfitted with every imaginable modern convenience. The gardens were ordered according to tradition, and that worked at Forest Home.
But there was no reason that she had to do things in the same way, not here.
Of course, she had no intention of throwing down seeds willy-nilly. She was all for experimentation, but experimentation could come after she had gained some practical experience. Still, there was something she wanted to try: companion planting.
Companion planting was a traditional form of gardening that matched different plants together so they could help one another. She had learned about the three sisters as a little girl: maize, squash, and beans, and several of her new farming books had suggested additional combinations. Planting garlic among the root vegetables helped ward away flies and beetles. Sage around the carrots would keep away carrot flies, and one book had nothing but glowing praise for nasturtium. Tansy and dill would help attract beneficial insects, and borage and parsley would bring bees and other pollinators.
She could still have areas with lots of herbs, and others with flowers, and with vegetables; it just wasn’t as cut-and-dried. There would be a little bit of everything everywhere, so things could be where they needed to be to flourish.
I’ll plant the things that make me happy, she decided.
But it was probably wise not to get too carried away. She was generally planning on around five mature plants per row for the larger vegetables, and then a small plot for radishes and carrots, where they could be pulled easily either when they were young or when they were fully ripe.
One of her farming guidebooks had taught her that radishes would be the quickest to mature, and she already knew that it was best to plant a lot of carrots and then thin them as they grew, enjoying the baby carrots as they were thinned.
Anything too small and thin to eat could be gifted to the forest animals, who seemed to be recovering well due to the influence of the blessed spring. Demi had already seen bunnies multiple times, along with mice, squirrels, and many different kinds of birds.
They were as welcome on her farm as any of her other new friends, and she was happy to see them doing well.