Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Deck 4 Garden- Sowing Seeds

Posted by Lieutenant Luke Wyatt (Chief of Security) in Deck 4 Garden- Sowing Seeds

Posted by Lieutenant Faye Calloway (Mission Specialist) in Deck 4 Garden- Sowing Seeds
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

As he worked, Faye had prepped her soil and filled her tray as well, patting it in firmly but not too hard. She looked over and smiled. “Looks good. Now go ahead and plant one more cell like that and then we’ll move on to other seeds.”

Luke nodded as he went about prepping the next cell ensuring it mirrored the others, it was a little shape but once he was done it was almost identical. He stepped back and dusted of his hands before finally smiling with approval and turning to Faye, “So whats next?” He asked curiously and a little intrigued, he was enjoying this far more than he thought he would be.

Now, where did I put that spray bottle?” she murmured. Crouching down at their table, she fiddled about in the lower shelf under she found her quarry. “Aha! Here we go,” she said as she rose up beside him rather closely and wiggled a large spray bottle from its nozzle. “I’ll be right back,” she said as she went to fill the bottle from the sink.

Her closeness wasn’t lost on Luke and it took him to remind himself that he was trying the ‘friend’ part of their weirdly growing friendship or relationship or whatever this was turning in to be he was both relieved and sad when she left, he watched her disappear in the direction of the sink they had washed thier hands in and waited. While he did he kept using himself, the one question, Why are you doing this Luke? Do you think this can go anywhere, she already said no. She came into view and the though diminished.

Returning, Faye set the bottle down away from them and reached for her seeds. Brushing off her hands, she opened another packet and grinned. “This is a lovely paste tomato, similar to a roma type but it’s got a richer taste I find and it’s very fleshy, so makes great sauces and cooked condiments. “I’d plant one cell of those, and I’m going to plant one myself,” she said and she poured a few seeds in had hand and handed the packet to Luke. “These are planted the same way we just did the chillies.” her face shifted into realization. “Oh! I forgot the tags too.”

The seeds were a difference in both shape, size and colour but were still really small. It was hard to imagine that these would then turn into a tomato that he could then use to cook, that was the next trial by fire… perhaps literaly.

Digging underneath, she pulled out a packet of small tags and a couple waterproof markers. “We’re going to write down what the different sections of cells are so we don’t have to remember what we planted.” She turned her head to gaze at him. “So… bored yet or are you enjoying yourself?”

~Faye Calloway

The question took him by surprise, “What? No!” h said quickly and defensively almost dropping some of the seed but managed to stop them from rolling out of his hand, “Why? Do I look bored?” Luke asked before shaking his head. “I’m actually really enjoying this, learning something new, beneficial and getting to spend some time with you that isn’t just… the other stuff.” They’d only done the other stuff once, and kissed a couple of times but between that and their late-night brig conversations they hadn’t spent time together doing relatively normal things. “Thank you for taking the time to teach me.” He added quickly.

• Luke Wyatt, Very much enjoying himself.

Faye gave him a long look before she broke into an amused smirk. “Dude, relax. It was an honest question, not a trick one.” She let out a half laugh. “I’ve been trying to be careful to keep all this simple and basic info wise because it’s very easy for me to get encyclopedic on you. I mean, I haven’t even touched on germination rates and how that is related to seed collection and maturation,” Faye said as she elbowed him gently, but playfully.

‘Encyclopedic’ he thought, the word being one of those that just sounded good and even better when she said it. “Well I am enjoying myself and you’re a great teacher maybe one day I could see you at the academy, as for how much information I’m taking in that’s what books are for. Whatever I don’t remember I’ll make notes on later after re-reading everything. Unfortunately my memory isn’t as amazing as yours.”

Her expression softened. “And, for the record, you’re welcome. This is one of those times where my mind really does calm down and focus on less things. I can be more… present, if you will.” she decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to mention the other ways she was able to get out of her head, because that conversation wouldn’t be very conducive to their task.

~Faye Calloway

Luke looked at Faye for a moment, taking in her own softened expression. “I’ve noticed, its nice to see you like it.” He was silent for a moment before he teasingly elbowed her back, “Now shall we finish planting these seeds, they’re not going to do it themselves and all this talk about chillies and Tomatoes is making me hungry.” His stomach grumbled as if on queue. Luke went back to setting up the cells for the tomato seeds the same way he had for his chillies and following her instructions to the letter, he was already becoming more consistent in sizing them and spreading them out.

• Luke Wyatt

Faye chuckled and then walked him through how to plant the rest of the seeds which included bunching onions (also known as scallions) and some herbs. The scallion seeds in particular were exceptionally tiny, with the seeds no bigger than the head of a small pin (if he even knew what one of those were). She also sowed some flower seeds with equally tiny light coloured seeds that needed light to germinate and showed him how she just sprinkled them lightly on top of the soil.

He followed her example doing what she did, if a little bit clumsier and leet skilled but the end results were mostly the same. He had planted all the seeds she had given him and compared to how he thought he’d do it looked as if he knew what he was doing. He’d never be bale to have done it without her and he smiled, a little proud of himself.

“Now, while the soil is already wet, we want to settle these seeds in place so we can properly hydrate them-“she picked up the spray bottle-“and so we just spray each cell down with an even layer of water.” Faye went about spraying quite a bit of water but methodically before she passed the bottle to him.

He took the bottle from her, it was hard not to brush her fingers with his but allowed the moment to past, he tilt the bottle at the same degrees and distance she had and pressed on the lever sending a mist of water over the soil turning it a darker shade of its former self. “Hows that?” He said having sprayed a few more times and felt as if his was symmetrically wet as her own tray.

Bringing the larger black solid trays over, she handed one to him along with a platform and some sort of flatly spongy material. “Now, we pt the rise in first and the material drapes over top so one side hangs right down the side and touches the bottom of the black tray. We’re going to put the seed tray on top and once the seedlings are big enough to no longer need to be watered by misting, then we can fill the tray and the material will wick up the water and the plant cells with draw up the water into the soil, taking only what it needs. It means you’l have to water less.”

“Sounds reasonable, and productive use of materials,” He said assembling as per her instruction, it wasn’t long until his own tray was looking very similar to the others in the greenhouse, he should have been a botanist.

Reaching for what looked to be some clear trays, she inverted one and passed it to Luke. “Now, pop that on top. It’s a humidity dome and will help keep moisture levels inside so the seeds don’t dry out. If they do, they’ll die and we’ll have to start again. We have a good mixture of soil and other components that will retain moisture, and though you win’t likely need to water daily, you will want to check them every day. Once they have sprouted and have come up through the surface, then we can take the domes off and let them carry on,” she said brightly.

“I can check on them when I do my security rounds” He explained with a smile potioning the dome over his tray. He made sure it cleared the sides before letting it settle on the surface covering his seeds and as Faye had explained would provide a persistent moisture level. He’d enjoy having something to do during his rounds, and if anyone asked he was just doing his rounds.

“And that’s how you start seeds,” Faye said as she carried her tray to her designated spot on the slated tables.

~Faye Calloway

“If that’s how you start seeds, I wonder how the rest of it goes! That was no short process” He said chuckling, “Worth it though I am sure of it! Now I just need to learn how to keep them alive, harvest and cook them so you can try the best space chilli jam out there!” Luke was smiling, “So how do I know if the seeds are taking? When they, what hatch?” He asked unsure of the correct terminology.

• Luke Wyatt