BXBX NOVEL Chapter 91: Sweet Potato!
"How are the reclamation and planting efforts progressing?" Logan inquired, surveying the vast swaths of cultivated land now totaling over 4,000 acres.
"We\'ve successfully planted sweet potatoes and potatoes across 1,000 acres since the rye harvest the day before yesterday," Cobos reported proudly.
"And the original 20 acres?" Cobos asked with a knowing grin.
"The first 20 acres?" Logan frowned, puzzled by the reference.
"Come on, Cobos, speak plainly," he urged, a hint of impatience in his tone.
Cobos chuckled sheepishly before clarifying, "I meant the initial 10 acres of sweet potatoes and another 10 of potatoes we planted first."
"Ah, I see! And here I was lost with your \'first 20 acres.\' Plain speaking next time, please," Logan chided lightly, though his curiosity was now piqued.
"Wait, considering the time, aren\'t we close to harvesting?" he asked suddenly, realizing the approaching end of the four-month growing cycle.
"Why not check it out yourself?" Cobos suggested, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"Have you already dug some up?" Logan narrowed his eyes, suspecting from Cobos\'s demeanor that he might have sampled the produce.
"Just a few, to check their growth, they\'re as big as my fist," Cobos admitted.
"As big as your fist?" Logan exclaimed, half amused, half incredulous. "Considering your fists are bigger than a newborn\'s head, those must be some exceptionally large sweet potatoes!"
"Take a look at this, can you deny what I\'ve been saying?"
Nestled near the tribe\'s border, this particular plot of farmland was the earliest to embrace sweet potato cultivation, with the crop nearing its four-month maturity. Cobos, with a triumphant glint in his eyes, hoisted a clump of freshly dug sweet potato seedlings.
Attached to the roots were a cluster of robust sweet potatoes, each larger than the others, cascading in size but still impressively large.
"Can you believe how many are growing per plant?" Logan, visibly taken aback by the harvest, withheld his judgment, his curiosity piqued.
Indeed, the specimen in Cobos\' grasp boasted three sweet potatoes, each dwarfing a baby\'s head, and a trailing bunch that, although progressively smaller, were still larger than any seen in their past life.
Undeterred by his chief\'s skepticism, Cobos plunged his digging tool into the earth again, unearthing two more plants, each boasting similarly oversized tubers. "See, aren\'t they all this massive?" he challenged, displaying his find.
Logan nodded slowly, his mind racing. "Could this be a mutation?" he pondered aloud. It quickly dawned on him, the soil\'s fertility was exceptional. Rich in earth elements, it was a natural boon to plant growth, untainted by pollutants.
Another piece clicked into place for Logan. The seeds! He had acquired these genetically optimized sweet potato seeds from the system mall, varieties enhanced by past technological advances. Here, on this fertile land enriched with beneficial minerals, the genetic potential of the seeds had fully expressed, leading to this extraordinary yield.
Convinced by his reasoning, Logan wondered aloud, "But what about the flavor? While we\'ve optimized their size and growth, could we have sacrificed taste?"
Genetic enhancement, much like the varied lengths of human fingers, often comes with trade-offs. Perhaps, he pondered, this optimization had its costs.
Eager to test his theory, Logan gripped a hefty sweet potato, and with a swift motion, his wolf scimitar flashed, neatly halving the tuber. "Care for a taste?" he offered, turning to Cobos, who had been eyeing the sweet potato hungrily.
Cobos eagerly accepted half, and together, they bit into the crisp flesh.
"Unbelievably sweet!" Logan exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. He took another bite, finding it even sweeter, a rich, fresh sweetness that was indulgent yet not cloying.
The sweet potatoes were not just oversized; they were also juicier, a testament to the fertile land and advanced seeds working in harmony.
"It\'s absolutely divine! Every bite makes me feel like I\'ve barely scratched the surface of its deliciousness!" Cobos exclaimed, his cheeks bulging with sweet potato.
"Are you planning to eat them every single day?"
"I was curious why the field looked like a battlefield; now I know, you\'ve nearly devoured our entire stock!" Logan joked with a mock glare at Cobos, who could only chuckle sheepishly in response.
Cobos, still munching away, didn\'t let the conversation drop. "Speaking of which, Chief, have you noticed the sweet potato vines seem unusually trimmed? Where have they all gone?"
Logan surveyed the field, his brow furrowing. Usually, sweet potato vines were lush and dense, covering the ground completely. However, what lay before him was a sparse landscape, marred with scratches and clear signs of cutting. "You\'re right. What\'s happened here?"
"Well, Chief, the vines were growing too thickly, actually. The layers on top were shading the lower ones too much, causing them to rot. Not to mention, it was affecting the roots too."
"So, I made the call to have them trimmed back. Lord Kodiak took the excess to the animal pens," Cobos explained, a nervous twitch betraying his worry about the decision.
Logan laughed warmly, easing Cobos\' concern. "Afraid I\'d be angry? You\'ve done well! If the sweet potatoes are flourishing, then the vines have served their purpose. Using them as feed for the creatures is a smart move."
Relieved by the chief\'s approval, Cobos resumed his enthusiastic eating. Logan couldn\'t help but smile at his deputy\'s gusto, taking another hearty bite himself. "These are truly exquisite, fragrant and so sweet. It\'s hard to believe they\'re real!"
The giant size and the intense flavor, it was all a bit miraculous. "It defies all logic, doesn\'t it?" Logan mused, a piece of sweet potato in hand. "Makes you wonder about the potatoes, doesn\'t it?"
Cobos, his mouth still full, nodded. "Potatoes, Chief? I haven\'t dug any up yet. Raw potatoes aren\'t exactly appetizing, so I hadn\'t bothered."
"That\'s a perfect idea then! Let\'s go check on them right now."
"Absolutely, let\'s do it!" Cobos agreed, his enthusiasm undampened by the prospect of more agricultural surprises.
When they first established the experimental plots, they allotted ten acres each for sweet potatoes and potatoes, placing the plots adjacent to each other for ease of comparison and management.
Shortly afterward, Logan led Cobos to the potato plot. The seedlings were vibrant green, resembling small saplings with robust growth that hinted at a bountiful harvest. "These look promising," Logan noted, gesturing towards the thriving plants.
He motioned to Cobos, "Let\'s see what they\'ve got under the surface." Promptly, Cobos began to dig around the plants. Within minutes, they unearthed an impressive sight: a dozen hefty potatoes clustered around a single root, each weighing a couple of pounds. "These could rival sweet potatoes in size!" Logan exclaimed, impressed by the substantial yield.
Despite the earlier surprise from the sweet potatoes, the size of these potatoes seemed reasonable to Logan. "Alright, let\'s get to work. It looks like both the sweet potatoes and potatoes are ready for harvest," he declared.
"Understood, Chief. I\'ll get more hands on this," Cobos responded, ready to organize a larger digging effort.
Logan paused to admire the delicate purple and white flowers blossoming among the potato foliage. "Imagine if these weren\'t so fragrant; we might have used them for a unique line of potato flower perfumes," he mused, half-joking.
His train of thought reminded him of another matter. "Hold on, Cobos! Before you go," Logan called out, stopping Cobos in his tracks. "There was something important I needed to discuss. I almost let it slip my mind amid all this talk of potatoes and sweet potatoes."
Cobos, turning back, looked puzzled yet attentive. "Of course, Chief. What do you need?"
"I want to know about the other seeds and seedlings I entrusted to you, the fruit trees and vegetables," Logan inquired. He had brought back a diverse selection from the Canyon Mall, including a thousand fruit tree seedlings like apple, pear, orange, and apricot trees, among others.
"All planted, Chief," Cobos replied promptly. "The fruit trees and seedlings are in the hilly southern lands. The terrain there is rugged, strewn with rocks and not ideal for regular crops, so it\'s perfect for the trees. As for the vegetable seeds, they\'ve been sown in the newly cleared farmland."
Logan nodded, picturing the hilly area south of the tribe, which stretched toward the river some miles away. "Good work. It sounds like everything is in order," he said, satisfied with Cobos\' handling of the crucial task.