Chapter Six
For Sally, the hard work started Monday.
She’d drawn up a diagram of which seeds she wanted to plant where for the first crops of the season.
She was excited but surprisingly a little nervous.
She knew people were counting on her. Thankfully, she and her mother had spent a great deal of time gardening together and tending the garden, and she felt knowledgeable enough to make it happen.
As soon as she’d finished the breakfast dishes, she found the precious seeds she’d brought with her.
Maggie had made it clear that she didn’t need to grow berries or Eskimo potatoes because they were easy enough to forage.
Even onions weren’t difficult to forage, but she would plant a few as she’d brought the seeds for them with her.
She walked outside, looking at the field and then at her diagram. Grabbing her hoe, she set to work, digging a row then planting the seeds. She put the root vegetables into the first few rows, planning to leave some of the field fallow until it was time for her summer crop to go in.
Around noon, she looked up to see her friends headed toward her.
Maggie was carrying a pot, while Belle carried the baby in her basket.
Sally thought—not for the first time—that Belle should have a baby buggy, but she knew the terrain was too rough for one.
She knew when her turn came, she’d be carrying the baby as well.
“How is the planting going?” Maggie asked. “It looks like you’ve done a lot of work since we saw you yesterday.”
Sally nodded, rubbing the back of her neck.
The snow had barely melted in Alaska, and the weather was still cold, but the work she was doing made her hot.
“I’ve got two rows done. I’ll try to do two more this afternoon.
So far, I’ve just done turnips and half the radishes.
Tom is digging fence posts tonight to keep the animals out. ”
“What about the pigs?” Maggie asked. “What did you decide?”
“Oh, I was supposed to go and order the piglets this morning!” Sally said, answering the question. “We want to have four sows and one boar. Those will start our little pig farm, and we’ll keep those five for as long as they reproduce. Then we’ll slaughter their offspring.”
“Sounds like you know what you’re talking about,” Belle said. “We brought you lunch, figuring you wouldn’t stop to eat if we didn’t.”
Sally laughed softly. “You’re right. I would have kept working until it was time to put supper on the stove.”
Maggie smiled at that. “Let’s go in then. I made Belle’s duck and dumplings. It’s like chicken and dumplings, but we use mallard ducks. You’ve never tasted anything so delicious.”
“Ma and I used to eat chicken and dumplings often. I’m sure it will bring back many memories.” Sally carried her hoe and her seeds to the house, leaning the hoe up against it and carrying the seeds inside. “Let me wash up, and I’ll set the table for us.”
Maggie shook her head. “You wash up while I set the table. You shouldn’t have to be worried about anything but sowing your seeds.”
Sally hurriedly washed her hands while the other ladies set the table and served each of them a bowl full. “I really appreciate you ladies coming to force me to eat.”
“It’s no problem,” Belle said. “We’ll get the dishes done and put away, and even take turns helping you with your planting if you’d like.”
“Oh, I can take care of it...”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Dishes will be done. The only choice you have is whether you want help planting.” She glanced at the paper on the corner of the table. “I forgot how organized you are. You know exactly where you want everything to go.”
“I do. That’s the best part of gardening, planning how you want to do things.”
“Do you think the planting will be done by Thursday?” Belle asked. “I want to plan out the week if we can.”
“I should be,” Sally said. “Are you going to leave me with the baby Thursday and Friday?”
Belle nodded. “That’s what we’re thinking. I hate to see gaps in our cold house because I’m afraid we won’t have enough meat for winter. Of course, now that we’re adding pigs, that will take some of the pressure off me. Will any be ready for winter?”
“Not this year. It takes six months for them to be ready for slaughter, but we’ll start with piglets who will need to produce more babies who will need to grow before we slaughter them. I’d say a year from now, we’ll have some bacon.”
Maggie sighed. “I do love bacon. If I didn’t work as hard as I do, we wouldn’t be able to have bacon. Thankfully, I get bacon in trade and don’t have to pay for it.”
“Everything is so much more expensive here!” Sally said, still astonished at how high the prices were at the store.
“That’s because everything has to be shipped from somewhere else. We’ve started giving the men a coupon for a penny off a full jar of jam if they return the jar. It saves us money as well as them,” Belle said. “Half of what we pay is in shipping!”
“I think using the jars over and over is a good way to mitigate some of the cost,” Sally said. “I’m glad that’s in place before I start doing anything.”
“Any extra produce from your garden can be sold or even canned and sold. You’d be surprised at what the men are willing to spend money on, so they will have more convenience in their lives,” Maggie said.
“It’s good that you are willing to do what it takes to join us,” Belle said. “I can’t tell you how excited we are to have you here.”
Sally smiled. “I don’t think you could be half as excited as I am. I missed you ladies. The hotel isn’t the best place to work.”
“No, but it was easier while we were together,” Maggie replied.
“Tom is checking with a friend of his to see if he wants a bride. Maybe we can get Agnes here soon. I would love to see her,” Sally said, getting to her feet.
“I don’t feel like I can take any more time for lunch.
I need to talk to Katie about ordering the piglets and then finish planting my radishes. ”
“You go on. We’ll clean up after ourselves. Let us know if you want help tomorrow!” Belle said.
“I think I’ll be fine doing it myself. As long as Tom is building the fence. I hate making him work in the evenings, but we really don’t want the deer to eat everything before we can harvest.”
Belle and Maggie exchanged a look. “We’ll get our men here tonight to help, and we’ll provide supper,” Maggie said. “And I’m sure the men won’t mind helping to build a barn for your pigs.”
“You are the best two friends a woman could ask for!” Sally leaned down and pressed a kiss to each of their cheeks, and then one on little Bertie’s forehead. “I’ll be back.”
Sally hurried to the store and told Katie she wanted to order the piglets, and she gave very specific instructions about what she was looking for.
“I can’t stay and chat,” she said, after everything was ordered.
“I’m planting today, and I’d like to finish up a good portion of the work before Tom gets home. ”
Katie nodded. “I understand. I’ll get the piglets here as soon as I can. There’s a man who raises pigs about ten miles from here. He brings in meat every couple of weeks. It’ll be nice to have someone local raising pigs.”
When Sally arrived home, she was surprised to find the ladies still there. Not only were the dishes done, but they’d swept and mopped her floor, and laundry was hanging on the line. “I wasn’t expecting you to do all this!”
“The whole purpose of working together as we are is to make all of our lives easier. For the next couple of days, we’ll help you as much as possible to make your planting easier.
And we’ll do the same at harvest time. We’ll ask you to do for us when we need it.
There’s a couple of weeks in June where the mallards are molting, and Belle is going to want to spend as much time hunting as possible.
We’re all benefited by this relationship,” Maggie explained.
“Now, are you sure you don’t need help with the planting? ”
“I really don’t think so,” Sally said. “I’m enjoying myself. Unless one of you has a time limit on something that needs to be done.”
Maggie and Belle both shook their heads. “Not at all,” Maggie said.
“Then I’ll finish it myself. I like it done a certain way, and I don’t want to force you to do it all my way.”
Maggie laughed. “I understand.”
Belle put the baby back in his basket. “I’ll cook supper. We’ll all meet back here as soon as the men are home from work.”
“Sounds good to me!” Sally returned to her planting as the other women walked away. They were building their lives now, and it felt good to do it together. Many hands made light work.
All of the seeds she’d planned to plant that day were in the ground before Tom arrived home. When he walked in the door, he frowned. “No supper?”
She explained what the ladies had done for her, and what was planned for that evening. “The men are going to help you build the fence around the field.”
Tom blinked a few times. “I never would have even thought to ask.”
“I didn’t ask. The ladies volunteered. I’ll return the favor later in the week by watching the baby while Belle hunts and Maggie forages. I never imagined we’d all be working so closely together.”
“Well, I won’t complain about receiving help with the fence. Digging holes for the fence posts and building the fence itself is not an easy task.”
“I’ll help any way I can,” Sally promised.
There was one quick knock on the door, and Belle carried in the baby while Everett carried in a large pot.
“Supper won’t be fancy, but it will be filling,” Belle said, setting the baby’s basket on a chair.
“Looks like you haven’t had a chance to wash up yet.
Why don’t you do that while I set the table?
Maggie and James will be along shortly.”
Sally did as she was told, and Tom was right beside her, washing his arms up to his elbows. “After the first couple of weeks things will be easier,” he promised Sally.
Maggie knocked as the last utensil was set on the table. It was again a cursory knock then she opened the door. “I hope you don’t mind us walking right in,” Maggie said. “We wouldn’t do it if we weren’t expected.”
“It’s fine,” Sally responded. “I have nothing to hide.”
Tom frowned. “Just make sure to only do it when you’re expected. We’re newlyweds...”
“Absolutely,” Maggie said.
They all sat and ate the venison roast and potatoes Belle had made for their supper. While they ate, Tom explained the tasks he was planning to accomplish that evening. “We really should have done the fence before Sally planted, but I don’t think I could have stopped her.”
Sally smiled. “I do enjoy gardening.”
“Did you order the piglets this morning?” he asked.
“I forgot this morning, but I was able to do it this afternoon. I ordered five females and one male, just as we discussed.”
Everett’s head jerked up. “Did someone say bacon?”
They all laughed. “It’ll take a year, but then we should have a steady supply of bacon,” Sally told him. “My father was a pig farmer, and I learned a great deal from him. I’m excited to have some pigs again.”
“I volunteered you men to help with the pig barn this weekend,” Maggie told them. “Did you get an idea of when they’ll be here?”
“Katie thought we’d have them by the end of next week. Pigs are so much fun! I get attached to the breeders, but try not to get too close to the ones we plan to butcher. I’ll teach you all how to castrate a piglet.”
Tom flinched at the thought. “Why are we castrating them?”
“If we don’t castrate the males we plan to butcher, they don’t taste right. You want the bacon to taste good, don’t you?”
“We need to listen to Sally,” Maggie said. “I need more bacon in my life.”
“I trust her when it comes to pigs and crops,” Tom said. “But it seems unnecessarily cruel.”
“I’ll not castrate one so you can taste the difference...but you’re eating that whole pig yourself.”
Tom chuckled. “No, you do what’s right, and I’ll follow your lead.”
“Smart man,” Everett said, grinning.
After supper, the men immediately got to work on the fence. Sally offered to help, but Tom told her to make them an evening snack for when they were finished instead.
She went inside to find Maggie and Belle once again doing her dishes. “You two have to stop cleaning my house! I feel bad!”
Belle smiled. “You’ll be watching my baby two days this week, and I’m going to ask you to cook our supper, so I don’t have to do it after hunting all day. Trust me, we’re all going to help each other, and it will come out even in the end.”
“The men want something to snack on when they’re done. Should I bake a cake or cookies? Any suggestions?”
“James has been wanting gingerbread lately. Not the cookies. Just plain gingerbread. Do you think the other men would be happy with that?” Maggie asked.
Belle shrugged. “As far as I can tell, Everett has never met food he didn’t like.”
“I don’t know about Tom yet, but if I don’t have him try new things, I’ll never know. It appears he’s lived for years on just hardtack and jerky. I cannot imagine,” Sally said.
“Let’s make gingerbread then!” Maggie said, sounding excited.
While Maggie whipped up the gingerbread, Sally took her place, wiping the dishes dry and putting them away. “The goat hasn’t been milked this evening. I’m going to go out and take care of that, and we can all have fresh milk with the gingerbread,” Sally said after putting the last dish away.
It wasn’t long before the men called it a night.
They’d spent the whole day working, and then worked into the evening on the fence.
Sally was thrilled with how they all worked together toward a common goal.
Perhaps before her pigs were ready for slaughter, she would have a cold house as well.
Life would keep getting better. Planning for the future was the key.