Vegetable Patch!

[Ainsley Lynch]

With so much going in in her final year of school, it had taken Ainsley a while to get things together for the first event she wanted to run as leader of the Wild Patch. She knew she had to do something fun and involving, to give their new members a feel for the garden, and hopefully pass on some of the skills she had brought from home to their older members, and finally Ainsley had managed to organise just the event. Securing the plants she wanted had been a bit tricky, but everything was organised and ready now. Wiping dirt onto her already slightly grubby skirt, Ainsley looked over the patch she had been preparing one last time. This was perfect. As the club members arrived, she gave cheerful waves, greeting her friends happily, and once enough members had assembled, she began to speak.

"Hi! Welcome to our first meeting for the year, guys!" Ainsley had been especially nervous about this part, as speaking publicly was something she didn't have much experience with, but looking around, Ainsley had spent enough time gardening with most of the people in the Wild Patch to consider them friends. She was just talking to a group of her friends. There was nothing to worry about. Her voice only wavered slightly as she continued. "Today we're going to be starting a bit of a long term project. I've got us a load of vegetable seedlings, and we're going to be planting these and tending to them over the next few months, without using magic. It's useful to grow things quickly with magic, but I think gardening by hand is a good skill to build as well, and I've got a lot of experience from growing veges at home. We'll start off today by picking our own personal patches, and deciding which vegetables you want to grow." Ainsley gestured to the small pottles of seedlings behind her. "They're all labelled, and there are some blank signs there, so you can mark out your growing area. I'll be walking around if anyone needs any help or advice, just call me over. In a few months we can harvest these, and give them to the House Elves for dinner!" She said cheerfully, and stepped back to let her clubmates select their seedlings and begin planting.

((If you want a good idea of the kinds of vegetables in season in NZ at the time this thread is set, here's a great resource to pick your character's veges from ))

 

[Rose Holland]

Even though Rose was part of two clubs, she definitely had a favorite. She had enjoyed being part of the Wild Patch Club since her first year, and still really liked it a lot. Working in the garden had been something Rose had grown up with, so the club had always given her a comforting, familiar feeling. That feeling was even stronger now that her youngest sister Alice had joined the club too. They arrived at today's meeting together, and Rose was eager to see what the Queen of Flowers had planned for today.

She listened as Ainsley explained what they were going to do, grinning in excitement. Growing vegetables sounded like a lot of fun! A little like how her dad had given her a small patch in the greenhouse when she was little. "Awesome idea!" She told Ainsley once they were allowed to get started, then she picked a patch for herself and went over to the seeds. After deliberating for a moment, she picked pumpkin seeds and lettuce. They were both vegetables she liked. Then she headed back to her patch and added a sign with her name to mark it as her own, then she got to work. This event was the perfect distraction for her from her sadness about Charlie, and Rose threw herself into her work. Once she was done with her own she would help Alice, and then anyone else who may need it.

 

[William Kaimarama]

William still didn't really know what he thought of the Wild Patch. It was disappointing that they didn't seem to do anything fun, like explore the forest, but it was good at least, to do something connected to nature at school. He missed the bush the moment he left home, and a garden was at least almost close. Part of William was disappointed that his little sister hadn't joined him in the club, but another part was relieved that this was still his turf. Maddy was running all over Hogwarts making friends, just like he had worried she would, but at least at the Wild Patch, he was the only Kaimarama, and therefore, the best one. He joined the rest of the club in the garden, listening as their leader told them what they were going to be doing today. Planting vegetables wasn't so bad, William knew at least a bit about that, though he would have really enjoyed foraging in the forest for food instead. He was a little bored as the club leader went on, relieved when she stopped talking, and made his way over to the seedlings to decide what he wanted to cook. He settled on some zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. That could make a mean roast up in a few months, William hoped. Making his way over to a far corner of the growing patch, William pulled on his gloves and picked up a trowel, ready to start planting.

 

[Nell Night]

Nell had signed up for a lot of activities this year, but she was especially excited about the gardening club. She was so fond of the succulents she had grown at home ever since she was a kid, and couldn't wait to learn more about growing new kinds of plants. Making her way down to the gardens, Nell looked curiously at the prepared earth, wondering what they would be doing today. She stood with Lars as the club leader explained what they would be doing today, and immediately Nell was excited to get started. Learning how to grow their own vegges to eat would be so interesting, and she couldn't wait to learn more. Nell picked up some lettuce, cucumber, and tomatoes, thinking a fresh salad sounded quite nice, and turned to Lars once she had made her selections. "Let's plant our vegetables next to each other!"

 

[Flavio Morales-Tipene]

Other than growing roses for the valentine's day deliveries each year, Flavio could not remember planting things in the wild patch that were part of an actual event, so after learning the club would be planting vegetables that day he was excited. Since his first year, gardening had been one of the means for him to spend some time alone and think about something outside of himself, allowing him to relax and calm down by being outdoors focusing on a simple task. Forgetting about his stresses for a little while by planting vegetables sounded like the exact thing he needed at this point in the semester. He smiled as Ainsley allowed the club to pick which vegetables they wanted to plant, and after looking at the vegetables available he opted to plant broccoli and tomatoes. When he had everything he needed, he moved to an empty spot in the soil and knelt down, beginning the task of planting the seeds. ​

 

[Alice Holland]

Joining the Wild Patch club had been a no-brainer for Alice, partly because she had heard Rose talk about it a lot already. She was happy to go to a meeting with her sister, and was delighted to hear what they were going to do. Growing things wasn't new to Alice, but before this she had mostly focused on flowers, not vegetables. She allowed Rose to get her own things, not just wanting to do the same as her older sister. In the end she picked Radish, spring unions and turnips to grow. She hoped the plants would do well! She let Rose help her a little as she started to plant the seeds, but she was still fairly confident in how to do it. Humming to herself, Alice prepared her patch of land for the seeds.

 

[Ainsley Lynch]

Ainsley looked around as people began choosing their plants, peering over the choices people were making to make sure they wouldn't have any plants that didn't get along planted in the same bed. "Be careful with those, tomatoes don't like growing next to cucumbers." She said gently to one of the club's new members. "Make sure to plant the lettuce in between them, to give them a bit of space." She kept her eyes open, touching Flavio's shoulder gently as he made his selections. "Same with tomato and broccoli, make sure you leave some space between them."

 

[Lars van Houten]

Lars had never been part of a club before, so he had signed up for the Wild Patch Club without really knowing what to expect. As he made his way to the first meeting, he felt pretty nervous. He stood with his new friend Nell as he listened to the club leader talk, and he thought what they were going to do was pretty fun. He preferred flowers over vegetables, but didn't see anything wrong with growing something useful and tasty. A part of him wished Fleur was in the club sa well, but there was also a part of him that was glad she wasn't. At least he had Nell, and he followed her to the seeds so he could pick some things out. He picked some lettuce and radishes, figuring they were both things that were easy to prepare and eat.He smiled gratefully at Nell as she suggested having their vegetables next to each other. "Alright." He said softly, then headed over to the patch next to Nell's. He listened as the club leader gave Nell some advice, and wondered how she knew all that information about vegetables. He was glad she didn't speak to him as well, and quietly got to work planting his seeds.

 

[Sage Havelock]

Sage always enjoyed a wild patch event, the Hufflepuff loved getting her hands dirty so when she arrived at the gardens and discovered they would be planting seeds without magic she was thrilled and couldn't wait to get started. Once Ainsley told them to grab seeds and get to it, Sage grabbed a handful and went to find some space to start planting.