77th Summer 514AV
Early Morning
Early Morning
Adelaide had found herself a corner in the Dynasty Library, working but not working. She was trying to be productive on what would be one of the last full days spent away from the Plantation before the Harvest season... and she was planning to enjoy it. After swinging by the Library to spend a few bells doing research, she was planning to go to buy a dress for some party and visit Novak at his patisserie. Maybe she could even afford to make an impromptu visit to the Radacke plantation to see Maya, even if it took her four chimes to get there. That is, if she left on time, at around the first bell or With two books open in front of her and three more propped up, ready to peruse, she was trying to do her bit for the Sitai business and find out what sort of plants grew well on the swampy terrain that could not be used for any other purpose. So far, she had found the names of nine different plants from some book on Flora and Fauna and was looking elsewhere to see exactly what each plant was supposed to do. Some she had guessed, but she needed further information on others.
Having read in some old agricultural book that Lotus grew well in Swampy terrain, she was now jotting down some information as to its use from what seemed to be some sort of cookery book, "Many parts of the Lotus plant are edible. Firstly, the seeds which are most often found in sweets, giving a quite fresh taste to food. The tuberous root can be cooked and eaten by itself, or its many hollows can be stuffed before cooking, which create a semi-bitter and crispy taste. Their root can also be dried and ground into a type of flour, especially good when used for white bread." Although that sounded very useful, Adelaide could not help but find it odd that she had never really heard of using Lotus before. It would be interesting, however, and she wondered how much it would cost to grow it in those places where nothing else would grow. Well... nothing else but the other plants she had discovered, while bearing in mind that she'd still have to work out whether the weather conditions around the swamps was also compatible.
It was very hot in the Library and, as Adelaide loosened her collar slightly and rolled up her sleeves right to her shoulders, she was rather glad that she had managed to find a corner of the library where she was pretty much alone - she didn't fancy conversation too much and was glad to keep herself to herself. She started tapping her quill slightly against the side of the table, sending ink blots over the wood after one particularly violent tap. Cursing, she tried to wipe off the spots with her hand and moderately succeeded in doing so, but her hands were now blotchy and blue. With a small sigh, she returned to the book, simultaneously shaking her hands hoping that, at the very least, the ink would dry.
The next thing on her list was water chestnuts, though she wasn't sure how they differentiated from normal chestnuts. Either way, she was starting to find the whole activity dull and it was only because of a strong sense that it would be wrong to waste the day entirely that she pursued. What were they for anyway? Adelaide flipped open one of the books to the side and looked in the glossary. Finding the passage, she copied it down with a small smile, "Its corms are used as a vegetable that stays crunchy when cooked, or ground into another type of flour." And there, she saw a note about the Water caltrop, which apparently could be used similarly to water chestnuts - not that Adelaide knew what that was.
"You add an 'L' and suddenly Walter Caltrop is a fun name." she muttered to herself, wondering if she could use that in a story at any point, "There was a young man called Walter, who one day drank a gallon of water, um..."
She couldn't think of anything else and abandoned her attempt to make a little rhyme, turning back to the book in front of her. It had really pretty pictures, but she much preferred fiction. Or history. Or philosophy. Agriculture, though, was not really a huge area of interest.
"Concentrate. Concentrate." she sang quietly to herself, "Come on Adelaide and Concentrate."
It was of no use. Neither cattails nor water caltrops were particularly interesting to the young woman, especially considering that she knew her research would probably come to nothing.
Having read in some old agricultural book that Lotus grew well in Swampy terrain, she was now jotting down some information as to its use from what seemed to be some sort of cookery book, "Many parts of the Lotus plant are edible. Firstly, the seeds which are most often found in sweets, giving a quite fresh taste to food. The tuberous root can be cooked and eaten by itself, or its many hollows can be stuffed before cooking, which create a semi-bitter and crispy taste. Their root can also be dried and ground into a type of flour, especially good when used for white bread." Although that sounded very useful, Adelaide could not help but find it odd that she had never really heard of using Lotus before. It would be interesting, however, and she wondered how much it would cost to grow it in those places where nothing else would grow. Well... nothing else but the other plants she had discovered, while bearing in mind that she'd still have to work out whether the weather conditions around the swamps was also compatible.
It was very hot in the Library and, as Adelaide loosened her collar slightly and rolled up her sleeves right to her shoulders, she was rather glad that she had managed to find a corner of the library where she was pretty much alone - she didn't fancy conversation too much and was glad to keep herself to herself. She started tapping her quill slightly against the side of the table, sending ink blots over the wood after one particularly violent tap. Cursing, she tried to wipe off the spots with her hand and moderately succeeded in doing so, but her hands were now blotchy and blue. With a small sigh, she returned to the book, simultaneously shaking her hands hoping that, at the very least, the ink would dry.
The next thing on her list was water chestnuts, though she wasn't sure how they differentiated from normal chestnuts. Either way, she was starting to find the whole activity dull and it was only because of a strong sense that it would be wrong to waste the day entirely that she pursued. What were they for anyway? Adelaide flipped open one of the books to the side and looked in the glossary. Finding the passage, she copied it down with a small smile, "Its corms are used as a vegetable that stays crunchy when cooked, or ground into another type of flour." And there, she saw a note about the Water caltrop, which apparently could be used similarly to water chestnuts - not that Adelaide knew what that was.
"You add an 'L' and suddenly Walter Caltrop is a fun name." she muttered to herself, wondering if she could use that in a story at any point, "There was a young man called Walter, who one day drank a gallon of water, um..."
She couldn't think of anything else and abandoned her attempt to make a little rhyme, turning back to the book in front of her. It had really pretty pictures, but she much preferred fiction. Or history. Or philosophy. Agriculture, though, was not really a huge area of interest.
"Concentrate. Concentrate." she sang quietly to herself, "Come on Adelaide and Concentrate."
It was of no use. Neither cattails nor water caltrops were particularly interesting to the young woman, especially considering that she knew her research would probably come to nothing.
