The Great Orchard

Samuel found Galileo Maestro standing on a gently rolling hillside with several apprentices.

Wooden stakes stretched across the meadow in neat rows while Rebecca, Rusty, and Jacob Yoder studied a hand-drawn map spread across the tailgate of a wagon.

Samuel smiled.

"I see another project has found you."

Galileo looked up.

"I'd say the project found all of us."

He pointed toward the broad valley below.

"The orchard."

Samuel studied the map.

"I expected we'd plant it on the flat land."

Galileo smiled.

"So did everyone else."

He handed Samuel the map.

"Tell me what you see."

Samuel looked across the settlement.

Below them lay rich, level fields extending almost to Rebecca's Kitchen. Beyond them the land rose gently into long rolling ridges, never steep, never difficult to reach.

"It all looks like good land."

"It is."

Galileo stooped and gathered a handful of dark soil.

"But not all good land should do the same work."

Samuel listened.

"The valley belongs to the plow."

He swept his hand across the broad flats.

"That's where we'll grow wheat."

"Corn."

"Oats."

"Barley."

"Potatoes."

"Beans."

"Hay."

"Vegetables."

"The level ground makes irrigation easy and efficient."

Samuel nodded.

"And the hills?"

Galileo smiled.

"The hills belong to the trees."

Rebecca looked toward the gentle slopes.

"The trees won't mind climbing a little."

Rusty laughed.

"Neither will the bees."

Everyone smiled.

Galileo continued.

"Tree roots anchor hillsides."

"They don't require perfectly level ground."

"They enjoy good drainage."

"And they'll leave our finest farmland available for crops that feed hundreds every day."

Samuel looked across the valley once more.

"So every acre has its own purpose."

Jacob tamped his corncob pipe against his boot.

"Just like every person."

The apprentices began carrying young trees from the wagons.

Galileo pointed to the stakes.

"We'll plant twenty trees of each variety together."

Samuel looked surprised.

"Only twenty?"

"For now."

He smiled.

"When those are thriving..."

"...we'll plant twenty more."

Rebecca unfolded another page listing the orchard.

"Apples."

"Pears."

"Peaches."

"Plums."

"Apricots."

"Cherries."

"Mulberries."

She smiled.

"I already have pie recipes for half of them."

Everyone laughed.

Galileo continued reading.

"Oranges."

"Lemons."

"Limes."

"Grapefruit."

"Tangerines."

"Olives."

"Figs."

"Pomegranates."

"Coffee."

"Mangoes."

"Avocados."

"Bananas."

"Pecans."

"Almonds."

"Walnuts."

"Hazelnuts."

Samuel looked toward the strange sky above.

"Not many places on the old Earth could grow all those together."

Galileo smiled.

"The glove has changed agriculture."