Five days have passed since the preparation for the Bazaar has gone underway and Elaina is halfway done with all the preparations. All the things that can be done are already done much earlier by Elaina and the only thing left to do is the waiting game, which means, she only needed to wait until the fruits of the plants have started to show signs of ready to harvest.
Just like the Harvest Goddess said last time, her blessings are a huge blessing for Elaina. She has yet to start the harvesting process, but looking at the growing unripe fruits hanging over each plant like the cucumbers, and how the crops that have their fruits grow underground show signs of increased yield, she can't help but be happy about this.
"Seeing the results, I should increase the offerings of the food to the Harvest Goddess. I should also offer some food to the other gods for their help," Elaina made up her mind.
After tending to all the crops and making sure that none of them had any diseases or any of the fruits had any sort of bad spots, Elaina finally finished tending to all the plants she planted. It took some time since she planted a lot, but it was necessary to ensure that none of the plants went bad in the end.
"Phew, all done. Thank goodness that there is no bad stuff on the fruits and the leaves. Now then..." After wiping the sweat on her forehead, she turns over to the other plants she planted which are part of the experimental plants that were tested for her to grow.
All four of the plants have grown and all of them are not affected by the power of the Harvest Goddess which is part of the request that Elaina has done to ensure that the recording process works well and they don't screw up the information that she needs to send.
EX01 is indeed a vine plant. It didn't grow far big enough just yet but it has already started to bear fruits. Seeing the little circle fruits dangling underneath its little spiky-shaped leaves, she thought of it as some sort of a berry.
"Hey, god of farming was it? Are these fruits ready to eat or even taste? I kinda don't want to try it out if it isn't good."
The god is very active as it immediately answers her question. "Yes. You can eat it and try it out. I made sure that the food was not harmful to humans so don't worry about it. Go and try it out if you see fit. Just make sure to record it as well. We needed all kinds of records into the Almanac and see how it is."
Elaina nodded before she plucked one of the little fruits of the EX01. She observed it first and started recording it on the Almanac under the observation log of the EX01.
"Fruits are circular. Small and bite-sized. Similar in size to grapes but has a harder texture like a candy. Smells sour if smelled. Has a spiral color of both white and blue that makes it look like a small blue watermelon. Smooth texture, kind of reminds me of chocolate."
Elaina was a bit hesitant to take a little bite of the fruit but she soon shook her head and took a bite on it. The moment she took a bite, she expected it to be hard but the moment her teeth sank to the fruit, she managed to chip a part of it and a sweet and sour juice burst into her mouth. It was kind of surprising for her and when she tried to chew the piece that she bit off from the fruit, she realized it was chewy and tasty like bubble gum. It doesn't last as long as normal bubble gum but she can say that the fruit is tasty. Both the sweet and sour taste blend well in her mouth, which is then accompanied by the chewy fruit, it is quite enjoyable. She quickly put the observation into the Almanac.
"Looks can be deceiving. It looks hard at first glance but once you eat it, it is soft and chewy. It is like a bubblegum but you can actually digest and eat it properly without throwing it away."
Overall, not a bad experience. She enjoyed it, but for some reason, she did not feel like this was a fruit at all, more like a candy variant. As she stood up, she realized that she felt a bit energized after swallowing the fruit.
"Huh, so it has some minor effects? I didn't expect it to be like that."
She waited for a bit before she decided that she would add this observation as well.
"I can say it is a good food but I think it needs some tweaks. I am not against its candy taste, but it kind of throws me off the loop."
After her observation for the EX01, she moves to the EX02 plant. Compared to the plant growing like a vine, the second one is a shrub. It was the late-blooming plant from the four plants she planted. It has some fruits growing in them but they have peculiar shapes. It looked like some kind of peanut but a bit long.
"It's not a peanut...but it looks like one..." Elaina is a bit conflicted as she plucks off one of the fruits.
It is very much like a peanut, but it is much bigger, longer, and softer than a regular peanut. The shell is not like a peanut though, it is easy to pop open and in fact, she even thought that it was like opening and closing a locket, just that it has some fruits inside. She tried to eat one of them and the first thing that came across her mind the moment she put it inside her mouth... was the severe bitterness of the fruit.
"PAH! What the...this is so bitter!"
She was forced to go back inside the house and chug a lot of water though it didn't get rid of the bitter taste. She only managed to get rid of the bitter taste when she decided to eat some salt and keep it in her mouth for quite a while.
"Ugh...that was the worst experience I had..." Elaina sighed in relief after the bitter taste was gone from her mouth. It was so bitter that even the bitter gourd does not compare. A raw bitter gourd would be much tastier to eat than the one she had just eaten.
She immediately put the observation to the Almanac. She knew that there might be a hidden reason and right usage for the fruit but for now, she couldn't say it was a great plant for now.
"Looks like long peanuts but the shell is like a locket since I can close and open it like one. The contents inside are shaped like beans but when eaten, they are very bitter, and takes a long time to remove the bitter taste. Water does not help but eating something salty will remove the bitter taste completely. I don't know what this plant would be used for but for now, I don't like it."
Since the god wanted her to be honest in her reviews, she put distaste on the EX02 plant. She is a bit disappointed by it but if she is proven wrong and this plant is something that can be used in some way, perhaps she will change her mind. But for now, this is not going to be good food for her.
She took a break for a bit since the second one seemed to have drained whatever enthusiasm she had for tasting the second fruit. She harvested some of the fruits of the EX01 since it is much better to eat compared to the second one. Elaina also wanted to share some of it with Julia and ask for her opinion on it.
"God, is it alright for me to give this experimental fruit to anyone aside from me? I wanted to ask for their opinions as well to see what these fruits would be like for the other people's tastebuds and preferences."
"[You can. After all, I designed all of them as something to be consumed. Don't be shy and ask them what they think of it. The more people review and give feedback about it, the better I can tweak them for the final product. SO feel free to share them with anyone.]"
Elaina is happy that at least, the god of farming is open-minded about sharing things with others. It would be not that great if it ended up being something that she could only enjoy. Hearing this, her motivation to try the remaining two returned after her expectations were crushed by the EX02.
After harvesting the EX01 fruits, she went straight to EX03. Just like the other 2, the EX03 plant is different as well. It doesn't have fruits hanging underneath its leaves or even on its stem, but she can see some of them bulging out of the ground. In short, it is a vegetable. She didn't know if it was already ripe or not so she decided to let it stay there for a while. She uncovered a part of the bulging part on the ground to observe it a bit and to see whether it will change color in the upcoming days or it will remain the same.
Once Elaina was done with the EX03, she moved to the final plant, EX04. This time, the hanging fruits of the EX04 are big. It has a rectangular shape that looks like a cardboard box due to its brown color. Not only that but the leaves as well are also brown as well, making it look different than what she was expecting to see. The size and length of the unknown plant kind of remind Elaina of a calabash, only that this one is rectangular and is slightly smaller than a calabash but is still big enough compared to most vegetables.
She plucked away one of them and was surprised at how light it was contrary to its size. She smelled it for a bit but failed to smell anything bad or anything good, in fact, it didn't smell anything at all.
"Is this a vegetable? Or is this some kind of fruit?" Elaina couldn't say.
It doesn't seem like it is good for direct consumption like the first one so instead of directly biting through it, Elaina brought it along with her harvest. She put it alongside the harvested EX01 fruits and carried it inside the house.
Inside, Julia is already preparing for their lunch and is currently cutting up some vegetables that Elaina harvested and some vegetables she bought in the market since Elaina is not growing them. It seems she is planning to make some stir fry based on the ingredient line though she doesn't know what it is.
"Sis, looks like you are done for the work, huh?" Julia smiled as she wiped off her hands on her apron and welcomed Elaina.
"You could say that. Though I am quite sure there are still some things I need to do, for now, most of the important works are finally done so it's fine. The rest would be optional at best."
Julia's eyes shifted from Elaina to the brown vegetable that Elaina was carrying.
"What is that, Sis?" Julia asked, pointing to the new vegetable.
"Oh, glad you asked. Can we use this as some sort of iincrediblehe food? Just separate cook this one from our main one, as this is a test tasting part."
"A new vegetable? May I see it?"
Elaina nodded and handed the vegetable to Julia and the latter inspected it. She even started smelling it a few times but only ends up frowning.
"Hmm, I don't know what to cook this with but since you wanted to separate cook this one, then I guess we can handle it a bit."
Elaina smiled and let Julia handle it. If this turns out to be a great vegetable, she will celebrate.