The Magic Farm (standard:fantasy, 1202 words)
Author: GXD	Added: Nov 07 2008	Views/Reads: 3211/2068	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
How to grow a marketable watermelon hydroponically in three weeks? Ask the robot!

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

"First of all, we have the optimum hydroponic formula for nourishing
perfect, quality watermelons.  Then we have pressure on the enclosed 
feeding trough, so it will ensure the nutrients enter each plant. 
Pressure inside the grow tanks is reduced to half an atmosphere to suck 
up the nutrient fluid.  We speed this up with a package of ring magnets 
around each feeder stem and amplify the magnetic intensity with 
superimposed electromagnetic pulses.  That polarizes the water 
molecules so they flow more swiftly in the watermelon's capillary 
tubes." 

After I let this sink in a little, I asked, "and the melons float above
the sand bed?" 

"Electrostatics", she replied.  "We load each melon with a positive
charge and activate the negative-ion grid in the ceiling of each grow 
case.  Below the sand floor is a positively charged grid.  Altogether, 
there's enough "push" from below and "pull" from above to just about 
negate the effect of gravity on each melon. Simple. Cute. Like a 
Mag-Lev train."   I agreed.  No wonder the melons had unblemished 
skins.  But flavor needs time to develop, and the red color inside must 
come from somewhere.  It did. 

After harvesting, the melons are held in an oven at 92 deg. F, to cure
for 3 days before shipping; and as for the red, that came from surplus 
cherry juice injected at the umbilicord entryway. With the power off. 

I felt educated.  And ready for a taste test.  The other young woman
opened a refrigerator and withdrew a luscious slice of bright red melon 
shrink-wrapped in Saran plastic.  With a long, slim blade, she deftly 
carved away the rind.  With a gracious smile and a pixie tilt of her 
head, she handed me the fresh red melon and shredded the residue in a 
granulator. "We recycle." she explained, "The rind enriches the 
hydroponic mix." 

I marveled at her sharp command of growing science.  The ice-cold melon
was bursting with sweetness, a "shaved ice" texture and exquisite 
flavor. My tongue detected hints of pomegranate juice, or maybe 
grenadine.  Behind this was a subtle aura of warm dates and honey.  
Even the cushy room seemed perfumed by seductive aromas and fairy 
bells.  A vague thought began to tickle my curiosity, but kept escaping 
me.  "That's okay" I rationalized, "If it's important, I'll grasp it 
later."  I felt so mellow. 

"When you grow melons," I bellowed, a little louder than I had intended,
"they must be heavenly!" and the room suddenly echoed with peals of 
bright laughter.  A minute later, we were all on an elevator disk, 
descending to the miniature lobby and the shower-house.  We met the 
oncoming shift in there, and as our coveralls dissolved in the warm 
waters we became the best of intimate friends..... 

Next day, I bicycled back home, from the magic hydroponic farm on 12th
Ave, with its captivating and memorable watermelon factory.  My coat 
pocket held 15,000 shares of stock in the world's first psychedelic 
fruit farm. 

Only one problem: I couldn't stop laughing. 

Seattle, Sept. 9, 2006 - Gerald X. Diamond - All Rights Reserved


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