Slice of Life
The animals Harry had managed to collect were easy to get along with but difficult to collect from. The Buffamoos were fairly mellow once he gained their trust but unlike crops Harry had no prior experience with them. Thankfully the library had an entire shelf dedicated to farming and so far his favorite book had illustrations as well as a recipe for a very mild soap he could use to relax and disinfect the udders.
It took some practice but thankfully Harry had only spilt the milk pail three times before he managed to work out an effective way to prevent the beast from kicking everything over. What he had collected went into his fridge. He would probably ship his next batch but for now he hadn't collected enough to make a profit.
The woolies were much easier to collect from. They were docile by nature and stood calmly while he sheared them. However since he didn't have the maker to card wool and Lute wasn't due back in town for a few days he hadn't been doing anything with it aside from placing it in his storage trunk.
The eggs had been smashed so his next order would be to commission Kraus to build him a separate room just for the Cluckies. He would also need bee keeping boxes built if he wanted a way to collect honey without destroying the hive. Right now they were building one in the top right corner of the room. Which was fine now but he probably should have thought this particular acquisition through.
Lilly had spent nearly the entire time chewing on his pant leg and being a general pest though she did take short breaks to bother the cluckies; the only other monster close to her size. She'd also dart back to his side if it looked like they were about to retaliate. It wasn't really fair but she was a baby so it was understandable. It took him nearly two hours but he finally managed to gather all of the animal products and clean the barn. A quick Scourgify and the tools were cleaned and stored back in the front room.
Lilly was given a bowl of food to distract her while Harry worked on the field. The potatoes and Turnips were Ripe again though it looked like the strawberries and cabbage needed a few more days. Thankfully he had already bought the seed maker from Lute so he wouldn't have to pay Eric's prices for more seeds. After sacrificing a few crops Harry reseeded his field and finished watering.
Cinnamon had told him there were fruit trees at Lake Poli; apparently no one ever bothered collecting the wild ingredients found around the village. So with his trusty expanded backpack and a leash for Lilly he made his way past the south district and towards the orchard.
There were many cherries and they were easy enough to get down with a summoning charm. Harry intended to enlarge a few and use them to make jam. Some he would keep but most he would sell. Thankfully enlarging already existing food didn't violate Gamp's law so he should be able to really stretch out what he collected today.
He passed Cinnamon on the bridge and traded an enlarged cherry for some of her sashimi. As he sat down to eat with her she started talking about the different constellations that were supposed to come out that night and the best place to see them from.
They finished eating quickly and the silence turned awkward. She never really spoke much and Harry was pretty bad at talking to girls. Probably why he only girls near his age he could talk too were in the category of 'one of the guys' like the girls from quidditch and Hermione. Ginny had literally taken six years' worth of forced interaction before he could talk to her. Mostly due to the early years of hero worship. Now there relationship was friendly but mostly platonic. To be honest the main reason they were still dating was because neither one knew how to tell her family that they wouldn't get Harry as an in law. This lead to dates that mostly consisted of pick up quidditch matches and cooking lessons. She did not have her mother's culinary talents and Harry was beginning to understand Snape's hatred of teaching. He was going through too many bezoars.
After an awkward conversation about constellations Harry got up to finish harvesting the fruit while Cinnamon headed to the beach.
Harry finished harvesting just before sun set, deciding to take a short cut home Harry spun on his heel and Disapparated. Fortunately he had regained enough control over his magic that he appeared safely at his front door.
The Cherries were quickly turned into Jam some he stored in his fridge but most went into the shipping bin.
Harry, not very tired but rather bored with nothing else left to do fed Lilly again before heading to bed. It was an uneventful and rather boring end to a rather boring day.
