Meadow Flowers & Butterflies by StarSpray

Family Business

Hamfast is starting to despair of any of his children taking up gardening—until Sam is old enough to start digging in the dirt.

Written for Back to Middle-earth Month 2020 for the prompts "a character's education begins" and "He was interested in roots and beginnings..."

By the time young Samwise was old enough to start pottering about their little garden, Hamfast had begun to despair of any of his children following in his footsteps. His older sons had learned dutifully enough, it was true, but Hamson had gone off to Andy's as soon as he was old enough to pester Hamfast and Bell into allowing it, to learn the family roping business—which Ham couldn't begrudge, really—and Halfred did the weeding only half-heartedly. He'd had no luck at all coaxing Daisy out except to pick bunches of flowers, and May liked making mud pies better than hoeing.

But Sam sat by Hamfast as he knelt down to thin out the carrots and watched with interest—and he listened, too, while Hamfast explained the importance of thinning and what kind of soil was good for the carrots, and when they could expect to harvest. Of course Sam was still far too young to understand all of that, but it was clear before long that he wanted to, and that he had gotten that bit of Hamfast that loved the rich earth and growing things. When Hamfast allowed it he dug into the dirt with eager hands and a determined set to his chin.

From that day on Ham could go no farther than his tool shed without Sam trailing along behind him, and trying to copy all that he did. But it wasn't until harvest time that it became clear that Sam was a born gardener—Hamfast had never seen someone take so much pride in a basket of carrots and potatoes. Bell cooked them up in a stew that night with a couple of rabbits that Halfred brought home, and Sam practically glowed at the praises heaped on his vegetables.

"He'll make a mighty fine gardener one day," Ham told Bell later. "You mark my words, he'll have the nicest plot o' land in the Shire!"