…it’s mostly a war of words
The Doclopedia #327
Tiny Folk & Their Big Friends: Jommy Farmer and Abbi Moweto
When she first arrived in America to attend university, Abbi Moweto was alone and knew nobody. Luckily for her, she found out that her dorm had a large rooftop garden where many students tended plots of flowers, herbs, vegetables and dwarf fruit trees. Being a farm girl and an avid flower gardener, Abbi soon made many friends, among them a 6.25 inch tall man named Jommy Farmer.
Their meeting was completely accidental. Jommy had been in one of the apricot trees trying to cut loose a ripe fruit when the wind knocked him off the branch and into Abbi’s basket of freshly cut flowers. The 7 foot drop knocked the wind out of him and left him dazed, which is why he was unable to run when Abbi turned to place some cornflowers in the basket and saw him.
Now, back in Africa, Abbi’s people had many legends and stories about the “little people” who lived in the forests. Some legends said they were mean little creatures and some said they were very shy. This little man, however, looked pretty much like a tiny farmer, complete with a tiny straw hat and teensy gardening gloves. Not sure if he was badly hurt, Abbi spoke to him.
“Hello there. Are you ok? Are you able to sit up?”
Jommy sat up and stretched. Nothing seemed to be broken and he was feeling alright. Well, except for the Big Person talking to him. Still, he appreciated her concern, so he replied “Yes, I think so. I’ve fallen farther before and not had a soft basket of flowers to land in. Thank you for asking.”
Then Jommy considered his predicament and decided that, if a fella has to interact face to face with a Big Person, it was probably good that she was a gardener. With that thought in mind, he introduced himself and complimented her on her garden plot.
Well, nothing will get a conversation going like one gardener praising the efforts of another. Within about two minutes, they were merrily chatting about everything from compost (“best thing on earth for the garden”) to growing herbs (“they like a rougher soil”) to aphids (“we Tiny Folk snack on ’em”). Abbi had to be careful that no other gardeners heard her talking to somebody they couldn’t see and Jommy had to remain unseen, but they spent nearly an hour talking about gardening and families and the weather.
After they finished, Abbi carried Jommy over to the tiny rope ladder that lead down to his clan’s settlement in the attic of her dorm. When Jommy told them of his encounter with Abbi, most of the clan nearly fainted, but he assured them that their secret was safe with Abbi.
Abbi did keep the secret and she even brought supplies like salt, bits of metal, doll sized plastic dinnerware and scraps of cloth up to roof, stashing it near the edge where the rope ladder was. She and Jommy often had long talks about gardening and related matters. He would help her out and she planted some extra veggies and a thornless blackberry vine for him and his family. Abbi even helped string a rope between her dorm and the next, making it much easier for Jommy and his clan to get to that rooftop garden. When asked about the rope, she pointed to birds perched on it and said “it’s for our feathered friends”. Soon, all six dorms were connected by ropes and the Farmer Clan was joined by the Gardener Clan and the Digger Clan.
By the time Abbi graduated with a degree in Agricultural Management, she had lead the charge to get all of the rooftop gardens protected by greenhouses. She also helped establish rooftop gardens on other buildings, a mini forest on the roof of the library, a mini meadow on the roof of the main gym and a rooftop aquaculture ecosystem on top of the science building.
To this day, despite being a successful organic farmer with her husband and children, Abbi returns to the campus about once a month so she can stroll the gardens and talk with Jommy.
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