Title: Garden Diary
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes (ACD)
Rating: G
Length: 602 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Continuation of Radish, but the story stands alone.
Summary: Holmes presents Watson with a brown paper package.


For most of the morning, Watson found himself alone in their shared cottage and he busied himself with manuscript drafts and his garden diary. Holmes had walks into town in the morning for an errand he would explain nothing about. From the ache in Watson’s shoulder, he knew a storm was coming and informed Holmes, but Holmes left anyway. The rain poured down and Watson knew that Holmes would be drenches on his return trip.

Through the window, Watson saw a bent over figure briskly walking up the path to the door. Holmes burst through the door with the rain on his heels trying to follow him indoors.

“You were right about the rain, my boy.”

“I’ve just made tea, if you care for some,” Watson said as Holmes dropped a small brown package in front of him. He turned and removed his drenched cloth hat and coat, not before leaving a trail of water droplets on the floor.

Watson picked up the wrapped box and noted that it was damp despite the carrier’s best intention of keeping it dry. “What is the meaning of this, Holmes?”

Holmes tried to supress a grin and moved to the kitchen table. Watson, eyeing his companion, started untying the string and tearing open the brown paper. They did not often give each other gifts and he was curious what was in the box. He opened it and stopped.

"Holmes, what is this?"

Holmes poured his tea and he said, “I would think that any respectable gardener would recognize seed packets.”

“I know they are seed packets, but why?” Watson looked at the packets, opened his mouth, closed his mouth, looked at Holmes and back to the packets before finding his voice again. “These are all radishes.”

“Yes.”

“But you dislike radishes.”

“Yes. More accurately, I have disliked all of the radish varieties that I have sampled previously."

“And these?"

"Are ones that I have not tried yet. Maybe there is a variety that is slightly better than terrible."

Holmes moved a chair next to Watson's desk and rested his tea cup by the stack of garden books. "Your garden diary. Thank you"

Holmes flipped through the pages to the plot he designed for the garden this year. Picking up a pencil, he sketched a small square and added multiple parallel lines within. He numbered each line and drew a number on a seed packed. Watson sat in silence as he worked.

Completed with his sketch and numbering, Holmes remarked, "Do you remember the other bed I mentioned?"

"I have not given it much thought." Which was true; Watson had spent most of his time reviewing gardening books or gardening that the small bed slipped his mind.

"Of course, but I realized I could still build a fence around it with the left-over materials. This garden will be devoted to the Least Awful Radish Experiment. If you follow my plans exactly, all of the varieties should fit."

"When did you -"

"Learn how plan a garden of radishes? You aren't the only one who can read a gardening book."

Watson sighed. "Will you tend this garden bed?"

"No," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I have been reliably told that I am to keep to my bees."

"But Holmes!"

"I will prepare the bed for you and beyond that you are free to carry out my plans. You have decided to grow to radishes and grow those radishes you shall."

With that he took his tea cup and went over to the chair by the fire to warm up leaving Watson with the plans.