Roots in the soil
The Berricks have worked the same strip of ground for as long as anyone at Kiln Green remembers. Their cottage stands low and square beside the allot fields, with carrot beds, bean rows, and onion patches stretching right up to the ditch. No one speaks of the Berricks without also speaking of their vegetables.
Work of their hands
They are farmers of the steady sort — up before dawn, boots already muddied, hands smelling of earth and leaves. Each season brings its rhythm: planting in spring, weeding and tending through summer, harvest in autumn. They are known for their reliable produce, and for coaxing root crops to swell straight and long in the light limestone soil. Children grow up with a hoe in one hand and a carrot in the other, learning the knack of reading earth by its feel and scent.
Prize-winning renown
At Kiln Green fair the Berricks are famous for their carrots. Year after year their patch produces the biggest, longest, and most perfectly formed roots, winning the prize without fail. Some say it is the soil, some say it is a secret compost heap, others reckon it is simply the Berrick way — quiet diligence and a wink of luck.
Their regular market stall is piled high with earthy bundles: cabbages, beans, turnips, and the usual fare — never in shortage, and the locals eat the better for it.