Joe jogged up the hill with his wheelbarrow full of pots. The afternoon sun felt glorious on his skin, the wind blew in his hair and his muscles were alive with the vigour of a healthy body, no arthritis or torn tendons. He offered up a silent thanks to whatever entity had given him a second chance. A small warmth burned on his chest from the goat medallion.

He zipped past Andry's farms, barely noting the crops that had been harvested, the fixed fence posts and the freshly turned rows of dirt. Andry was still moving at a rapid clip, hauling a plough behind him, his eyes burning with energy.

Joe skidded to a halt outside his farm, looking at the run down fence. He'd have to get a sign soon. A nice traditional farm sign with a warning about the animals within. He didn't have any dogs, cows or chickens though, so he'd get to it as his stable of animals expanded beyond a solitary goat.

He surveyed his yard, now tidy and weeds torn up. Piles of grass and debris had been moved out the back, near the compost pile he'd started using. Had Gruff done that? How? The creature didn't have hands or tools?

Again he thanked whatever good forces were looking out for him and surveyed his options.

Unstacking dozens of pots he reached into his pocket and weighed the unroasted Arabica beans. He had a couple of handfuls of unroasted beans that could be planted. The roasted beans wouldn't grow, and while they were delicious, Joe held the only viable source of coffee production for this world in his hands. Literally an empire of coffee plantations and stores rested in his palm. He imagined all the good he could do.

That had been the dream at the start. Bringing productivity to people, getting to know his neighbours and inspiring thoughtful conversations. Giving people that kick of energy in the morning to get going, fuelling policeman, shift working nurses and firemen, artists, athletes and the ever tired university students. Coffee shops had once been called penny universities because they brought leaders together to share their ideas and teach.

Only if he managed to grow coffee plants.

The truth was, coffee plantation cultivation was difficult. Coffee plants required a strict set of conditions, they grew in tropical regions with cool to warm climates, with just the right amount of rain, a certain soil acidity and a lack of pests or diseases. Now even if he could grow the plants it could be up to four years until the trees bore fruit or cherries that beans could be extracted from. He had ways around the four year window but he'd deal with them when they arose.

The Arabica beans in his hand required part shade or dappled sun, compared to robustica which needed more direct sun. If he'd had robustica he might have actually felt better about his chances. As the name implied, robustica plants were robust, and less likley to fail. The trade off was some people found the flavour of robustica harsher than arabica.

His land had several patches that might do. There was an open plot in the front that he could hang some netting over or partial tarpaulin. There were several tropical tree clusters around his house which he needed to explore. In his previous Costa Rica plantations he'd grown beans under the shade of macadamia, orange, mandrain and even avocado trees.

He didn't have a soil pH metre, he didn't have satellite imagery or moisture testers. He had no rain data, or ecological studies to go off. He had no idea what the impact of having more than one sun would do to his agroforestry attempts. Yet he wasn't disheartened.

What Joe had was the oldest and most true scientific method. A method that had served science well since the first days of alchemy and medicine. A method that was all the more powerful for its simplicity.

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Joe had brute force trial by error.

He started punching holes in the bottom of the pots to provide drainage. He unfurled a large scrap of parchment and took a pencil out. He sketched the outline of his farm that he'd seen and started wandering. He noted the tree cover, the growth of local plants, where smaller shrubs thrived under larger trees and where the soil was more moist.

Without a pH metre he pinched dirt between his fingers, sniffed soil and occasionally tasted it. He noted the different qualities on his spreadsheet as he circled his farm and started to gain a picture of his options.

Joe settled on four initial trial locations. He labelled these as 'Front Yard', 'Fruit Trees', 'Riverbank' and 'Lookout'.

The first location was the front yard of his farm. While this might seem a cop out, the soil seemed to have been used for growing other crops over the years, and the recent pruning work had already provided a fertile base for his plants. He could more easily experiment with sunlight exposure and drape artificial cover in differing amounts. He would also be able to watch it easier for animals attacking his crops. He subdivided the Front Yard into four quadrants and marked them for differing levels of shade from no shade to full shade. He then placed five pots each with their own coffee bean throughout the quadrants to give him a fairer average. Ideally he would have gone for at least ten, but the stockpile of beans already felt far too light.

The next location he called 'Fruit Trees'. This was slightly uphill of his main yard and the canopy there was filled with a predominance of trees with a strange blue knobbly fruit. The fruit grew only at the top of the trees, maybe ten metres high. He glimpsed some sort of black and white striped furry creature high in the canopy, but it ducked into the leaves before he could work out what it was. There was a variety of low growing shrubs in the area, though none fruit bearing or obviously harvestable for food. The soil was a little more damp than his front yard but the partial shade should be ideal. He placed a scattering of ten pots total this time, less samples than the front yard due to the higher risk. Ten pots should still give him some indication of viability, though the scientist in him screamed at the potential of error from an underpowered study.

Moving round to the back of the house there was a small stream that cut off from a bigger river. He called this site, 'Riverbank'. A fish skipped out of the water and disappeared into its depths. He'd have to take up fishing whenever he got a chance. The location closer to the water was atypical, but again, he needed to test the soil water requirements in a world with too suns. The potential that the two suns would dry out the soil in what he would traditionally think of as coffee bean planting territory was considered. He planted again just ten plants.

The final test site was even higher up the mountain and he only found it by tracking the water from the river back upstream. At a waterfall, he found a cleft in the rock that delved rapidly into a twisting canyon. He could stand at the opening and look down across the mountain, though he could not see all the way into the canyon. Straining his eyes he though he saw....a bridge? Deep in the canyon, masked by the fading light was possibly a natural rock bridge.

He left only five of the precious coffee beans at this site which he called 'Lookout'. The waterfall created an intersting moisture level in the area, though much of it was actually hard rock. Joe brushed his hands off and wandered back towards his shack. He passed what looked like a head shaped divot in the wall, perhaps caused by erosion?

He could have sworn it looked like horn marks though.

Joe wandered back to the house. Passing the compost heap next to the strange stone obelisk, he found Gruff doing a series of leaps and kicks. Gruff snapped to attention as Joe passed, raising his head high. Joe chuckled and scratched the goat between the horns. 'Thanks for clearing up the yard, mate. You've done me proud.'

Gruff positively beamed.

Joe felt the final pile of beans in his pocket. He'd held back ten beans in reserve if all his other attempts failed. Looking at Gruff he felt a pulse from the amulet around his neck. Taking a final pot he took one of the precious last ten beans and placed it down in front of the compost heap and the stone obelisk. 'Here's one for you to look after, it's good to learn to grow.'

Gruff nodded solemnly and stared at the pot. Joe gave him a final scratch and went to prepare dinner. Today had been a successful day of set up. Tomorrow he'd start exploring the farm more, set up some tarpaulin covers and see what he could do for Bee's Bakery. He had a pie recipe rolling around in his head that he was sure would be a hit.

'Gruff come and have dinner.' Joe called out.

No response came from the goat. Joe shrugged. Ah well, the goat probably wasn't up to anything interesting.