Page 76 of Stockman's Stowaway

‘What do you want to do, Cap? For this station.’ Ryder obviously chose his words carefully to exclude Mia.

Cap wasn’t a fool. He knew Ryder was doing this to protect their assets. ‘Mia has become an asset. She’s helped recognise and provide plant stock to not only feed the cattle, but to create wildlife corridors that double as windbreaks to stop dust storms. Our plans on soil repair, which reduce and offset carbon emissions, are working much better than expected.’ His grin broke out to share the news. ‘My paddock is done, brothers.’

‘No way?’ Dex’s beer can froze halfway to his mouth.

‘The fencing, the wildlife corridors, and the no-till pasture planting is done.’ The thrill of completing a project, his dream, was such a high for him, one he shared with Mia. ‘Now we just watch it grow.’

‘They’re starting on my paddock next.’ Ash playfully nudged Cap’s ribs.

Ryder tilted his head, his voice low and steady. ‘Even then, there’s still a lot of stock growing inside that shade house.’

Cap could never hide anything from Ryder. ‘Mia’s native nursery has created enough seedling stock to supply other farmers, other mine sites, with room to expand big time to make it a full-time gig.’

‘A commercial nursery?’ Ash asked.

‘A small-scale commercial native nursery.’ Cap nodded. It was Mia’s dream, too. ‘Mia knows what other mines want for their revegetation programs. And we’re hoping to sell some of that plant stock at the campdraft to pay for dog food and future vetfees. The costs have been minimal and we’re repurposing the water from that pond you dug, Dex. We’ve got solar running the pumps, using the irrigation pipes Bree found out the back of the sheds. Only the seedling trays and pots we’ve bought new. The rest Mia and I have been able to use what we have.’

‘Will it make a profit if you sell those seedlings?’ asked Dex.

‘Ninety-eight per cent.’

‘You forget Mia’s wages are a part of that equation, too,’ said Ryder, their bank.

‘I think it sounds like a good idea,’ said Ash.

‘You really want to save the world, don’t you?’ Dex playfully punched Cap’s shoulder. ‘Sounds good to me, too, brother.’

But Ryder stared, cold and unemotional as always.

‘Do you see a problem with us selling those seedlings, Ryder?’ Cap only saw benefits.

Ryder took a deep guzzle of his beer. ‘I think you should give them away.’

‘Say what?’ Ash shuffled his boots, as Dex paused mid-drink.

‘But aren’t we meant to make money?’ Cap asked Ryder, who held the purse strings on this station.

‘If you give one seedling pot and a brochure as a package deal to advertise your commercial native nursery, it’ll sweeten the deal for future customers.’

‘I get it,’ said Ash. ‘Harper says some authors offer their new readers a free book to try out their writing style. It’d be the same concept if Cap gave them a seedling they can’t kill, with the brochure the girls designed.’

‘They’ll need to be update, if we want to put in the native nursery details on them.’ Cap nodded eagerly, not expecting that out of Ryder.

‘They have time. Which is why I am calling this meeting here today.’ Ryder patted Cap’s shoulder. ‘I think your native nursery is a good idea and it goes with my plans to diversify this station.’

‘Huh?’ Dex arched his eyebrows. ‘Isn’t this a cattle station?’ He pointed to the small herd in the yards below them.

‘We have a cattle station with little cattle. So we need to bring in other forms of income until we’ve got decent-sized herds again.’ Ryder looked at the three brothers. ‘We’ll have that with Ash and his tags—’

‘And my water trough tech?’

‘That too. And maybe you can design a drone specifically for mustering. In the meantime, you could teach farmers how to use drones, like Cap with his muster dogs and guardian dogs. Maybe build an arena, just for that dual purpose.’

Cap and Ash nodded like kids being given free rein in a candy store.

‘And what do I do, besides look pretty?’ Dex scowled as he adjusted his hat over his eyes.

‘Volunteer your skills to help them build things, like my house before the wet season arrives.’

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