Pnor to their destiny-fixing encounter with the Impend! Planetologist Pardot Kynes in 10151 the Fremen were accustomed to consuming only those fruits, vegetables and nuts they could purchase from the village folk nearest their sietches or (more rarely) gather from the terraform planting areas or the high-dlutude temperate zones All of this was changed with the imple mentation of the planetologist s dream of transforming Arrakis from a desert world to a gentler, more temperate planet As the Fremen learned to change the face of the desert with their plantings and their newly adopted Imperial technology, they naturally applied that knowledge to their m-sietch lives with varying degrees of success The earliest recorded attempts made at raising crops took place in 10169, at Sietch Tabr Using chromoplastic-lmed pits, or dew collectors, to help cushion the plants against the harsh desert soil, the Fremen introduced coffee tabaroot (a sweet tuber developed on Caladan), and a few varieties of vegetables adapted for the fields of Salusa Secundus (The latter, smuggled onto Anakis at tremen dous nsk to Kynes, provided him with ironic amusement not one of the specimens, tough ened for life on the Emperor s "hellhole" of a prison planet managed to survive to matu nty on Arrakts ) The coffee and labaroot, both of which the Fremen usually purchased from outsiders did not immediately flourish they did, however provide their cultivators with a small harvest within three seasons Taking FREMEN AGRICULTURE 224 FREMEN CLOTHING even this degree of success as a sign that their work could go ahead the Fremen expanded their plantings, both to other sietches and to different types of vegetation Certain varieties-the date palm, for ex ample-refused to grow m ground not pre pared, as was the case at the palmanes, by many years' growth of other hardier stock In addition, the would be farmers were bur dened with the need for secrecy and dared not indulge in the fcvcl of activity performed at the palmary sites for fear of alerting the Harkonnens or other out-freyn to their unsuspected sophistication Still, the Fremen persevered, rejoicing in their victories and refusing to be daunted by their failures, until no sietch was without its own supply of self-grown produce While the cultivation of each area varied from sietch to sietch, certain characteristics were present in every case Each plant in a sietch garden however coddled, was pre pared with eventual self-sufficiency in mind with their dew collectors functioning properly, for instance, many of the mature growths could survive for up to one year without human intervention (It was usually necessary, however, for the gardeners to return in order for the plants to be successfully pollinated ) The sietch gardens were also concealed from casual observation, sometimes in highly ingenious ways Pardot Kynes himself was occasionally surprised by the degree of stealth "his * Fremen possessed in this matter A favorite story involved his havrag to ask for a guide from one of the sietches in order to find a patch of nearly om hundred coffee plants (The patch had been so carefully nestled into an outcropping of rocks that they could only be spotted from above by someone who knew what was being sought) Care of established gardens was generally left to the sietch children and was considered good training for the ngors which would face them at the southern palmanes Records indicate: mat these youngsters began their chores at as early an age as three years, when they were taught to keep the dew collectors of new plants properly set over the spreading roots All of the children, as well as their elders, took the cultivation very seriously, and any neglect on the part of a young gardener was severely dealt with by his or her peers before being reported to the adults Following Arrakis s ecological transformation of course such caution and vigi lance became unnecessary Crops on that planet could be as easily raised as those on any other world, and the uniquely Fremen approach-a sort of grim dedication touched with near religious fervor-was used only by God Emperor Leto n s Museum Fremen as another of their ornamental rituals C W Further references PALMARIES Pardot Kynes Ecology of Dune tr EvanGwalan Arrakis Studies 24 (Grumman United Worlds) FREMEM CLOTHING AMD TEXTILES.