Today in the CBO
Settlements Today
by Nat Wright-Kowalski
12 May 2296 - Abernathy Farm
Each Tuesday for the upcoming weeks through the playoffs, we will feature one of the settlements, teams, and owners of the Commonwealth Baseball Organization. This is meant to tell you more about life in the Commonwealth, as well as give you more information about the teams and their owners.
In our fifth installment of "Settlement Today," I took a tour of Abernathy Farm.
Abernathy Farm - 2287
According to the intraweb (real-life
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Abernathy_farm so as not to plagiarize),
"Abernathy farm is a homestead constructed around a large pre-War high voltage pylon; founded and inhabited by the Abernathy family consisting of Blake and Connie Abernathy, and their daughter," Lucy. Their other daughter, Mary, was killed by raiders and is buried on the property.
In 2287, "Abernathy farm cover[ed] a large (mostly uncultivated) area that grows tatos and some melons. . . . The farmhouse is a two-story makeshift structure built into the frame of the high voltage tower. The interior already has working lights, but no usable electricity."
By 2296, the farm house has been improved into what settlers call "The Compound." Shacks surrounding the north and south sides of the farm are referred to as "The Slums." While it sounds as though settlers are not in love with the Abernathys, that is not the case. Settlers have long put their love and devotion into the farm to improve the quantity and quality of the tatos and melons grown there, as well as small amounts of corn, carrots, mutfruits, gourds, and razor grains. The farm makes most of its money from selling and trading tatos.
Despite its foreboding name, "The Compound" was redesigned to include an on-sight, fully-functional medical clinic and a schoolhouse. Blake Abernathy also uses the Compound as his office and the meeting room for Adamantium business.
Abernathy Farm - 2296 - "The Compound" and "The Slums." Tato Field and tato fields stand behind this picture.
Owner - Blake Abernathy
According to the intranet (
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Blake_Abernathy, "Blake Abernathy works at Abernathy farm with his wife, Connie, and his daughter, Lucy. They own a cat called Maisie II. Blake tells Nate Howard about a second daughter, Mary, who died at the hands of raiders and is buried behind their house. Talking to him initiates the quest Returning the Favor, sending the player to USAF Satellite Station Olivia to retrieve Mary's locket."
After Nate Howard helped Blake and his family by retrieving Mary's locket and wiping out that vicious group of raiders, the Abernathys always treated Nate as part of the family. The Abernathys were one of the first groups to partner with the re-formed Minutemen, allowing the Abernathy Farm to grow faster than some of the other settlements, thus the huge success of Abernathy Farm.
Blake was also one of the first to volunteer to contribute caps towards the Commonwealth Baseball Organization and was a willing franchise owner when asked to purchase a team.
Tatos, tatos, tatos
Welcome to the farm!
On the east side of "The Compound," one can see row after row of tatos. White the west side of the farm contains melons and other fruits and vegetables, Abernathy's tato crops stand as the biggest in the Commonwealth.
The Brotherhood's Senior Scribe Neriah described tatos this way: "According to some old botany texts we found, this appears to be a combination of a now extinct plant called a 'potato' and another extinct plant called a 'tomato.' The outside looks like a tomato, but the inside is brown. Tastes as absolutely disgusting as it looks, but will keep you from starving."
While we feel Neriah's words are quite harsh, tatos can be delicious when cooked in dishes and made as part of a side dish. From my perspective, there are fewer better choices than vegetable soup, with ya guai roast and mash.
Abernathy Farm logo - 2296