While the rest of Andalusia County’s people were busy planting according to plan, the new cellar built last year in the central castle was opened. Several baskets of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and other seeds requiring cold storage, which had been stored there since last year, were retrieved and sent to the villa, where they were placed in the villa’s cellar for temporary storage.

For the next while, Maria and Simon stayed at the villa. Maria directed the carefully selected slaves as they planted the crops meant for March, including corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and wheat. Most of the crops were unfamiliar to the slaves, but since they lived in the...