If she sold the farm before understanding that resource, she might be surrendering something important without ever learning its value.
So she kept working.
Every month, she adjusted the budget.
She sold an old hay baler.
Canceled equipment subscriptions.
Stopped purchasing unnecessary supplies.
And negotiated a modest contract to store machinery for a neighboring contractor in an unused shed.
The income helped.
Not enough.
But enough to continue.
Then a severe drought reduced conventional crop revenue again.
The soil cracked.
Pasture conditions deteriorated.
And several neighboring operations faced financial pressure of their own.
The black-root fields survived better than Dileia expected, though their upper leaves curled and growth slowed.
The plants were not magically immune to drought.
Some died.
Others produced smaller roots.
But the established population continued developing beneath the soil.
Walter had noticed this.
His notebooks contained careful observations showing how deeper-rooted plants responded to particular conditions.
Dileia began measuring them herself.
She marked sampling plots.
Recorded root weights.
Collected soil information.
And photographed the crop after every significant weather event.
The data was imperfect.
She had limited equipment.
But it was more systematic than anything she'd attempted before.
One evening, she cut open a mature root and watched the thick white sap collect along the blade.
The material behaved strangely.
It stretched into pale threads before breaking.
When mixed with water in a small test container, it formed a viscous suspension.
Dileia remembered her father talking about moisture retention.
She also remembered him warning that appearance alone could not establish the material's chemistry, safety, or usefulness.
So she labeled the sample.
Stored it appropriately.
And contacted the regional agricultural extension office.
The specialist who spoke with her was interested but cautious.
She explained that unusual plant materials needed proper identification and laboratory assessment before anyone could make reliable claims about agricultural applications.
She also advised Dileia not to assume the roots were edible merely because they resembled tubers.
Dileia appreciated that.
She wasn't trying to sell a miracle cure.
She was trying to understand a plant.
The specialist helped her identify appropriate testing resources.
But the costs were substantial.
Even basic characterization would consume money she needed for loan payments.
More advanced testing would cost far more.
Dileia added the laboratory estimate to a growing folder of expenses she couldn't afford.
Then she returned to work.
Over the next year, Harlon Whitmore became a regular presence near her property.
Sometimes he called.
Sometimes he mailed offers.
Sometimes he drove slowly along the county road outside her gate.
His first written offer valued the property at considerably less than she believed the land and improvements could command through an ordinary sale.