The Good Earth

The Good Earth is a three-fic series written early in the The Hobbit fandom by The Feels Whale (miscellea), focused on the pairing of Bagginshield. 
The stories are "Gardening", "A Growing Family", and "The Bad Season."
The trilogy inspired many of the tropes that became standard in Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield works later in the fandom.
Many commenters express their love for the original child characters Grim and Bobbin, as well as for the relationships between the members of the Durin family. Some enjoy these origin stories and the unique Cabbage Patch Hobbits device, and are glad to avoid the trope, mpreg. 
Many fans love the worldbuilding, the fluffiness of the stories, how the children take after their parents, and were pleased with the desired-gender reversal of Dwarves' traditionally praying for daughters.
ferretbaby said: 
MrsPeel commented
==Origin of the Trope - "Cabbage Patch Hobbits"==
The first work, "Gardening," is set Post-Quest for Erebor, when Bilbo returns home. This story is the first instance of Cabbage Patch Hobbits,"I reread the Gardening Verse by The Feels Whale (Miscellea) a few days ago and I simply had to write this." - Introductory notes to Flowers of Yavanna by SOABA. Posted August 11, 2014. Accessed August 10, 2015. a trope that has since been featured several times in works involving Bilbo Baggins. It also indirectly inspired the Born from Stone trope."Also, this fic was totally inspired by The Feels Whale's fic, Gardening." Felek, introductory notes, by sunryder. Posted October 17, 2013.
==Story Summaries==
"Gardening" -- As of 2024, "Gardening" had 274,508 hits, 12,961 kudos, and 3,160 bookmarks. The author's summary: 
"A Growing Family" -- As of 2024, the second story in the series, "A Growing Family", had 121,908 hits, 8,044 kudos, and 596 bookmarks. The author's summary: 
"The Bad Season" -- As of 2024, the third story, "The Bad Season", had 85,135, hits, 4,658 kudos, and 353 bookmarks. The author's summary: 
==Fannish Elements and Tropes==
"The Good Earth" spawned at least two tropes, and may have encouraged the Returned to Stone/Mountainsleep concept. It was a forerunner of the miscommunication trope, which became a staple of Bilbo/Thorin post-quest happy ending works in the first year or so of the fandom, especially works that also incorporated Bilbo Returns to Erebor.
* Cabbage Patch Hobbits 
* Kidfic - Specifically faunts (Hobbit children). This series doesn't go as far as some later ones would in treating hobbit children as an irresistible force of cuteness, but it does make gestures in that direction.
* Dwarven Culture (Tolkien) - A number of dwarven traditions, small and large, are incorporated into the work. Some of them help cause the miscommunications that drive the story's plot.
* Miscommunication - Not only do Bilbo and Thorin fail to sort out their relationship during the quest, but they also fail to understand the aftermath of the quest and each misinterpret the events after the battle. There is also the little matter of Hobbits and other races not agreeing on where babies come from.
* Everyone Lives (The Hobbit) - A classic early example of the trope.
* Bilbo Returns to Erebor - Instead of Bilbo remaining in Erebor, "Gardening" provided a realistic purpose for him returning home to the Shire, then traveling back east again. Many other works in 2013 also used the returning trope instead of having Bilbo simply remain in Erebor after the battle.
* Original Characters - Bilbo's sons are OCs (sort of), and they're major players in the story.
 
==Gardening: Fan Comments==
==A Growing Family: Fan Comments==
==The Bad Season: Fan Comments==
== Inspired Fanworks ==
=== Fanart ===
* Scene from "Gardening" by the-lazy-took
* Sprout (fancomic) by bshmatthews 
=== Podfic ===
* [Podfic] Gardening by The Feels Whale by fifteen 
* [Podfic] A Growing Family by The Feels Whale by fifteen 
* [Podfic] The Bad Season by The Feels Whale by fifteen 
=== Fanfiction ===
* The trouble with hobbits by twin_fics 
* That we may meet and know by ForTheLoveOfAll 
==References==
Category:Slash Fanfiction
Category:2013 Fanfiction