Old Man's Patch (The Garden at the End of the Galaxy Book 1)

On a remote backwater planet where little happens, retired mechanic Ezra Kowalski tends his vegetable garden, his main concerns being pest control and his neighbor Mrs. Wong's interference. His routine is disrupted when a spaceship crashes directly into his garden patch. A soft-spoken teenage girl and her cheerful robot emerge from the wreckage. A solar flare disables all communication systems and grounds space travel, leaving the three stranded together on the planet. Ezra hopes to repair his garden and return to solitude, but the girl's unusual stories, the robot's well-intentioned attempts to assist, and Mrs. Wong's curiosity about the newcomers gradually pull him into unexpected connections. The quiet planet begins to reveal hidden possibilities he had not anticipated.