Chapter 194 Rapeseed Field

The wheat field could have been finished in half a day, but it took the two of them a whole day to finish it.

Zhao Yeqing pounded his shoulder and said, "Anyway, the wheat seeds haven't been dried yet, so there's no need to rush. Just work slowly. I was too tired from working so hard in the past few days."

The only crops left to grow are wheat and rapeseed.

Rapeseed is mostly planted in autumn, and basically only in the north is rapeseed planted in spring.

The original owner also planted rapeseed in the spring, which might be related to the altitude. In the past, when things were normal, the temperature on the mountain should not have been very high in summer.

Rapeseed is not very resistant to high temperatures, so the original plan was to plant wheat first and then rapeseed.

But the daylight hours are too short, and it’s unknown when the wheat seeds can be dried, so rapeseed can only be sown first.

It is best to sow the seeds into the soil as soon as possible after they have been dried, so rapeseed seeds have never been dried before.

Now we can only use the limited sunshine to dry the seeds.

The rapeseed seeds also need to be dried in the sun for about three days. Today the sunshine lasts for about four hours.

It will probably take four or five days to dry in the sun.

The rapeseed field also needs to be treated properly. Don’t spread lime for now. The main focus is on treating the soil of the rapeseed field.

Rapeseed seeds do not need to be germinated before sowing, they are directly sown into the ground.

Because rapeseed seeds are very small, the sprouts that emerge have weak ability to break through the soil, so the soil required must be loose and well-ventilated, otherwise it will be difficult for them to sprout.

But it has relatively high requirements for soil and has adapted very well to the current temperature.

Rapeseed is cold-resistant, so you don't have to worry about it being cold if you sow it in this season. The seeds can germinate at temperatures above two degrees. Although it likes fertilizer, it is also resistant to fertilizer and will not be burned if you accidentally apply too much fertilizer.

During the days when the seeds were drying, the two had plenty of time to prepare the soil in the rapeseed field.

The manure that has been stored over the winter is now ready to be put to use.

The corn fields, peanut fields, wheat fields and rice fields were all covered with base fertilizer, and only a small half of the accumulated manure had been consumed.

"There is still pasture grass to be planted later." Mu Xi finished spreading the base fertilizer on the rapeseed field and thought, "When the time comes, I will mix the manure into water fertilizer. I have just irrigated the pasture twice and it should be enough."

Zhao Yeqing: "Forage grass doesn't consume much fertilizer. Vegetables consume most of it. When the temperature rises in a while and we start growing vegetables, I'm afraid there won't be enough fertilizer."

Rapeseed is also a vegetable, and all vegetables like fertilizer.

Mu Xi: "If it doesn't work, we can use the septic tank."

Zhao Yeqing took a deep breath, unwilling to face it, and could only vaguely say, "Let's talk about it later."

Mu Xi couldn't help laughing, "You don't have to do it."

It’s a little hard to accept not having her do it, but now that we have built our own toilet, this day will come sooner or later.

She currently only accepts animal manure, which has almost no smell when it is decomposed.

The animals at home are all herbivores, and the manure contains only grass. After composting, it turns into powder, which is not unpleasant to look at and has no odor.

There was still enough time today, and since the two of them were talking about manure, they might as well clean up a few animal sheds.

After cleaning the sheep pen, Zhao Yeqing observed the newborn lamb. Unknowingly, the lamb had grown a lot and had layers of curly hair, which was very cute.

The two of them usually pay more attention to the hygiene of the barn, and the sheep are generally clean.

The temperature was very low before, so the wool could not be shaved. The wool on adult sheep grew very thick in just a few months.

The white sheep looks like a cauliflower.

Remember to shear the sheep when the weather gets warmer.

The ewe's peak lactation period has just passed, and her neinei doesn't seem to be that big anymore, and her milk production has also decreased.

After making butter with cow's milk, Zhao Yeqing also tried it with goat's milk, and it actually worked.

It tastes a bit like mutton, but not too much and acceptable.

Among the by-products of goat's milk, butter is the most popular.

Now, the cow and goat milk that cannot be drunk is saved to make butter, and two large jars are already full.

Mu Xi walked into the sheepfold and saw Zhao Yeqing playing with the lambs.

"The cowshed has been cleaned. Do we still need to cover the composted manure with plastic sheets?"

Zhao Yeqing thought for a moment and said, "In theory, it shouldn't be used anymore. The plastic sheet can be removed and used to cover the manure that has just been cleaned out. But I'm a little worried. There's been a lot of frost recently, and I'm afraid it will get wet and moldy."

"How about covering it with some straw?"

Zhao Yeqing nodded, "That's fine. New manure can also be covered with some straw and then covered with plastic sheeting to help it generate heat and mature."

If it weren't for such heavy snow and the scarcity of supplies at home, the straw should have been burned in the field after the barley was harvested.

Unfortunately, there were not many supplies at home, so we had to lay straw in the sheep and cattle pens to keep them warm in winter.

After this winter, there is very little straw left.

The two walked into the hay room, and Zhao Yeqing picked up a straw stalk and twisted it around his fingers to play with it. "After the harvest this year, we will only keep some of the straw, and it is better to burn the rest."

Otherwise I'd always worry about bugs in the ground.

Spreading the harvested straw on the ground and burning it can kill insects, fertilize the fields, reduce weed growth, and make the soil loose and not compacted. It can be said that it kills two birds with one stone.

In the past, people would burn straw on the fields after harvesting. Later, experts said that burning straw polluted the environment and could easily cause forest fires, so burning it was not allowed.

However, the farmlands in the hilly areas are bare and cannot catch fire, so they are still not allowed to burn.

Zhao Yeqing curled his lips. Farmers barely make any money, don’t enjoy any happiness, and still have to take the blame for air pollution.

From the perspective of carbon emissions, photosynthesis during the growth of plants will absorb carbon dioxide, and the carbon emissions produced after incineration are also fixed.

The total carbon emissions during the entire life cycle are zero.

As long as large amounts of carbon are not burned on the same day, causing instantaneous carbon emissions to exceed the standard, there will be no damage to the environment.

Mu Xi picked up a bundle of straw, the corners of his mouth curled up a little, and his tone was slightly mocking, "It can promote the development of the fertilizer and pesticide industry, how can it not be a good thing?"

Zhao Yeqing sighed lightly, but to be honest, when burning straw, it still needs to be controlled to avoid causing forest fires.

Mu Xi carried the straw out and covered the two fertilizer piles with it.

Seeing that the sun was about to set, Zhao Yeqing went to the yard to collect the wheat and rapeseed seeds.

He went into the house and took out the garlic seeds, then went around to the back of the yard. There was a back door in the wall behind the yard, and going out of the back door was a large vegetable garden.

Within a few days, the tender sprouts of the potatoes that had just been planted had broken through the soil, and Zhao Yeqing planted the garlic seeds in the ground next to the potatoes.

Garlic does not take away many nutrients, so it has little impact if planted at the same time as potatoes, and it can also prevent small insects.

The temperature has risen in the past two days, and the late spring cold snap is probably coming to an end soon.

Zhao Yeqing looked at the large empty vegetable garden and thought that it would be time to plant the leafy vegetables tomorrow, and the day when he could eat vegetables would not be far away.