Chapter 210 Planting Notes

The sorghum is now one meter tall, and it is time to harvest the first crop for silage.

When it comes to fruits and for making sugar, it is not enough, they have to be harvested at the same time as the seeds.

"No wonder the notes say that we have to wait until the sweet sorghum seeds reach the end of their maturity, when the grains turn black and the water content reaches about 20%. I guess that's when the sugar content in the stalks is highest."

Zhao Yeqing only now understood what the original owner had written about the time of sorghum harvesting. It turned out that it was for making sugar.

Neither of them had any experience in sugar making, so they could only wait until after the harvest to slowly study it.

Speaking of sugar making, Zhao Yeqing thought of something, "Oh, we forgot about the beehive."

Recently, they have been studying the route back. Mu Xi spent more than half a month exploring the way back and forth, and the beehive placed on the tree had long been forgotten by the two.

Mu Xi also had no recollection of this incident. "Then I'll go take a look."

Zhao Yeqing grabbed him and said, "Don't worry, go tomorrow. Go get some sleep when you come back today."

Mu Xi had to find a way in the mountains to get back to Meishan, and it had to be the fastest and safest way.

In addition to clearing obstacles on the road and being alert to wild animals when living in the mountains, sleep is definitely not very good.

Zhao Yeqing pushed the man into the room and forced him to sleep.

Mu Xi slept from morning to evening, and when he woke up, the kitchen was already filled with fragrance.

On the table was the yam that Zhao Yeqing found when he was clearing the road this time, which was made into candied yam.

Seeing him get up, Zhao Yeqing took out the cooked highland barley rice from the pot and said, "It's just right. This candied yam has just come out of the pot. I was just about to call you."

Mu Xi sat at the table with a big bowl of rice in his hand. While eating, he told Zhao Yeqing about his discovery.

"After crossing the river at the foot of the mountain where we came down last time, walk all the way east. When you get to the waterfall, you have to cross the river again and come back here before you can take a detour. I found a route that's not particularly steep and can be walked by both humans and horses, as long as you don't encounter other wild animals."

Zhao Yeqing knew something was wrong when he heard this. "You mean there are traces of other animals nearby?"

Mu Xi: "Yes, I saw footprints of some kind of cat, but I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was definitely not a large animal like a tiger."

Zhao Yeqing knew that since he brought it up, it couldn't be a herbivore. Hearing it was a feline and not a tiger, it must be a leopard or a bobcat or something like that.

"Where have you been now?"

Originally, Mu Xi wanted to explore the road first, and then clear it after making sure it was passable. However, the forest here was too primitive and the vegetation was too dense, making it very difficult to travel through the forest.

"It's actually OK to walk along the water source completely. After all, the water source is mostly covered with rocks and not much vegetation. The difficulty lies in the places where you need to take a detour. It's too difficult to clean up. Now I have walked about 40 to 50 kilometers."

When he first came to find Zhao Yeqing, he walked over the mountains for 400 kilometers, but that route was not like this one. At least there were people living there, and as he walked, he could see the paths trampled by the nearby mountain people.

This place is really deep in the mountains and forests. If there was no water source to guide the direction, you would get lost if you walked around in there for a few more rounds.

Zhao Yeqing thought about the distance from here to Meishan, and it was estimated that there was still a long way to go. He sighed, "It would be great if we could take the water route and float all the way down. Maybe we could get there in half a day."

Mu Xi smiled and said, "Take your time. What we have the most right now is time."

This time he stayed in the mountains for three days and four nights. Zhao Yeqing would not let him go into the mountains again so soon, and he had to rest for a few more days at home.

Mu Xi wanted to say that he was not tired, but was stopped by Zhao Yeqing's words.

"As you said, we have the most time now, so take your time."

Mu Xi stayed at home obediently and slept until noon before he was allowed to get up.

After dinner, seeing that it looked like it was going to rain again, I quickly changed my clothes and went out to check the forgotten beehive.

Sure enough, there was not a single bee in it, and the syrup on the edge of the bucket had long been washed away by the heavy rain some time ago.

Mu Xi had no choice but to take the beehive back and wait until the rain stopped two days later. He then recoated the beehive with syrup and placed it under the peach tree.

The last time the location was close to the beehive, but unfortunately it didn't attract any bees. This time he simply placed it where the bees were collecting nectar, but he didn't know if he could attract it.

Ever since the heavy rain some time ago, the north wind won the contest between the north wind and the south wind, and the speed at which the weather is getting hot has slowed down. Instead, it has become more like a real spring.

Neither of them had any experience in raising bees, and they didn't know when the bees would swarm in such capricious weather conditions. They could only put out the bee-luring bucket and wait.

Zhao Yeqing came back from the pasture. "The alfalfa will probably bloom in ten days or so. If there is no harvest by then, we can just put the beehives next to the pasture. Maybe when the bees come to collect honey, they will stay nearby."

Mu Xi replied, "Okay, then I won't go into the mountain yet. I'll cut down another tree and come back to saw the planks to make beehives."

In addition to wooden boards, beehives can also be made with bricks and cement, but in order to facilitate mobility, it is better to make them with wood.

"If we can lure two swarms of bees and put a beehive on each side, we won't have to worry about honey for the whole year."

In another two months, the rape flowers will bloom. Now the crops in the fields are growing well. The fields are right in front of the house, so he can go out to take care of the crops. Zhao Yeqing keeps an eye on these fields every day when he has nothing to do at home.

I saw two weeds and pulled them out.

Wheat, rice and glutinous rice have all entered the heading stage, with the main ear emerging from the leaf sheath and forming pollen.

The corn had just passed the earing stage, and Zhao Yeqing was busy tending the fields by applying fertilizer and weeding.

The ear formation stage is when corn needs the most nutrients, and the nutrient accumulation at this time determines whether the corn will have a high yield.

"After the earing stage of corn, it will enter the milk stage, which is the stage when corn kernels are formed." Zhao Yeqing was flipping through a book in his hand and constantly making planting records in his notebook. He pulled off the pen cap with his teeth and kept biting it, speaking vaguely.

"I have to follow these notes carefully this year so that I can grow better crops next year. After all, I have to rely on farming to make a living now."

The notebook is densely packed with records of the planting period, pests and diseases encountered, and symptoms of the crops caused by weather conditions.

After that, she smiled again, "Maybe when order is restored and reconstruction is needed after the disaster, I can find a job farming with this notebook."

Based on his limited experience, Mu Xi drew a beehive design that he wasn't sure if would work, then he raised his hand and took off the pen cap that Zhao Yeqing was biting.

"Do you want to leave the mountain?"