The soft, glutinous, salty and fragrant braised pork was very much to Sangsang's liking, and he ate two large bowls of rice with the gravy.
Ningxia had specially cooked her and Lin Yi's meal with a mixture of mostly refined rice. She was determined to make the siblings gain 20 pounds before the coldest month!
Three months had passed, and now the family was well-fed, and she believed she could do it!
Several adults ate mixed grain rice. Fortunately, they were used to it and didn't find it bad. In fact, it was more filling than rice.
"Is this the land?" Li Gang and his companions stood in a small corner that had been cleaned up.
Ningxia nodded: "Squad leader, I don't know much about this. Is this piece of land okay?"
"Sure, it's fairly flat, and not too far from your house and the river. After the first sprouts, the soil quality has improved dramatically. A piece of land like this should be enough for the three of you to eat."
Ningxia was relieved.
"Come on, brothers, let's clean up this land today."
The four men joined hands and started working. Fortunately, they were all experienced and brought their own gloves and sickles, otherwise they would not be able to find such old tools at home in Ningxia.
"Ningxia, you shouldn't do this anymore. Cooking for us is too hard. We can just work in the fields."
Ningxia shook her head. "I don't know anything about farming, so it's a good opportunity for me to learn from you guys."
Lao Liao threw away the weeds he had pulled up and said, "What's so hard to learn about weeding and clearing the land? A few of us grown men can finish the job in a day. You just need to be in charge of cooking."
The others nodded in agreement.
Ningxia thought about it and agreed. She had a lot of things to do at home, and it would take time to cook for so many people. People should work hard and not even have a full meal on time, so she nodded in agreement.
Another crop of Chinese cabbage has sprouted at home, and the leeks are growing more and more lush. The number of leafy greens has been reduced, but fortunately there is no shortage.
At noon, several men did not even go home, but waited in the fields for Ningxia to bring them lunch. After eating, they sat for a while and then went back to work.
The effect was remarkable. Before three o'clock in the afternoon, the piles of hay piled in the field were on fire.
Ningxia was also busy at home tidying up the bunk beds in the children's room. Two people can sleep here, and two people can also sleep on the sofa.
Fortunately, the temperature is neither cold nor hot now, and the thick plush blankets and two thin quilts at home are enough to use. If the weather is colder, Ningxia really can't take out four quilts.
It seemed as if God knew that Ningxia was about to sow seeds. As soon as Li Gang and his companions arrived home, a light drizzle began to fall.
"Hey! We are so lucky! Once the soil is moistened, the seeds will germinate faster." Old Liao took the water handed to him by Sangsang and took a big sip.
Li Gang also smiled and nodded: "Ningxia, don't be busy yet. It's still early. Let's go and pull out the manure grass under the Maomao. It will ferment when it rains, and we can use it as fertilizer later."
A lot of feces had accumulated on the hay under Maomao over the past few months. The child was smart and left a small, relatively clean place in the corner to sleep.
Those manure grasses are perfect for composting.
There happened to be a lot of hay pulled up from the fields, so they brought some back and replaced the grass directly.
After a while, an unpleasant smell wafted through the yard, and several people moved the dining battlefield from the yard back to the dining table inside the house.
"How are your eggs?" Old Liao asked Ningxia while eating his rice in big mouthfuls.
Ningxia was a little surprised. "The chicken I brought back didn't want to hatch, and it pecked two of them open for me. So I got some blankets to cover them."
"I don't think you can keep your chicken alive." Li Gang retorted. The chicken coop he had nailed was placed by Ningxia under the old locust tree. There was still enough space for a chicken inside.
He looked at it and saw that after one night, the chicken looked even more listless. It seemed that it had lived in the wild for too long and could not adapt to being in captivity. It was probably going to die.
Fortunately, Ningxia’s target is the eggs. If the chicken cannot be kept alive, it can be slaughtered directly.
"If there aren't enough blankets, put them next to the stove in the kitchen where you cook. Even when you're not cooking, keep the charcoal burning. Make sure it doesn't break. See if you can hatch them."
Ningxia quickly wrote it down.
"Tomorrow we can dig the soil and plant the seeds directly. What do you want to plant?"
When she first arrived in Bluebird State, she had plenty of seeds, including the seeds she exchanged in Ningxia and the ones Xiao Zhang gave her at the trade point, except for a little she scattered in the bathroom.
Mu Yuanqing also gave her some high-quality seeds when she left the Dawn Base. Ningxia suddenly felt curious when she thought of this person.
There's no sign of those two people tilling the soil and planting crops here. What do they eat in the winter?
Putting aside his thoughts for a moment, Ningxia thought about the seeds in his hand and asked, "Captain, what do you recommend planting? I have a lot of seeds, but the land is so small, I don't know what combination would be most suitable."
"Dong radish, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, and leek. These are considered high-yielding, with yields almost double that of the first sprouts. They can be planted." Li Gang thought for a moment and gave the answer, then asked,
"But these few are a bit too simple. Do you have any other seeds you want to plant?"
Of course she did. "I also have winter lettuce. What's the price?" This was one of the seeds Mu Yuanqing had given her. It was rare at the Dawn Base, and she hadn't seen it at the trading point here. She wondered what the price was.
Li Gang nodded. "Sure, the yield is pretty good. It's also quite rare here, mainly because the seeds haven't been cultivated in large quantities yet. After drying, the price should be about the same."
Ningxia was satisfied. "Squad leader, can we plant peppers and tomatoes? And pumpkins and winter melons?"
Li Gang thought for a moment, "Peppers, tomatoes, and winter melons can be grown, although the yield is not very good, but it is better than before the sprouts. It should be enough for the three of you.
As for the pumpkins, I'll just scatter them along the edge of the field. It's not that much trouble anyway, so you can try planting some."
Ningxia feels at ease.
Finally, Ningxia took the advice of several people and cleared half of the land to plant radishes, cabbages and lettuce. After all, these are easy to store and have high yields.
The remaining half was used to plant other crops that Ningxia wanted to plant. After making a simple plan for the farming matters, Li Gang and his friends put down their bowls and chopsticks and went to the river to wash up.
They also met Liu Ximu who was going to fetch water. After a brief greeting, Li Gang and his friends returned to Ningxia's yard.
"We just ran into your neighbor."
"Male or female?"
"The man asked us if we wanted to go hunting in the mountains and take him with us."
Ningxia was surprised, "Brother Liao, are you going into the mountains to hunt?"
"Why not? It's only a few days a year when you can relax your muscles and bones."
"Can you take them with you?"
Lao Liao nodded and said, "Of course, we are responsible for patrolling the Linxia area, and it is our duty to help the residents here.
If he had asked us to go hunting in the mountains, we could have refused, but since we wanted to go hunting on our own and he wanted to accompany us, we had to be more considerate."
Ningxia nodded in understanding.
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