Chapter 33 Harvesting Potatoes, Basic Healing Spell, The Joy of the Harvest...
After clearing away the unwanted plants, Lai began digging up the potatoes and sweet potatoes buried in the ground with a fork.
The fork has large gaps, resulting in less resistance when digging and making it less likely to damage the underground tubers.
Lai found the right spot, stuck the pitchfork into the ground, gripped the wooden handle tightly, and with a strong pull, unearthed the crop hidden deep in the soil.
The soil is quite moist deep inside, and the potatoes have a lot of mud clinging to their skin.
At this stage, the potatoes don't need any care. After digging them up, simply gather them in the furrows. The scorching morning sun will dry the soil on their surface, and in the afternoon, just rub off the dried soil and put them into burlap sacks.
This way, you can avoid getting your hands covered in mud and dry the surface of the potatoes, preventing them from rotting after being bagged due to high moisture content and poor ventilation.
After digging up the potatoes, Lai dug up the sweet potatoes using the same method.
Using seeds from sprouted potatoes grown at home, plus seed potatoes and sweet potatoes bought from the market, the final yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes multiplied several times over after a whole summer of growth.
There are four rows of potatoes and three rows of sweet potatoes.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes are drought-resistant, cold-loving, and dry crops with strong adaptability, short production cycles, and high yields.
Their tubers are mostly composed of starch, which provides the human body with a large amount of sugar, or energy. They were definitely the first choice for staple food in times of poverty.
During droughts, planting more potatoes and using them as a staple food can save many people from starving.
Even the best foods can cause internal heat if eaten in excess, so it's best to avoid overeating in daily life.
The two of them were very happy to see the potatoes and sweet potatoes all over the ground.
These things could probably fill several sacks, and they were one of the main food sources for Ray and Neil throughout the winter.
There are two or three rows of radishes in the field, with forty or fifty radishes. We can pull them out when the frost is about to fall.
In the coldest part of winter, I would simmer a pot of beef and radish soup inside the house.
The beef was stewed until very tender, and the radish was cooked until translucent, soaking up all the broth. The radish, now slightly undercooked, had a flavor that blended perfectly with the rich aroma of the beef. So delicious!
The cabbages in the field should be harvested soon.
The outer leaves of the cabbage were no longer in good condition because they had been in contact with the ground a lot, so they were peeled off and discarded. Lai peeled off two or three layers, leaving the better inner parts.
After working for half a day, I finally finished processing all the cabbages, which amounted to about a hundred.
Don't be fooled by how much cabbage there seems; it won't last long. Even if you can't finish it all by spring, it'll all rot. Besides making kimchi, Lai needs to find another way to store it.
The cabbage leaves that have been harvested shouldn't be wasted; except for the outermost layer, the rest are all in good condition.
Lai chopped up a small portion and fed it to the red-billed ravens, giving only a tiny bit of the rest to the mule. Cabbage has a high water content, and he was afraid it would get diarrhea from eating too much.
They tidied up little by little, and there wasn't much left in the backyard vegetable garden except for radishes.
The Sichuan pepper tree that was planted by the wall not only survived but thrived thanks to the green light. The peppercorns on it had long since turned red, and Lai had picked them all, dried them, and stored them in the storage room on the first floor.
Because the first batch of kimchi was a success, Lai made two more jars while the vegetables at home were still fresh. It would definitely last the two of them a long time.
They were busy like this until noon. After a quick lunch, Lai started studying the notebook again.
He first reviewed the skills he had learned yesterday, and only when he was almost done did he begin to learn new skills.
This time he was practicing basic healing magic.
Indiscriminate healing is like a bug in any game. Even if the healing effect of a single cast is limited, it's better than nothing.
It may only be able to stop the bleeding after an injury, but that will save time compared to bandaging and stopping the bleeding.
On the ever-changing battlefield, this short period of time may bring victory; no one can say for sure.
The basic healing spell has some similarities with "Rejuvenation of Dead Trees," and perhaps because "Ray" had learned it before, Ray's learning process went particularly smoothly.
Since healing spells don't have a specific target, it's impossible to know how effective they are. Ray could only try his best to memorize the corresponding incantation, striving to avoid any mistakes.
"elder brother!"
Ray thought that after Vivian returned, Lamb would no longer insist on going up the mountain with the hunting party, but he didn't expect him to come this afternoon.
Lamb's tall stature made him stand out prominently in front of the courtyard gate.
"Brother, the hunting team is leaving the day after tomorrow, and Dad and the others have already agreed to let me go!"
Lamb grinned broadly.
George's parents also agreed to go along.
Lamb's hint was quite obvious; he was practically telling Ray that he could get ready to leave.
"Okay, where do we meet the day after tomorrow?"
"Over there at the threshing ground."
"Um."
"Brother, you don't need to prepare a tent, my tent is fine. My tent is big enough for all of us."
“Okay, but you have to tell George beforehand that I’m bringing Neil with me.”
After Ray explained the situation to Lamb, Lamb was somewhat surprised, and Neil was equally shocked.
It wasn't that he didn't want to go, but he was still young, and he thought his brother would send him to Uncle Hagrid's house for a day.
"Is Neil coming too?"
"Yes, I will protect him myself."
"No problem, bro. George and I can protect ourselves, we won't distract you!"
"good."
The two then discussed what else to bring on their mountain-gathering trip and how to solve their food problem. Only then did Lamb leave, satisfied.
Ray found some sacks and went to the backyard garden to pack up the potatoes and sweet potatoes, with Neil trailing behind him.
The two of them squatted in the vegetable patch picking potatoes, each with a bag. It took Neil a while before he finally spoke up, albeit hesitantly.
Actually, Neil hesitated for a while before finally mustering up the courage.
"Brother, are you really taking me with you? Aren't you afraid I'll be a burden?"
“Neil is not a burden at all; he is clearly a hardworking and helpful assistant.”
Lei also had his own considerations.
It's not good to always have Neil staying at relatives' houses. If he goes out on business in the future, it might be common for him to not come back for a day or two. We can't keep letting Neil stay at Hagrid's house forever.
He has a bone knife inlaid with elemental stones and plans to learn that offensive magic in the next day or two.
Staying at the foot of the mountain, Neil is obedient and won't run off, so protecting him shouldn't be a problem. Of course, that's assuming Lamb doesn't take George off on his own.
Hearing Ray's words, Neil felt a warm glow inside; the fact that his brother trusted him boosted his confidence once again.
"Brother, I will definitely listen to you then."
"Okay, I believe you."
After picking up the potatoes and sweet potatoes, Lai carried them back to the house.
There were two large bags of potatoes, one and a half bags of sweet potatoes, and a bag of pumpkin and loofah.
The storage room was already half full.
There's absolutely no room to put grain here.
For safety and other reasons, the food was carried by Lai to the public space on the second floor and stored there for everyone to take as needed.
In the corner of the storage room sat two wooden crates made of short planks, a creation of Lei's in his spare time, which came in handy this time. They could hold these potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The extras were stored in the cellar.
The small storage room was gradually filled up by Lai. A room full of food and a great sense of accomplishment gave Lai and Neil the confidence to get through the winter.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-07-06 23:21:22 and 2023-07-07 22:20:41!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: 10 bottles of Custard Pig Buns;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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