Chapter 53 Farming
I managed to squeeze the steamed and cooled buns into the freezer, but there was simply no room left for steamed bread and braised pork.
They were placed on the shelves in the back room.
The weather isn't too hot right now, and the braised pork is braised so it won't spoil easily, so I'll leave it here for now.
Once some of the buns have been eaten, make room to put them in the refrigerator.
The next day, I woke up naturally, and the first thing I did was still to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed).
Now that we don't use stoves anymore, the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) is the only source of heat, and we still have to diligently keep it burning every day.
While we're at it, we'll steam two big buns directly in the iron pot.
After feeding the chickens and dogs, I ate two big steamed buns and then began my farming life.
After careful observation, I found a total of five plots of land on Xiaohuangshan Mountain, each of different sizes.
The two plots of land near the courtyard are used to grow the vegetables and fruits we eat regularly.
The three plots that are farther apart are all planted with corn.
I like to eat corn, and the chicks at home will mainly eat corn from now on.
And corn is relatively easy to handle, so we can plant more of it.
I stocked up on enough rice and flour two years ago; as long as it's stored properly, it will last for many years.
I will stop planting millet and buckwheat for now.
If you have enough food to eat, there's no need to force yourself to endure hardship.
These next few days, we'll plant vegetables first. The land near the courtyard is directly on the hillside that surrounds the courtyard.
This area used to grow grain, and the land has been frozen for more than a year.
So you can still see the rows and ridges in the land.
Following the previous marks, I loosened each ridge of land with a pickaxe.
They then used a rake to carve out a vegetable pit.
Each pond is about one meter wide and two meters long. Three vegetable ponds were drawn up in one morning, and three ponds of green beans were planted.
I feel like I'm a bit slow, but it's normal to be clumsy since it's my first time growing vegetables on the land.
I was really tired when I got back at noon.
I directly heated the fire and steamed a white sugar bun, a zucchini bun, and a small bowl of braised pork in a cast iron pot.
Perhaps because I had done a lot of hard work, lunch tasted especially delicious today.
I ate a steamed bun and a baozi with some heavily seasoned braised pork.
After finishing my meal, I didn't rush to work in the fields; I didn't want to exhaust myself.
I took a one-hour nap on the sofa, then got up, filled a large cup with tea, before heading back to work.
Until dark, four vegetable plots were marked out, with four plots planted with chili peppers, two with green peppers, and two with bell peppers.
Over the next five days, a total of 32 vegetable ponds were marked out.
Two pools of coriander, chives, garland chrysanthemum, lettuce, bok choy, three pools of scallions, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkin, and four pools of green beans.
We ate all the steamed buns and mantou that were prepared in these 5 days, and of course we got tired of them.
We managed to plant all the vegetables we needed while we had the time.
I'll just cook for myself and then slowly grow other things.
For the next two days, instead of creating vegetable plots, they dug holes directly in the open space between the fruit trees.
They buried sprouted potato and sweet potato tubers, as well as watermelon seeds.
I don't remember how many I planted, I just marked the approximate location of one patch.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and watermelons are all relatively large fruits, so they can be planted and grow anywhere.
This planting method is simple and saves physical effort, and the fruits produced are not necessarily bad.
After all these are planted, only corn will remain.
From the edge of the vegetable-growing area, walk a little further into the small mountain range, and you'll find the place where I plan to plant corn.
To be more discreet, the corn grows tall and is not easily spotted.
Corn is easier to grow than vegetables, at least you don't need to make vegetable beds.
He used a pickaxe to dig long furrows in the ground, and then threw in two or three corn seeds with every small step he took.
Then, kick the soil forward and bury the corn seeds directly in the soil.
I learned this from watching my grandmother plant corn when I was a child, but I've never actually done it myself.
It's actually quite fun to use now.
Planting corn was much easier than I had imagined, but since the area was large, it took three days to finish planting it all.
Now, I've completed all my vegetable planting tasks for the spring.
We just need to plant another batch of vegetables in the summer to store for winter.
These vegetables don't need watering for now; with so much winter snow melted, the soil moisture is more than enough.
I even suspect that this batch of grains and vegetables didn't need any pesticides; it feels like all the insect eggs were frozen to death in the past two years.
Thinking this, he packed up all the farm tools, finished work, and went home.
The first thing I do when I get home is take a nice, hot shower.
I don't rush to wash the dirty clothes when they're piled up; I'll do it when I've had enough rest.
I've been so exhausted lately; after a hot shower, I just collapse onto the sofa.
Looking at the blisters all over my hands, I had no choice but to get up, take out the first-aid kit, and apply some iodine.
There's no proper ointment, so I'll just apply some iodine solution to disinfect it.
After lying in bed for two days, I finally regained my energy.
I'm also thinking about planting some other things to decorate my home.
I plan to plant some grapes near the windshield.
When summer comes, the grapevines will cover the windshield, creating a truly picturesque scene.
Not to mention autumn, when bunches of glistening grapes hang everywhere.
The courtyard was paved with tiles, and I pried up some tiles on both sides of the windshield.
Then pile the paving stones in a circle around the exposed soil.
Dig up some fertile soil from the mountain and fill it in, then dig holes and plant grapes.
Now we just need to wait patiently for the grapes to sprout and grow.
I'm still not satisfied, and I'm planning to plant some other things as well.
Then I planted some soapberry and mint around the perimeter of the yard.
Peppermint can be used to repel insects or clear heat and detoxify, while soapberries can be collected to make soap or shampoo.
It would be wonderful to imagine several large soapberry trees growing outside the yard in the future. They would provide shade and produce fruit that we could use.
I'm satisfied now; I feel like I've planted everything I wanted to plant and everything that should be planted.
However, a few days later, a new problem arose for me.
One morning, when I was about to sweep the yard, I suddenly noticed that the area around the grape trough was a mess.
The soil inside was dug up everywhere, and even the grape seeds that had sprouted were dug out.
Looking at the sprouting grape seeds, I really felt sorry for them.
I angrily called Xiaodi and Xiaogua over.
It was immediately obvious who had done the bad thing.
Little Earth's eyes gleamed, and he sat there with his tongue lolling out, looking smug.
Little Gua, with his shifty eyes and head down, looked hesitant and never dared to look at me.
Xiao Gua's guilty look really made me both laugh and cry.
I caught Little Melon, pressed its head against the grape trough, and gave it a good spanking.
Xiao Gua didn't say a word; this kid is quite patient.
After scolding the little melon, I carefully put the sprouted grape seeds back and replanted them in the soil.
Since then, the grape seeds here have never been harmed again.
It seems that Xiaogua has learned his lesson, which brings some comfort to his mother.
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