Looking at the broken wood and the silver ear fungus, Song Anxin felt like she had forgotten something. Broken wood, silver ear fungus, broken wood, silver ear fungus... silver ear fungus... silver ear fungus... wood ear fungus, wood ear fungus!?
Suddenly, Song Anxin's mind lit up! She slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "No wonder that dark thing looked so familiar! It was wood ear fungus growing on that dark tree that tripped me!"
Lin Fengnian was startled by his mother and looked at her with concern. Granny Wei also hurriedly asked if the lady was feeling unwell.
Song Anxin waved her hand and said, "It's alright, Fengnian, let's go up the mountain again."
"Granny Wei, have Anfu, Anshou, Qingshan, Qingfeng... come with us to the mountain."
Upon reaching the mountain, Song Anxin gave instructions to Qingshan, Qingfeng, and Anfu... The group first went to cut down oak trees, specifically those seven to ten years old with a diameter of twelve to twenty centimeters. After cutting them down, they needed to be left for a few days to prune the branches, then sawn into logs about one meter long, piled in a grid pattern, and covered with leaves and straw to maintain temperature and allow for fermentation...
Next, we need to cultivate the spores, inoculate them by digging holes, seal the pile, turn it over, and place it in the ear canal, etc.
Song Anxin led Lin Fengnian to the spot where she had tripped. She picked up the clusters of dark gray, cloud-like things on the rotten wood, which turned out to be wood ear fungus.
Song Anxin was overjoyed, never expecting to find two kinds of fungi in one day, and she quickly picked them.
Although Lin Fengnian was puzzled, he helped his mother pick the fruit. He asked:
"Mom, why are we picking these things? Why are you so happy?"
Song Anxin explained to him, "This thing is called wood ear fungus. It's a kind of vegetable that you can eat. It's very delicious. When we get back, we'll ask Granny Zheng to make some for us to try, and you'll see."
Lin Fengnian didn't expect that this dark gray thing could be eaten, but if her mother said it was edible, then it must be.
Song Anxin searched the vicinity again and found that there were many dead trees in this area, all of which had wood ear fungus growing on them. It was probably because this place was close to the deep mountains, and the trees provided shade and made it damp after rain. When the weather warmed up, the temperature rose, so the wood ear fungus sprouted.
She and Lin Fengnian picked a lot of mushrooms and carried them down the mountain in baskets. They took the harvested mushrooms to the kitchen. When Granny Zheng saw the half-full basket of stuff, her eyes widened.
"This... this... young lady, where did you get this thing, young master?!"
"I can't believe it," Granny Zheng asked, pointing with a trembling finger.
"I picked them on the mountain. There are still some good ones on the mountain, but they haven't fully grown yet. We'll have to wait a while before we can pick them," Lin Fengnian explained casually.
Granny Zheng almost fainted. "Oh my! What a blessed place this mountain is! This morning I heard Granny Sun say that you found silver ear fungus on the mountain, and now you have cloud ear fungus. Cloud ear fungus is a tribute item selected for the capital!"
"However, this kind of cloud ear fungus, which is not as good as the cloud ear fungus from the north, cannot be listed as a tribute. But it is still precious and is even more difficult to find in the ordinary market. Only wealthy families and high-ranking officials can afford to eat it."
Lin Fengnian was shocked. He was already surprised by the snow-white, lotus-like silver ear fungus, but he hadn't expected this dark gray food to be so precious. He asked:
"Mother, shall we still eat it?"
Song Anxin thought to herself, "So this kind of wood ear fungus is called cloud ear fungus in this era, and it's so precious. This stuff is much easier to grow than silver ear fungus, and you can harvest several crops." She said, "..."
"Eat, of course you'll eat! In the future, I'll make sure you can eat whatever you want whenever you want."
——————
In the study of the mansion, Song Anxin was writing down the ingredients for the cultivation nutrient blocks of black fungus: 80% sawdust, 20% rice bran, and a layer of gypsum powder...
“Mother, I see that both cloud ear fungus and silver ear fungus grow on trees, so why can’t we use the same method to grow silver ear fungus to grow cloud ear fungus?” Lin Fengnian asked from the side.
Song Anxin blew the ink dry, quite satisfied. Hmm, it seems her calligraphy practice has been pretty good lately.
Seeing his mother like this, Lin Fengnian leaned over and took a peek.
Lin Fengnian: "..." Mother's handwriting is still as "unrestrained and unconventional" as ever.
Song Anxin didn't immediately respond to Lin Fengnian's question, but instead asked, "Fengnian, how are the mushrooms in the mushroom house doing now?"
Lin Fengnian was taken aback by his mother's sudden change of heart, but he still told her everything in detail:
"After some improvements to the substrate, the mushrooms can be produced in just half a month after the inoculum is added. Our mushrooms grow well and the restaurants love them. However, we only have two rooms to cultivate mushrooms. After the duck egg shop hired new workers, they added several more restaurants to their supply. These restaurants also want our mushrooms, and some restaurants also want to buy from us, but we can't provide such a large quantity right now."
Song Anxin nodded and said, "Then the price isn't as high now as it was in winter, right?"
"Yes, Mother, spring is the season when mushrooms grow, so naturally the price will drop. For example, the most expensive morel mushrooms used to sell for 80 or 90 coins a pound, but now they only sell for 60 coins a pound."
Lin Fengnian thought for a moment and then said, “Mother, I think we can expand the mushroom house. Although there will be more and more mushrooms as the weather gets warmer, our mushrooms are of good quality and we have selected several good varieties to grow. People will naturally choose our mushrooms first, and the price will not be much different. Moreover, we can also dry the mushrooms when the weather gets warmer.”
Song Anxin nodded and said, "In a bountiful year, you will be in charge of expanding the mushroom house. The side house for storing silver ear fungus also needs to be built. As for the money, you can just ask Meizi for it."
"Mother, what about cloud ear fungus? Don't we need to find a place for it?" Lin Fengnian asked.
Song Anxin shook her head: "You just asked me why I don't use the same method to grow cloud ear fungus as to grow silver ear fungus. It's because cloud ear fungus is easier to grow and easier to produce fungi than silver ear fungus. Using broken wood is not only a waste of resources but also only allows for one harvest. However, using cultivation blocks allows for three to four harvests. Moreover, using cultivation blocks is simpler and easier for villagers to learn."
"Mother, are you going to plant this for the villagers?" Lin Fengnian asked in surprise.
Song Anxin explained carefully, "To be precise, it's for the workshop in Linjia Village. Our family needs to grow mushrooms and silver ear fungus, and you also need to keep an eye on the potatoes and peppers. If we also start growing cloud ear fungus, I'm afraid you won't be able to manage it all. By outsourcing this business, our family won't need to work so hard."
Moreover, only by pooling the resources of the entire village can large-scale planting be achieved; it's time for the Linjia Village workshop to add a new collective livelihood.
"In a bountiful year, the method for making these wood ear mushroom cultivation blocks is similar to that for mushroom culture media, as is the cultivation of the spawn. I'll need you to go to the Linjia Village workshop to provide more guidance."
Lin Fengnian nodded to indicate that he understood. He was indeed too busy to manage everything, including building houses, planting new crops, and working in the fields. However, his family would also receive a share from the village collective, which would not only provide new income for the villagers but also save his family some trouble.
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