Chapter 139 Want to Build a Greenhouse
When Gu Yan came in after dinner, he saw Li Wanqing looking at her son with empty eyes.
"Wife, what are you thinking about?" Gu Yan asked softly.
Li Wanqing came back to her senses: "Ah? I was just thinking that now that I'm out of confinement and feeling well, should we go back to the mountains?
There is not much meat left in the space. We need to hunt enough beef and mutton for a year. Deer meat is nourishing, so I also want to get some more.
Don't you still want to catch calves and lambs? Now is the perfect time.
And I also want to get some dried fruits, such as walnuts, pine nuts, hazelnuts, etc., to keep for teeth grinding in winter.
Also, I didn’t catch any wild ducks last year, so I plan to catch a few more this year to make some duck soup for the winter.”
Gu Yan had wanted to go into the mountains for a long time, but he was busy with the autumn harvest first, and then Li Wanqing was in confinement after giving birth, so he had no time.
Now that Li Wanqing brought it up, he certainly wanted to agree immediately, but when he thought of the child, Gu Yan frowned.
"What about the child? And is your body able to handle it?" Gu Yan asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, and I'm not tired. I have my own space, and we can sleep in it at night.
There is no need to rush during the day, just rest when you are tired.
As for Xuanxuan, let him stay in the space. He sleeps more than he wakes up now anyway." Li Wanqing said.
Gu Yan thought about it carefully and decided that it was okay. He would pay more attention and let his wife have more rest.
"Okay, but I still have to be busy for a few days. I've harvested all the grain, but I haven't planted the winter wheat yet. I'm plowing the soil these days.
I had to keep an eye on it for a few more days, and just in time the new grain came in, so I sold last year's old grain in the cellar and replaced it with this year's new grain.
Let someone pick the new rice and we'll eat it ourselves." Gu Yan thought for a moment and said.
“Okay, just wait until you’re done, there’s no rush.
We're going to spend the winter in the county town this year, so we need to prepare more firewood.
By the way, do you think we should build a greenhouse on the farm so that we can have green leafy vegetables to eat in winter?
If we can't eat it ourselves, we can sell it to restaurants. Vegetables are more expensive than meat in winter." Li Wanqing suddenly remembered that there were outsiders at home, and she couldn't take out the vegetables in her space in winter.
I suddenly had the idea of building two greenhouses.
Not only in the farm, but also in the house where they live, although the yard is paved with blue bricks, crops can be planted across the yard. There is also a garden, so crops can be planted in winter.
"Greenhouse? What is a greenhouse?" Gu Yan had never heard of what a greenhouse was.
"It's just..." Li Wanqing simply described the appearance of the modern greenhouse to Gu Yan.
I just thought of plastic sheets, which are warm and light-transmitting. I don’t have to worry about light problems when growing vegetables in winter.
There were no plastic sheets in ancient times. Keeping warm was easy, so oilcloth could be used. However, oilcloth was not transparent, so sunlight could not penetrate it, which was also a problem.
It seems that I still need to try it at home first. If it is successful, I can plant it on a large scale in the farm.
Seeing that Gu Yan was still pondering whether this method would work, Li Wanqing quickly continued, "Forget about it this year. Let's try it at home first. While we're back in the mountains, let Uncle Liu build a two-meter-high earth wall in the garden.
Cut some more bamboo and buy some more oilcloth, and we'll experiment with it ourselves in winter."
Gu Yan was also wondering if the greenhouse was feasible. He didn't know much about farming, and was thinking about going to the farm to ask the tenant farmers when he had time, but Li Wanqing said that they were no longer planting on a large scale on the farm.
Gu Yan thought it would be okay to try it in the garden. No matter whether it could be grown or not, it would just be a matter of putting in some effort.
There's nothing to do in the middle of winter, so I'm just sitting around doing nothing.
"Okay, I'll listen to you." Gu Yan said.
In fact, Gu Yan thought that this was completely Li Wanqing's fantasy. It was so cold in winter and the ground was frozen hard. How could it be possible to grow vegetables?
However, he never refutes any decision made by his wife. He just does whatever his wife says.
Next, the two of them talked about some precautions for building a greenhouse. Of course, it was mainly Li Wanqing who spoke, and Gu Yan listened silently and kept them in mind.
In the next few days, Gu Yan still got up every morning and went to the farm to oversee the tillage, planting winter wheat and rapeseed.
Li Wanqing instructed Uncle Liu to make adobe bricks. It would be a bit of a waste to use green bricks for a greenhouse, so adobe bricks were just right.
Li Wanqing had visited the greenhouse to pick fruits in modern times, and she planned to follow that pattern.
There were walls on the east, west, and north sides, and the purlins and beams that the roof should have were all there, but instead of tiles, they were covered with oilcloth, and on top of that, straw mats were spread.
In this way, when the weather is warm in winter, the straw curtains and oilcloth can be lifted to let the sunlight in.
For the south side, split bamboo, roast it over fire, and make it into the required curvature.
The bamboo splits are also covered with oilcloth and straw curtains.
Of course, these are all Li Wanqing's ideas. Uncle Liu is still making bricks, and they cannot be used immediately after they are made. They have to wait for them to dry completely.
Before all the bricks were taken off, Gu Yan had finished his work and it was time for them to go back to the mountains.
"Madam, please let me go with you. You have to go back by yourself to take care of the children and cook." Aunt Qiu looked at Xuanxuan with reluctance.
"Yes, young master, take us with you. We can do anything like digging herbs. It's not right for the master to go out to work while we sit at home doing nothing." Uncle Liu also said.
"No need, you have work to do at home. Once Uncle Liu's adobe bricks are dry, you can build the three walls of the greenhouse.
If you have time, take off more bricks.
Aunt Qiu, take Guangming with you to help Uncle Liu.
Oh, and we need to make two more sets of cotton-padded jackets for Xuanxuan, one for each of Gu Yan and me. You have quite a bit of work to do, too.
Also, don't forget to feed the chickens in the backyard, and you don't need to save the eggs they lay, just eat them directly." Li Wanqing arranged things for them.
As for eggs, in order to make it easier to eat them, Li Wanqing asked Gu Yan to take ten chickens from the farm.
The chickens lay eggs very diligently, and they can collect six or seven eggs every day, which is more than enough for their family to eat.
Aunt Qiu and the others would not eat eggs unless Li Wanqing told them to.
Li Wanqing was actually very satisfied with this. It wasn't that she was mean, she just didn't lack this.
But this is the rule. Human hearts are the most unpredictable. If the rules are not followed from the beginning, Li Wanqing is afraid that she will whet people's appetites.
It would not be good if I treated her home as my own in the future.
"Thank you, Madam. I understand. But you all have to be careful, especially the young master. You must not catch a cold.
There are also soups. Young Madam, you should eat more of them. You have oily milk, which is what they say means that the better you eat, the more milk you produce.
If the food is not good enough, there won’t be enough milk for the baby.”
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