Chapter 185 Planning
The alkaline water rubbed out from the black-gray grass ash is naturally also black-gray in color.
It also has to go through a secondary filtration.
Mu Xi poured out the residue in the gauze, washed the gauze, spread it in a large iron pot, and poured the dark gray alkaline water into it for a second filtering.
After the second filtration, the alkaline water has to be left to settle.
He walked out of the kitchen and heard Zhao Yeqing rummaging through the original owner's house. He walked in and asked, "What are you looking for?"
Zhao Yeqing was so focused on looking that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him and was caught off guard and startled.
She covered her chest to calm down, glared at him and then replied, "Looking for seeds."
Mu Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and said innocently, "You didn't hear it yourself, but you're still glaring at me?"
Zhao Yeqing snorted and ignored him, continuing to search for things.
She continued to think in her mind. It seemed that the temperature would rise soon. Last time, she only found the vegetable seeds and planted the lettuce seedlings in advance. Now that the temperature at noon could rise above zero degrees, outdoor planting could be arranged, and various grains also had to be planned.
It is afternoon now. The sun is shining brightly today, pouring in through the window. There were too many things piled up in the original owner's house, and the environment was usually closed. Now Zhao Yeqing has been rummaging through it. Following the light, he can see the settled dust being blown up, entangled and floating in the sunlight.
Mu Xi opened the door and pulled Zhao Yeqing aside, "Stand here while I sort out the seeds. You look so dusty."
Zhao Yeqing also saw the dust in the sunlight at this moment, and held his breath instantly. He took two steps to the door, then let go.
Mu Xi dug out all the seeds, "These are more suitable for planting in early spring."
It can only be said that it is the end of winter now. Judging from the temperature, it will probably be spring next month.
The characteristics of early spring are alternating warm and cold weather, so crops need to be relatively cold-resistant.
Many crops are cold-resistant, but their seeds need to be grown in a warm environment.
Now that cilantro and lettuce are already grown indoors, there is no room for more.
It is best to first select a batch of seeds that are relatively cold-resistant, so as to save the tedious steps of raising seedlings indoors.
Zhao Yeqing looked at the crops that Mu Xi had selected, including celery, carrots, white radishes, and leeks.
She immediately manually ruled out the white radish she had been eating for the entire winter and was almost vomiting.
Some leafy vegetables can also be grown, such as Chinese cabbage and bok choy.
The vegetable seeds were fine, there were a lot of them, and she selected a few to try sowing later.
There are not many seeds left for cereals, the most common being rice, followed by wheat. But Zhao Yeqing also wants to plant some glutinous rice. There are not many seeds left for glutinous rice, and the weather is so unpredictable now, so she is a little worried that she will not get any harvest.
Just like her wheat field, it makes me sad just thinking about it.
"Then plant some vegetables first, and then plant other things when the temperature stabilizes."
Zhao Yeqing nodded and his eyes fell on a bag next to him. Through the thin red plastic bag, he could see the small round black seeds inside.
These are rapeseed seeds.
Rapeseed flowers are usually planted in spring in the north and in autumn in the south, but the current temperature is extremely hot in summer and even more extremely cold in winter.
If rapeseed is to be planted, it is estimated that it will have to be planted in early spring.
It takes four months for rapeseed to grow, but there are also early-maturing varieties that mature in more than two months.
Calculating based on four months, it is now October, which is equivalent to February in normal times.
Rapeseed is usually planted in early April, which means it can be planted the month after next, which is about the same time as rice.
At the same time, wheat and glutinous rice can also be planted, provided the weather is good enough.
It seems that there is still more than a month of free time, but after the snow melts next month, the land has to be prepared before sowing, the seeds have to be dried and raised, and vegetables have to be planted when there is time.
Except for the winter with heavy snow when there is not much to do, farmers have almost no free time at other times.
Her bones, which had been lazy for a whole winter, were finally moving.
Mu Xi brought a small stool and a small notebook and handed them to her. Zhao Yeqing sat down and wrote down the to-do items one by one.
In addition to the crops to be planted in spring, pasture also needs to be planted. The situation on the meadow is more complicated than before. I wonder if those animals that do not belong to this area have returned.
It is also necessary to inspect the condition of the meadow before grazing to prevent the cattle and sheep from being let out and never coming back.
She was recording and planning here, while Mu Xi watched the time and went to feed the cattle and sheep.
Cows are okay because they are small in number and easy to manage, but sheep are not the same.
After giving birth, the ewes must be kept alone, and the lambs must also be kept together and alone to avoid the situation where they compete for milk and go without getting any.
When feeding, a ewe is led out, and then a lamb is led out. After feeding, the next one is replaced.
A ewe has one lamb. After feeding the lamb, the sheep is taken back home first, and the ewe's milk is squeezed.
Zhao Yeqing mentioned this in the morning that he wanted to try making goat cheese. He wanted to follow the same method of pulling and folding as he did last time to make cow cheese to see if he could make the same stringy goat cheese.
He took all the goat milk he had squeezed out today to the kitchen and saw that the alkaline water in the pot had almost settled.
The originally dark gray alkaline water turned into a grayish yellow-green color, and some of the precipitated water was scooped out with a ladle.
Then he lit the firewood in the fire pit, started a big fire and began to boil water.
Stir while heating to evaporate any water in the pot.
As the water content gradually decreases, grayish-white powder appears on the wall of the iron pot. Shovel the powder into the water at the bottom of the pot that has not completely evaporated and continue cooking.
Until the water in the pot is completely evaporated, leaving only a thick layer of white sediment at the bottom of the pot.
Mu Xi pulled out two burning sticks of firewood, stuck them into the ashes in the fire pit to extinguish them, then turned down the fire and started to stir-fry the alkali.
The last bit of water vapor in the grayish-white alkali at the bottom of the pot evaporates completely, and the fried food is ready to be served when it turns slightly yellow.
The fried alkali will have some lumps, but there is no need to grind it with a pestle. Just use the bottom of a spoon to gently crush it and it will turn into powder.
That's it.
Zhao Yeqing took the notebook for records and plans back to the room and put it away. When he walked into the kitchen, he smelled a distinct alkaline smell.
"Done?"
She leaned over to take a look.
Mu Xi: "It's ready. You said this morning that you wanted to make goat cheese, and I've got the goat milk."
The last time Zhao Yeqing was doing it, he was busy and didn't watch carefully. This time he watched more carefully and learned it so that she wouldn't have to do it next time.
Zhao Yeqing took down the iron pan for frying, put up the cooking pot, poured the goat milk in and started heating it.
Just like making cow cheese, once the flocs are scooped out, a large pot of whey is left.
She leaned in and smelled it, but there was no smell of sheep.
She turned around and blinked, "Mu Xi, do you want to eat whey cookies?"
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