Chapter 263 Expansion
After thinking about it, I decided to give up. It’s not enough time. I have to wait until the corn seedlings are in the intercropping stage before sowing the red and green beans. Planting them at the same time will rob them of nutrients, which is not worth the effort.
The time is too tight, so we can only do various things.
It was dark after the corn was planted. The next day, Zhao Yeqing planted mung beans and red beans before starting to plant vegetables.
In this weather, you don’t have to limit yourself to growing vegetables in the basement. The original small vegetable garden can now continue to be used to grow vegetables.
Vegetables that can be stored for a long time are planted first, mainly green onions, cabbages and radishes, followed by vegetables such as Chinese spinach that can only be eaten for a short time.
Zhao Yeqing had to plow the soil in the vegetable garden again and mix in manure before he could start planting.
When she finished all this, Mu Xi also brought back a batch of materials.
After planting the vegetables, Zhao Yeqing had less things to do, so he continued to help make red bricks.
The original hay room was a wooden structure built with whole logs, so it should have been very stable. However, after years of wind and rain, even though it had support, it was still noticeably tilted.
The hay room cannot be demolished first, as if that were done there would be no place to put the things inside. The new house must be built first.
To build a new house, you have to expand the yard first.
The advantage of the yard originally built with cement boards is now reflected. First, the entire right wall is removed, and then the front and rear walls can be lengthened by one section, and then the right wall can be installed back.
Not counting the time it takes to wait for the new cement board to dry, it only takes one day to dig the foundation and install the fence.
After the yard was expanded, there was only a hay room on the right side of the main house. After the expansion, the breeding basement that originally extended to the outdoors was just included in the wall.
There are two large spaces in the front and back yards.
The area at the back has been dug into a basement, so nothing heavy can be built on top.
When Mu Xi was digging, he took into consideration that problems might arise if animals walked on it for too long. To prevent collapse, he reinforced the top and dug quite deep.
As long as it's not too heavy a load or building, it's totally fine to walk around for daily use.
Mu Xi said, "I'll build a small garden for you. Didn't the flowers and the azalea you planted last time fail to withstand the sun? Plant some more this time."
Zhao Yeqing thought that if he planted them, they would probably die in a few months, but then he thought it was not a big deal and it would make him feel good just looking at them.
"Then plant them. We don't have many varieties at home. When planting in the mountains, it's best to find plants that suit the climate. Let's go to the misty peaks. The temperature there is relatively low all year round, and the plant varieties we find may be more cold-resistant."
Mu Xi wiped his sweat and estimated the workload. "We can go in the next two days. Once we find the flowers, we can come back and start the work."
Zhao Yeqing was a little puzzled: "Don't you want to do the work first? The flowers come second."
He shook his head. “There is no end to the work. What’s most important is that you like it. We’ll go tomorrow.”
By the evening, Mu Xi had made all the red bricks needed.
The weather is not as hot as before when the temperature was over 50 degrees. It takes one or two days for the red bricks to dry before they can be fired.
He laid out the red bricks flat in the yard, waiting for the sun to come out tomorrow to dry.
Mu Xi smiled and raised his eyebrows and said, "Don't worry about it now, the progress will not be delayed."
Zhao Yeqing walked forward and held his hand, then put his hand in his palm, feeling warm in his heart. During the meal, he cooked a table full of sweet dishes.
Candied sweet potato, fried taro, sweet and sour carp, tomato with sugar and honey flower tea...
After doing physical work, I consume a lot of energy. In addition, the weather has been cooler recently, so my appetite has improved.
Mu Xi cleared all the food on the table.
"This fried taro is great. If we set out for the mountains tomorrow, we can make it and put it in a box to take with us."
Zhao Yeqing also thought that the taro was good. "Don't think about it. I barely dug up this taro. I can't bear to eat the rest. I have to wait for them to grow longer. But they can be used to make sweet potatoes."
The sweet potatoes and potatoes at home fill the entire small cellar, so we won’t have to worry about food this year.
It is safer to feed cattle and sheep with grass and corn. Feeding them with sweet potatoes is not cost-effective. If you accidentally feed them a sweet potato with black spots, the cattle and sheep will easily get sick and die.
All the sweet potatoes and potatoes in the cellar could only be eaten by the two of them.
Eating sweet potatoes alone is definitely enough, but Zhao Yeqing also wants to make some sweet potato vermicelli. The sweet potato vermicelli he made in Meishan before has been eaten up. When winter comes, he will want to eat cabbage and sauerkraut stewed with vermicelli, so it is better to prepare some now.
There are not too many sweet potatoes in the cellar, but not too few either. It is not enough to make vermicelli, but it is not easy to eat them all.
Zhao Yeqing estimated the amount of remaining sweet potatoes and took some sweet potato pieces to grow seedlings. He would plant them after the seedlings grew out in a few days.
The two of them did everything they needed to do in the evening and set out to look for flowers early the next morning.
Zhao Yeqing's idea was that in addition to finding beautiful flowers, he also wanted to find some wild vegetables, mushrooms and the like to satisfy his hunger.
There are also the tea trees that we discovered when we were exploring the road with Mu Xi. Logically, they should be producing tea seeds by now.
I just don't know if the previous heat will affect its fruiting.
The forest has not yet completely turned back to its original green after the high temperature and drought. The ground is covered with dead branches and fallen leaves. Your feet sink when you step on them. Stepping on the soft pine needles feels like stepping on a thick quilt.
The pine forest, which was originally dense, now appears a bit sparse, and the sunlight is no longer mottled spots of light, but patches of golden yellow.
Until they walked out of the pine forest, neither of them found any traces of animals or the sound of birds.
Outside the pine forest, the dense bushes and weeds that were originally bordering it were now covered with dead branches and leaves, with new grass buds just emerging, the tallest of which was only above the ankles.
The dead branches and leaves were also smashed to the ground by the hail, which made the road much easier to walk on.
All the way down to the bottom of the mountain, the only plants that were not affected at all and were even growing taller were the palm trees.
Two of the trees actually had fruit, and Zhao Yeqing planned to pick some and taste them when he came back.
When we got to the bottom of the mountain, the water level of the river should have dropped a lot, but it rained a few days ago, and it looked almost the same as before, except that the water was a little more turbid.
After crossing the stream and walking a few steps, you will see the tea trees.
As soon as he entered the mountain, he was hit by a noticeable coolness. Zhao Yeqing even found it a little magical. The altitude at the foot of the mountain was almost the same, but he didn't know why it was cooler than the other side.
When the environment is comfortable, people will not be impatient and will unconsciously slow down their pace.
When he walked under the tea tree and took a look, Zhao Yeqing, who had originally given up hope, suddenly had his eyes brightened.
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