Chapter 272 Essential Oils
Pigs like to poop under the wall farthest from the trough, so Mu Xi dug a long trough there, which makes the pigpen cleaner and easier to clean.
Rice straw was laid on the floor of the pigpen, and the little wild boar lay down and fell asleep as soon as it was put in.
Remembering his previous idea of shaving his hair, Zhao Yeqing washed his hands, went back to the tool room, took out the electric clipper and plugged it in to charge.
We cannot shear the sheep today as it is almost dark and it will still be a bit chilly at night. Sheep will get sick easily if shaved. We can only shear them around noon tomorrow.
Shearing work is best done by two people working together for the highest efficiency. Although the sheep at home are relatively obedient, they sometimes suddenly convulse, and it hurts when their buttocks are kicked.
The white wool was pushed down one by one with the sound of the electric clipper, and three full sacks of wool were obtained.
After the sheep were shaved, all of them were bare except for one head, which was left ready for slaughter.
Zhao Yeqing was processing the newly shaved wool at home, and Mu Xi planned to go to the orchard to take a look.
There were already quite a few fruits when I went there last time. Maybe I can pick some ripe ones this time.
With the experience of being bitten by leeches last time, Mu Xi was particularly cautious this time and was fully armed. He wore a hooded coat and tightened the elastic band on the hood, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
The leaves of the citrus trees are shiny and glossy, contrasting with the golden sunlight, and the whole orchard looks shiny from a distance.
Mu Xi walked around the orchard and didn't find any ripe and yellow fruits.
The largest fruit is about five or six centimeters in diameter, so it should be ripe, but the skin is still green.
Is this a green tangerine?
He remembered that when he was a child, fruit farmers near Meishan would also grow green-skinned tangerines. The skin was very thin, only about one millimeter thick.
Mu Xi picked one and when he tore open the skin he discovered that the flesh inside was already very long and full, and the color was lighter than that of normal citrus fruits.
Tear off a petal and put it in your mouth, it is 70% sweet and 30% sour.
Mu Xi loves sweet things and can’t stand sour things. As soon as the citrus fruits entered his mouth, he squinted his eyes because of the sourness.
But this should be what Zhao Yeqing likes.
I raised my hand and gently pinched each fruit of the right size. I discarded the hard ones, and picked the slightly soft ones and put them in a basket to take back.
Only about a dozen fruits are ripe, and most of them will take about another month.
It was already evening and getting dark when Mu Xi brought the fruit home.
Zhao Yeqing is watering the crops in the field. The current temperature is more suitable for watering in the evening. The sun at noon is still strong enough but will not cause the plants to dry out. Watering in the evening is the gentlest way and can keep tomorrow's crops moist all day.
Mu Xi handed her the half-eaten tangerine and took the watering scoop from her hand.
"Green tangerine?"
Zhao Yeqing was a little surprised, but when he saw that only half of the tangerine was left, he blinked and asked, "Only one is ripe?"
Mu Xi shook his head, "There's more in the basket."
Got it, that's a bit sour.
Zhao Yeqing put the citrus pulp to the tip of his nose and smelled it. The unique freshness and sour fragrance rushed into his nasal cavity. The saliva in his mouth was secreted rapidly, and he couldn't wait to taste a petal.
Sweet and sour, so delicious!
The flesh is juicy, I wonder if it is because the high temperature just passed during the fruit swelling period and it rained heavily.
The small grains of fruit flesh burst between the teeth, the sweet and sour juice bursts out instantly, and the fruity aroma fills the mouth.
Unlike the soft flesh of sugar oranges, the flesh of green mandarin oranges is slightly crispy and tastes more like an orange with a thicker flesh wall, which is very refreshing to eat.
Zhao Yeqing finished half of the tangerine in two bites. Not yet satisfied, he took another one from the basket.
The sour taste as soon as she took a bite made her squint her eyes involuntarily. Not every tangerine is 70% sweet. The one she opened was probably only 40% sweet.
Zhao Yeqing had an idea and moved closer to Mu Xi, raising his hand to feed him as if nothing had happened.
Mu Xi didn't want to eat it at first, but thinking that it wasn't very sour, and it was Zhao Yeqing who fed it to his mouth, he opened his mouth and ate it obediently.
In an instant, Zhao Yeqing saw Mu Xi's face wrinkled into a ball, and he turned around and ran away without hesitation.
All that was left was a series of laughs from Mu Xi, who was confused on the spot.
Mu Xi, shivering from the sourness, swallowed the fruit in his mouth anyway. He had not finished the work in his hands yet, so he had no choice but to continue watering the plants.
After finishing the work, I wanted to take revenge, but who is Zhao Yeqing?
On the dinner table that night was a large plate of steamed sweet potatoes that Mu Xi had not been able to eat the last time he was injured in Yunwu Mountain.
This made Mu Xi laugh, "Okay, okay, let's play it this way, huh?"
Zhao Yeqing blinked his big eyes, looking like he didn't understand what you were saying.
Mu Xi could only pick up the chopsticks angrily and eat without saying a word.
What can I do? After all, I have to be grateful to the one who has eaten my food.
From then on, Mu Xi refused to eat any of the remaining tangerines, no matter how Zhao Yeqing coaxed him to open his mouth.
But even so, every time he refused, Zhao Yeqing would be reminded of Mu Xi's wrinkled face at that time.
Hahahaha, I kept laughing beside me.
Mu Xi snorted coldly, picked up the fruit peel she had just eaten on the table, took it out to wash and dry.
Dried citrus peels, whether yellow or green, can be made into dried tangerine peel, which is great for drinking in water or using in making medicine.
A month later, almost all the oranges were ripe, and Mu Xi picked them all.
In the end, the inexperienced Mu Xi discovered that the citrus trees in the orchard were not of the same variety, and two rows of trees were normal kumquats.
Originally I thought that the difference in fruit trees was caused by two different environments: one being shaded by the trees and the other being exposed to direct sunlight. I never thought that two varieties could be grown in such a small orange orchard.
Seeing that there were still yellow-peeled tangerines, Zhao Yeqing decided not to dry them to make tangerine peels this time. Instead, he planned to use the peels of the yellow-peeled tangerines to extract essential oils.
The peel of the yellow-peeled tangerine is relatively thick, which is most suitable for extracting essential oil.
Mu Xi thought that all essential oils were extracted by distillation, but Zhao Yeqing explained, "Citrus and lemon are not like that. High temperature and water extraction will affect the activity. It is best to directly cold press."
This was something the teacher mentioned casually in a chemistry class before. She didn't know any professional techniques, so she could only use the simplest pressing method.
Scrape off the innermost white veins of the tangerine peel, and then squeeze the orange peel in a small pressing device.
Zhao Yeqing asked Mu Xi to make a super small device according to the principle of their oil pressing machine, which is specifically used to extract orange peel essential oil.
Because it is not high-temperature distilled and the storage method is not very hygienic, there may be bacteria in the extraction process, so Zhao Yeqing's product is not for humans, but for plants.
Orange peel essential oil is very effective in killing red spider mites, and it is a natural ingredient and will not harm the human body.
But to extract enough essential oil, you have to peel off the fruit skin.
So the two of them got a huge bowl of citrus flesh, which they could not finish.
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