Chapter 333 Spring Planting
The spring sowing at home can finally begin. The two spent three days waiting for the seeds to be dried, soaked and germinated. They also took time to go to the meadow to inspect its current condition.
I went out for a walk morning and night for several days in a row and made sure there were no signs of animal activity, such as jackals or wolves.
Apart from the most common deer and rabbits, most of them are herbivores. Of course there are carnivores as well, but they are basically martens or foxes that do not pose much of a threat. The two men finally let out the four dogs, cattle, sheep and horses that had been trapped for a year.
The livestock were safely delivered, and the two men began their sowing business.
The first thing to do, of course, is to grow rice from seeds into seedlings.
Before sowing vegetables, the greenhouse in the yard first becomes a seedling bed for two people to grow seedlings in a dry environment. After sowing the rice seeds, the plastic sheet that covered the greenhouse last year is covered on top to keep it warm.
The cold resistance of seeds during the germination stage is not as high as that of seedlings, so keeping warm during this period is particularly important.
Compared with rice, wheat is the most cold-resistant. Before sowing corn, the two men first scattered the processed wheat seeds into the ground.
After planting wheat, Zhao Yeqing thought that the temperature difference between morning and evening was still a bit large recently, so he planned to postpone the sowing of corn and rapeseed and plant sweet potatoes and potatoes in the vegetable garden outside first.
The two have already cultivated the sweet potato and potato seedlings indoors, and they just need to put the seedlings and tubers in the ground and cover them with soil.
The most suitable temperature for the development of sweet potato and potato seedlings is above 15 degrees. Although now is not the most suitable time to plant these two crops, they can survive and develop normally above ten degrees. In order to avoid the high temperatures when summer comes, planting them now still has more advantages than disadvantages.
Moreover, potatoes are a crop that likes coolness and is afraid of heat. Although sweet potatoes are not cold-resistant and like warmth, their growth will be inhibited if they encounter high temperatures above 35 degrees. Therefore, as long as they can survive, Zhao Yeqing wants to complete the sowing as soon as possible.
The vegetable plot outside the yard was not small, almost the same size as a grain field. After the two of them had made ridges in the vegetable plot and planted the sweet potatoes and potatoes, several days had passed.
Seeing that the temperature at noon can be maintained above ten degrees during this period, and the temperature at night will not drop below zero, I can safely move the peppers and strawberries in the house outdoors.
There is a drainage ditch under the wall behind a row of houses in the house. When it rains, the water flowing down from the eaves drips down the tiles and falls into the ditch. Therefore, the area under the eaves in the backyard is the coolest and most humid place.
Zhao Yeqing moved several taro plants in the basement to the side of the drainage ditch. After a winter, none of the taro plants died, but their growth was inhibited and the fruits did not expand much. They were moved to the ground to continue growing.
Once these are dealt with, we can start sowing corn and rapeseed.
Normally, corn can be planted in the south for three seasons, basically around March to April. However, the two had the same idea as before when they planted potatoes and sweet potatoes. The weather is special now, and as long as they can germinate normally when planted in the ground, even if it is slow, they want to plant them in the ground as early as possible to avoid the subsequent high temperatures.
With the current temperature, Zhao Yeqing is already very satisfied that he can grow two crops a year, let alone three.
The corn field was the largest, and the two men bent over and scattered the seeds little by little. After planting, they could hardly straighten their backs.
Before going to bed, Mu Xi gave Zhao Yeqing a massage while he was lying on the bed. The strength in his hands was neither too light nor too heavy. Zhao Yeqing felt both pain and comfort while humming.
Mu Xi said with some distress: "When I was looking for the iron plow, I wanted to see if there was a seed drill. Unfortunately, there are too few houses in the village below the mountain that were not buried. Apart from this plow, I couldn't find any other tools that could be used. After the spring planting, I will try to see if I can make one myself, so that it will be easier next time I plant seeds."
After all, human energy is limited. There are many things to do at home, including breeding and planting, and resisting external dangers. Zhao Yeqing had thought about making a seed drill before, but he completely forgot about it when he got busy.
"This is possible. I feel that the principle is not very difficult. It's just that the control quantity and accuracy are a bit troublesome. We can study it during the slack season after spring sowing."
Corn is sown by the snow sowing method, which is to open small holes in the corn field and put two seeds in each hole. Some people also put three seeds out of habit. After the seedlings emerge, two plants are pulled out and only one is left to continue growing.
This is to ensure that seedlings grow in every pit. Some people also allow two or three seedlings in the pit to continue growing, but such a sowing density is not conducive to the subsequent enlargement of corn fruits.
If Zhao Yeqing only wanted to use the corn in this field as silage, she might have adopted this method, but this time she wanted to harvest the corn berries, so she only put two seeds in each small hole, and after the seedlings emerged, she would pull out all but one, leaving behind.
Judging from the previous sowing results, the germination rate of the corn they saved for seeds was pretty good, so two seeds should be enough.
Sowing seeds through snow is quite troublesome. You have to control the number of seeds after sowing and cover them with soil. If the time is too long, your waist will not be able to bear it.
After planting the corn field, they sowed the sweet potato stalks into the field. The sweet potato stalks also had to be sown in the field. The two men's old waists, which had become rusty after a whole winter of rest, were almost broken on the spot.
Fortunately, after several days of hard work, only rice and rapeseed were left.
Before the rice seedlings are grown and transplanted, sowing rapeseed should be the simplest task. There is no need to cover the soil or bend over to sow the seeds. Just stand on the ground and evenly spread the fine rapeseed seeds into the soil.
Zhao Yeqing was slowly sowing rapeseed in the field, and Mu Xi started making a scarecrow.
During this period, you can hear birds singing in the morning sky. These birds that flew away to who knows where before the winter and successfully survived the severe cold have probably flown back.
The birds, which had traveled a long distance, were now staring hungry, and they were even more eager for the grain seeds in the fields.
In winter, when the temperature was not that low, Zhao Yeqing had a small harvest from the pumpkins he planted in the basement.
She kept the most straight-looking one for seeds after it grew old, hoping that all pumpkins would be as straight next year.
The flesh inside the pumpkin for seeds will gradually dry up, leaving only the seeds inside, and the outside is just an empty round pumpkin shell.
After Zhao Yeqing dug out the seeds, he retained the original shape of the pumpkin, and now he was making a pumpkin-headed scarecrow for Mu Xi.
Unfortunately, there was only one pumpkin, and scarecrows had to be planted in several fields, so Zhao Yeqing placed the most beautiful one in the wheat field closest to his home.
During the day, the sun shone on the grass, and the breeze blew gently, causing the tattered clothes wrapped around the scarecrow to sway gently in the wind.
The grass on the lawn has grown to about seven or eight centimeters high, and it is crisp yellow-green everywhere you look.
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