Chapter 116 Ramie
Now the sun is no longer shining brightly during the day, and unless there is something going on at home or there is an occasional drizzle, most of the time Dahuang will take the sheep out to graze early in the morning.
Since the two of them didn't have any urgent work to do, they would often go along, allowing Dahuang to play with the children for a while.
The more sheep eat, the more they poop.
Mu Xi would scrape out a large pile of organic fertilizer from the sheep pen every two days.
After the heavy rain stopped and the weather became a little cooler, Zhao Yeqing sowed seeds in the fields again, and now seedlings have sprouted.
She did not give up and planted peppers and tomatoes. Now the seedlings are 30 centimeters tall. The white radishes prepared for the winter have also sprouted.
The old people say that if you eat radishes in winter and ginger in summer, you don’t need a doctor to prescribe medicine.
As a child raised by elders, these words are more deeply engraved in my heart than all the years of exam-oriented education in school.
Zhao Yeqing planted two long rows of white radishes. Today he will take fertilizer to spread on two plots of grain land, and also spread some fertilizer on the vegetable garden.
After spreading the seeds in the vegetable garden, she no longer needed to carry the child when going out. She put a bridle on Xiaohong and led her to the wheat field.
The wheat field is now full of green wheat seedlings. It has been more than twenty days since sowing.
The wheat seedlings have already grown three small tender leaves and are about to enter the tillering stage.
The progress of highland barley and wheat is similar. The early harvest in the later period is mainly because the wheat seedlings will stop growing when the temperature reaches about three or four degrees, and will only start to grow again when the spring comes and the flowers bloom.
However, highland barley can withstand temperatures as low as minus ten degrees Celsius and can grow and mature in winter.
Barley needs more water than wheat. If there is no rain for a long time, it needs to replenish water.
But you can't irrigate it like you do rice. It likes to drink water but it can't be too humid.
The seedlings are fresh and delicious now, so she has to pay attention to them all the time to prevent aphids from eating the tender leaves.
There are many things to take care of when farming, but she never gets tired of it.
If she didn't have to consider all aspects of survival and have so many distractions, she would have been able to take care of these two plots of food and the small vegetable garden behind her house all day long.
Looking at the lush seedlings growing, in addition to the sense of accomplishment, what is more exciting is seeing the seeds that I planted with my own hands break through the soil in the blink of an eye, breaking through the heavy burden.
She liked that kind of vigorous vitality, which was why she decided to resign and return to Meishan.
Now it seems that she was so foresighted. If she was still in the city at that time, she would not know whether she would still be alive now.
Not to mention the meadows and mountains.
Zhao Yeqing suppressed the upward curve of his lips. He couldn't think about it any further. If he thought about it any further, he would laugh out loud.
After fertilizing both fields, Zhao Yeqing took Xiaohong by the hand and returned home humming a little tune.
Mu Xi was making a table in the yard. They planned to have two tables at home. One was a rectangular table used as a desk, where they would sometimes look at some leftover materials and take notes. They also needed to record data about the sheep and fields at home.
There is also a small round table in front of the fireplace.
In addition to the wooden chair in front of the desk, there are also two rocking chairs placed next to the small round table.
According to Zhao Yeqing's idea, in winter, the fireplace would be lit, and the two would sit in a rocking chair in front of the fireplace, with snacks on the table. Snow was falling outside, and the house was warm.
Mu Xi was not a person who knew how to live life particularly well, but when he thought of the scene of the two of them sitting in front of the fireplace, he couldn't help but curl his lips.
He had never made a rocking chair before, and it took him a lot of time to adjust the angle, making sure that the chair could rock while also not causing the chair to lose balance and fall over when leaning back.
It took another two days for him to finish the table and chairs.
Zhao Yeqing drew the design of the sheep pen. It was not difficult as long as it was built so that it did not leak air. Then there was the problem of the rabbit pen.
Building a house may not necessarily help the rabbit survive the winter, so Zhao Yeqing thought it would be better to dig a hole underground according to the rabbit's own wintering habits.
By then, she will feed them enough food and they should be able to survive safely.
Mu Xi packed up his things early in the morning and planned to go and harvest the ramie.
There was nothing to do at home today, so Zhao Yeqing went along.
Ramie grows straight and tall, the tallest one is taller than her, and the stems are slightly thicker than a thumb.
The upward side of the leaf is green, the downward side is white, and there are small white hairs on both sides.
Only its long stems are needed to make hemp rope, and the leaves are usually used to feed pigs.
The two didn't know whether the sheep could be eaten, so they didn't dare to take it back to feed it.
He plucked the leaves from the ramie stalks right there and took them back.
Zhao Yeqing sat on the stone next to him wearing gloves, and smoothed the ramie that Mu Xi had cut from top to bottom with his hands, and all the leaves fell off.
This job was easy. She waited until Mu Xi had cut a small handful before starting. While waiting, she walked around and looked around.
After the weather returned to normal, there were more wild vegetables in the woods. Zhao Yeqing was picking the wild vegetables when she discovered something good.
He took a long branch, knocked the thing down from the tree, hid it quietly behind him, and walked to Mu Xi, "Close your eyes, I'll give you something to eat."
Mu Xi wiped the sweat from his forehead, closed his eyes and opened his mouth without asking, and the next second, a strangely shaped object was put into his mouth.
Before chewing, I could feel a hint of sweetness on the tip of my tongue.
"Chicken claw fruit?"
Zhao Yeqing took out a large bunch of things from behind him with a smile.
Chicken claw fruit is the name they use here. My colleagues at work call it jujube. Its scientific name is Hovenia dulcis, and it has the same ancestor as red dates.
Chicken feet fruit is very sweet, but she rarely eats it after high school.
The fruit tree was very tall, and there were many fruits densely packed on the tree. Zhao Yeqing didn't need Mu Xi's help, he just took a wooden stick and slowly knocked the fruits down.
He didn't stop until he had a whole bag full.
There was enough ramie piled up beside the stone, so she put the fruits aside and began to pick up the ramie leaves.
The ramie stalks after removing the leaves are not heavy, so they can be tied into bundles, put on the cart, and let Xiaohong pull it back.
As the two were about to leave, some peculiar sounds were heard in the woods, like something heavy falling to the ground, and then something moving quickly among the weeds.
It didn't sound like animals fighting, and there were no death cries. Instead, it sounded like a group of animals moving.
Those who can move in groups are not easy to deal with. The two of them did not intend to go and take a look beyond their capabilities, and were about to leave.
Suddenly the movement of animals stopped, replaced by the sound of hitting trees, and then roaring began.
Mu Xi's expression was stern, "It's a group of wild boars."
Zhao Yeqing felt scared. She almost killed just one of them, and now there was a group of them.
If you can't afford to offend, run away quickly.
At this time, Zhao Yeqing heard a familiar shout.
Her heart skipped a beat and she looked up at Mu Xi.
"Does this meowing sound familiar?"
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