Artificially cultivated ginseng takes 3 to 6 years to grow and eventually reach maturity.
When ginseng grows to a year old, it will grow a stalk with five leaves, which is called a palm-sized ginseng.
It will grow two stems with ten leaves after two years; this is called "two Jiazi".
Three years later, it will grow three stems with fifteen leaves, a condition called "lantern stand" or "three-petal leaf".
After four years, it will grow four stems with twenty leaves, which is called a four-leaf variety.
It will grow five stems with twenty-five leaves in five years, which is called the five-grade leaf.
In its sixth year, it grows to have six stems and thirty leaves, which is called a sixth-grade leaf.
Artificially cultivated ginseng should be harvested after six years, because at this time the content of ginsenosides, a nutrient in ginseng, is at its highest. If ginseng is further fertilized, toxins will accumulate and the quality will decline.
This is also the biggest difference between artificially cultivated ginseng and wild ginseng.
Wild ginseng grows in harsh environments and is very easy to die. Those that survive and live for hundreds of years have absorbed all the spiritual energy and essence of the sun and moon from nature and have no toxins accumulated.
Cui Xinni led them home first, placed the basket full of mountain produce in the shade under the eaves, and then poured the crayfish from the bottom of the basket into a basin of water.
"Mom, first grind the crayfish into juice on the small stone mill. When Dad and San Tiao come back tonight, we'll make crayfish tofu."
"Mom, I'll take Dongzi and the others to check on our ginseng field in a bit. Let's have elm and mushroom dumplings for lunch. You can prepare the filling first, and we'll wrap them together when I get back!"
Aunt Cui agreed, then asked her daughter, "Does the mother leopard eat at night too?"
"Yeah, let's eat together when my dad and the others get back!"
"Braised in soy sauce?"
"Okay, add some more potatoes!"
Li Xiangdong listened to the mother and daughter talking and found it quite interesting. It seemed that Cui Xinni was in charge of the Cui family!
The ginseng field belonging to the Cui family was not far from their house, about four miles away, on a 45-degree hillside covered with tall trees.
Sunlight filters through the tall trees and casts dappled patterns of light onto the ginseng leaves. This ginseng field is long and narrow, stretching as far as the eye can see!
Cui Xinni pointed to the lush green ginseng and said, "Look, this is my family's ginseng field. We grow transplanted ginseng, and we regularly weed, water, and fertilize it."
Ginseng grown this way is large and beautiful. Although the price per unit may not be as high as that of wild-grown ginseng, it has the advantage of high yield.
Li Xiangdong squatted down and carefully examined the ginseng beneath him. Most of them had fifth-grade or sixth-grade leaves. "Sister, this ginseng is big enough to lift, right?"
Speaking of this, Cui Xinni's face lit up with joy, "Yeah, we can lift it this year!"
Her father said that the price of ginseng offered by the medicinal herb company was high this year, and once this ginseng field was cleared out, it would all be sold to the medicinal herb company, with the money kept as her dowry!
He Chaochao asked her, "Xinnier, you only started implementing the household responsibility system here last year, so how come Uncle Cui has grown such a large patch of six-leaf ginseng this year?"
Upon hearing this, Cui Xinni sighed softly, "It's a long story. These were all ginseng fields from the previous brigade."
It turns out that although Zahatun is right next to the forest farm, their village does not rely on timber for its livelihood; they rely on ginseng cultivation!
Every year, a pharmaceutical company comes to Zahatun specifically to purchase ginseng, which is the most important source of income for the entire brigade.
Last year, the production brigade was disbanded, and all the land was to be contracted out to individual households. Everything else was easy to handle, but the ginseng fields in the village were difficult to deal with.
Why is it difficult to handle?
That's because some fields are planted with six-leaf shrubs, while others are planted with sedum!
Ginseng cultivation is all about timing. If someone gets a ginseng stem, they're clearly at a disadvantage compared to someone who gets a ginseng stem that has been growing for three years!
Some people have suggested allocating less land to families with sixth-grade leaves to balance the situation.
But when people thought about it carefully, they realized it wasn't right. Why should they? This land is where they make their living for a lifetime. They can't have less land just because the ginseng is big!
Everyone argued back and forth, but couldn't reach a conclusion. In the end, the old village chief made the final decision.
All the land was divided equally according to the population. Everyone drew lots. Those who drew the sixth leaf were considered lucky. Those who drew the lampstand should not blame God. They should blame their own bad luck!
After much deliberation, the group had no other good ideas and could only do this.
Of course, after the lottery was over, some people threw tantrums, some refused to admit it, and some shamelessly insisted on exchanging their lot with others.
In short, for this little bit of ginseng, good neighbors and good friends of many years almost tore each other apart.
Back then, for the sake of her family's sixth-grade leaf, her mother's best friend insisted on exchanging it, saying that her family had an only child and a light burden, while her family had three sons waiting to get married and urgently needed money.
Her mother certainly wouldn't agree, and the two sisters had a fierce fight and never spoke to each other again.
He Chaochao nodded in agreement, "Don't even mention this huge ginseng field, back home we'd even use sickles for a single pear tree growing on the back of a vegetable patch. My uncle's village is much better; everyone works together, and they earn more than other villages!"
Zhou Hongsong said, "That's because Xiang Dong and Uncle Jin are able to lead everyone to make money. Otherwise, you see, people are all the same!"
After a few sighs, the group concluded that it all came down to a few taels of silver.
Li Xiangdong had no time to think about these things; he was calculating the yield of this ginseng field.
"Sister, how many ginseng plants can your family's ginseng field produce?"
"The fresh ones weigh about five or six hundred jin, and the dried ones weigh about two hundred jin."
"How much do you sell them to the medicinal herb company for per kilogram?"
When the price was mentioned, Cui Xinni couldn't hide her excitement. She held up one finger, "Ten yuan!"
Li Xiangdong said "Oh," and his heart skipped a beat.
According to the price Cui Xinni mentioned, the total income from this ginseng field would be two thousand yuan. Dividing that by six years, the average annual income would be over three hundred yuan.
To be honest, that's a lot of money. How much does a regular worker earn these days?
However, there is an awkward aspect to ginseng cultivation: there is only one opportunity to earn money every six years. During these six years, they need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, and they can only earn money through other means to make money for social obligations.
This is probably why Uncle Cui and the others were so happy when they heard that Li Xiangdong wanted to buy wild boars!
Of course, there is another reason for this: this seemingly lush ginseng field may very well produce a bunch of rusty ginseng.
But rusty sea cucumbers don't fetch a good price!
Because they grow in large numbers under the forest canopy, in fertile soil, with leaves and grass on the surface and humus mixed with tree roots and grass roots underneath, if the ginseng grows in an excessively damp location, the roots of trees or shrubs will seep into the ginseng's skin. Such ginseng is called rusty ginseng.
The surface of rusty ginseng has a lot of rust, which makes it look less high-end. Therefore, the price of rusty ginseng is much lower than that of normal ginseng.
This is the situation that veteran ginseng farmers least want to encounter.
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