Chapter 57: Reed Field
Reeds are more popular with livestock than water hyacinths. The plants contain nutrients. Fresh reed stems and leaves and dried reed grass can be fed to cattle and sheep. However, dried reeds must be fermented into silage like water hyacinths before they can be fed to cattle and sheep.
In addition, reeds have many uses. The rhizomes are edible and can be used for stir-frying, stewing, making reed root and mung bean soup, reed root chicken soup, reed root stalk rice porridge... The rich crude fiber contained in them can accelerate intestinal peristalsis and promote gastrointestinal absorption.
Reeds can also be used as medicine. Reed roots are used to clear heat, reed flowers are used to detoxify, and reed stems and roots are important medicinal materials for treating plague.
Reeds also contain a lot of cellulose, which can be used to make paper and mats.
Residents living in the reed marshes also use reeds to make reed flutes, brooms, mats, beds, houses, etc.
Reeds are full of treasures, and the endless reed marsh before our eyes is very inspiring.
The rainfall has decreased in the past few days and is no longer enough to support the yachts and steamships to continue their progress.
Instead of being forced to stop in the middle of the river, it is better to stay here for a while and rest.
Dahei and Xiaohei howled excitedly, and several brown birds suddenly flew out from the reed marsh.
It's quite big, probably at least two or three kilograms.
As a forest ranger, Lu Zhifeng recognized at a glance that this was a large wading bird. Its scientific name is Hemp Claw, and local people generally call it Pu Chicken.
Because when it opens its wings, it looks like a palm-leaf fan, and when it runs, it looks like a half-grown chicken.
Lu Zhifeng said happily: "Puff chickens can't fly very high or very far. If we go down now, we should be able to catch a few."
Shen Baoying smiled and said, "Then we have a plan for dinner tonight."
Lu Zhifeng was eager to try. He knew many ways to lure prey and thought catching the Pugu would be a piece of cake.
Jiang Si used a telescope to observe the surrounding terrain. He did not see any lurking people or any signs of wild animals, so he used an anchor to anchor himself underwater.
The boat is only fixed with an anchor, and its position will move as the water fluctuates.
Qin Shen and Jiang Linhai jumped off the boat, nailed several strong wooden stakes around the reed marsh, and then tied the boat to the mooring post.
After making sure that the three boats were stable, Jiang Si and Lu Zhifeng went down to the reed field with traps, backpacks, and sickles.
The reed fields were mostly soft mud, and Jiang Si was wearing suspender boots, which made it convenient for him to harvest the reeds with a sickle.
In a short while, they had cut half a basket of reeds.
Suddenly, Jiang Linhai shouted in surprise: "Sisi, come and see!"
When Jiang Si got closer, he saw a pile of dirt at the feet of Jiang Linhai and Qin Shen.
Jiang Si picked it up and sniffed it. "Mushroom?"
Jiang Linhai nodded happily. "Yes, it's a kind of fungus that grows at the roots of reeds. Because it can only be found under reeds, we called it reed mushroom when we were little."
Lu Zhifeng came over and said, "Reed mushrooms are more delicious than other mushrooms. I used to dig them often when I was a child, but everyone dug too much. As we grew up, they are rarely seen anymore. They are best used in stews."
Jiang Siyi recalled, "I think I ate it when I was a child."
At that time, she also wondered why her father picked up some cow dung.
Jiang Linhai remembered and said with a smile: "You did eat it once, and you drank two big bowls of chicken soup at that time." He turned to look at Qin Shen again: "You must not have eaten it before, eat more tonight!"
Qin Shen nodded, "Okay."
Walking a little further in and cutting the reeds, Jiang Si picked up a sack of reed mushrooms in a short while.
It doesn’t matter if they can’t finish them, they can bake and store the reed mushrooms.
Jiang Linhai also dug up some reed roots, added some chili peppers and mixed them into a cold dish. It was also delicious when stir-fried with bacon.
When they were little, they all dug them up and used them as snacks.
He wanted to taste it to see if it was sweet, but Jiang Si stopped him, "Be careful of parasites."
Jiang Si had privately learned a lot about mutant plants and animals. When Jiang Linhai was reminded by her, he paused and said with a smile, "Then go back and wash it before eating."
There was water accumulated under the reed roots. Jiang Linhai dug and dug out a big crayfish.
Jiang Linhai exclaimed, "Sisi, look how big this crayfish is!"
"Take a look and see if it has mutated. Can I eat it?"
This sounded as if Jiang Si definitely knew whether the crayfish had mutated or not. Lu Zhifeng felt a little strange, but also thought that Jiang Linhai was probably just asking casually.
The crayfish has a bright red back and a bluish-purple head and claws.
Jiang Si had eaten this kind of food during the apocalypse, so he nodded and said, "It should be edible."
Jiang Linhai was delighted: "The garlic crayfish and spicy crayfish your mom made are delicious! Let's go back later, and I'll come back and put down a few traps."
"good."
There are so many crayfish here that Jiang Linhai caught half a sack without even using the trap.
We also caught a few large tilapia from the puddle.
Seeing the tilapia jumping around on the grass, Jiang Si frowned slightly. There are fish and shrimps here, so why is there no trace of crocodiles?
Could it be that there is something scarier than the gar-crocodile?
Jiang Si's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to ask everyone to go back to the boat first.
Lu Zhifeng, who had gone to set a trap to catch pheasants, suddenly waved at them and shouted with indescribable joy: "I found pheasant eggs!"
Everyone walked towards Lu Zhifeng, and following the direction of Lu Zhifeng's finger, they saw a nest of about ten quail-sized eggs across the water.
Lu Zhifeng handed the backpack to Jiang Linhai and said, "I'll go get the eggs."
Jiang Si stopped him, saying, "Don't go yet. There might be something strange in the water. Tomorrow we'll bring the inflatable boat down. There should be more than one nest in the reeds across the way. We can pick them all up."
Lu Zhifeng thought it was feasible, as they had gained a lot from this trip.
I just haven't caught any Pugu yet.
Killing a chicken means one less laying hen, and everyone is reluctant to do so.
Jiang Chengwu, who was watching from the boat, saw that they had been in the reeds for quite some time and shouted worriedly, "Are they back?"
Jiang Si raised the small red flag and waved it, "I'll be right back."
Suddenly, there was a puffing sound coming from the place where Lu Zhifeng set the trap.
Lu Zhifeng rushed over quickly, and after a while, he came back excitedly with a chicken weighing more than two kilograms in his hand.
The puffin is gray and its feathers blend in with the surroundings. If it doesn't struggle, it won't be noticed if it's thrown into the grass.
Jiang Linhai laughed and said, "We have chicken too. We can have a big dinner tonight!"
Everyone returned to the boat, and Shen Baoying and the others gathered around. Seeing so many things, they were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.
Chen Baoying boiled water to pluck the chicken feathers, Jiang Linhai assisted her, and the others sat in Class A to scrub the reed mushrooms and cut the reeds for feed.
Suddenly, the reeds moved in the wind. Qin Shen suddenly stood up and looked towards the dim sky, as if he had discovered something.
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