Chapter 494: Pig Farming Site Selection
After dinner, Lin Heng played with the children for a while, then told them stories to lull them to sleep, and he and Xiulan went to bed early to rest.
The next day they got up a little after dawn. After exercising, they lit the fireplace together. Xiulan used a small pot of hot milk to make potato pancakes on the fireplace, while Lin Heng sat beside her and used some brown wool to weave ropes.
After the New Year, the house gradually became quiet and cold, but neither of them felt bored with such a life.
By the time Xiulan had finished frying the potato pancakes, Lin Heng had also finished braiding the four-braid brown wool rope. He used a torch to burn off the loose wool and it became a perfect and strong rope.
"Should we press the swing chair first or eat first?" Xiulan looked at him and asked.
"Let's eat first." Lin Heng said. He got out some tung oil, dipped it on a rag and wiped the rope twice. He suspected that the brown rope was damaged last time because it was not coated with oil to protect it from wind and sun.
After waking up the children and having breakfast, they went together to change the rope of the swing chair under the grape trellis in the backyard.
"Let's go, let's go to Hongfeng Mountain for fun." Lin Heng said with a smile after finishing.
"Great!" The children cheered and wanted to go with Lin Heng.
After returning to the house, Lin Heng took out the half-burned coal from the fireplace, put it into the brazier, and walked towards Hongfeng Mountain.
This kind of portable charcoal basin is very popular in this era. To make it, all you have to do is use wire to make three holes in a broken bowl to make a handle.
Things like his mobile phone were specially made by someone else. It is more beautiful and easy to use, and can also be used for barbecue.
In those days, most people lacked food and clothing, and in winter they would basically get frostbite due to the cold, especially children going to school. A portable charcoal basin was almost a must-have for every rural household.
Lin Heng took this because he was going to use it when he went to work at Hongfeng Mountain. Since the coal was already burning, he was too lazy to put it out.
When they arrived at Hongfeng Mountain, Lin's father and mother had just woken up and were making breakfast. Xiaoxia came over with some milk and handed it to her grandfather: "Grandpa and grandma, here's some milk for you."
"Thank you, my dear granddaughter. Would you like some roasted sweet potatoes? Grandpa roasted them last night." Father Lin took the cow and said with a smile.
"Eat!" Xiaoxia said crisply.
Several people walked into the house and sat around the stove, chatting while waiting for their parents to finish breakfast.
"Are we going up to repair the sheep pen fence today?" asked Father Lin.
"Yes, after finishing the railings, we will build two bamboo greenhouses for breeding. The fruits, vegetables and astragalus seeds planted in spring can all be grown here." Lin Heng nodded.
Father Lin said with emotion: "The fruit trees need to be pruned, the pasture needs to be replanted, and astragalus needs to be planted. Later, there are shrimps and fish fry to be prepared. There is a lot of work to do this year."
"So I plan to ask someone to help, otherwise we won't be able to finish the work." Lin Heng said.
In addition to these, he also has to find a suitable place to build a super-large pigpen for raising pigs this year, and help the Murakami Cooperative get astragalus seeds. He also has to take care of things in the factory in the city. It can be said that he is very busy.
"It's time to find a few people to help. Let's ask them to spread the cow and sheep manure accumulated last year into the pastures and orchards, and then turn the soil over to plant grass and astragalus." Father Lin nodded. It would be impossible not to hire people at this scale.
"Okay." Lin Heng nodded in agreement. This was what he had planned before.
After my father finished his meal, everyone went up the mountain together, carrying charcoal braziers and taking some food.
The wind was strong on the mountain, so when they arrived at the first platform they quickly walked into the house.
The wire mesh at the bottom of the sheep pen had been ready long ago. They came here to make a fence. The steel pipes for the fence had been cut and piled here.
All they have to do is assemble it and fix it with wire and screws. Lin Heng and his father are the main forces, Xiulan helps out from the side, and Lin's mother is responsible for watching over the children to prevent them from falling.
The steel was cold, so they had to warm their hands after working for a while. However, since the materials were readily available, they worked quickly and built all the sheep pen railings in the house in one night.
Finally, you can put the anti-jump net around the sheep pen to prevent some silly sheep from jumping out.
"Okay, let's go back and eat. We'll go build the greenhouse in the afternoon."
After finishing, Lin Heng stretched and said with a smile.
Lin's mother said, "Let's have spicy hotpot. It's easy to make and you can put anything in it. Just add some braised vegetables and it'll be fine."
"Okay, I'm hungry and breakfast is not enough." Father Lin said with a smile.
Everyone first went to feed the cattle, sheep and musk deer next door. There were 23 cows and 154 black goats here, and they consumed a lot of grass every day. Fortunately, there was enough reserve for the winter.
In the past two days, the pregnant ewes in estrus are not bred immediately, but allowed to wander around in the ewe flock, which will induce other ewes to go into estrus as well.
As long as all these ewes become pregnant successfully, their total number of sheep will increase by at least twenty by the end of this year.
"Is this cow about to give birth?" Lin Heng said as he touched the cow's belly.
This is the old cow that we bought first. We gave it a long rest last year.
“They should be from the same batch as these cattle, and they also gave birth in May or June.” Father Lin said after thinking for a while.
"That's perfect. You can just leave it here and get the milk when the time comes." Lin Heng nodded.
The little cow on the back hill is very pregnant and is expected to give birth next month.
After feeding the cattle and sheep, they quickly went down the mountain, washed their hands and warmed themselves by the fire.
After lunch, Lin Heng and his father went to sort out three pieces of land that were ten meters long and three meters wide. Such land was not difficult to find and was quickly finished.
"Come on, Dad, let's go cut some bamboo." Lin Heng said to his father.
Father Lin nodded and said, "By the way, we can also go see if there are any bamboo shoots. If there are any, we can bring them back and stir-fry them with meat."
They returned home with the tools, roasted a fire for a while, and then drove the sidecar with the tools to their own bamboo garden.
"Dad and Grandpa, I want to be with you."
They were both about to leave, Xiaoxia ran out of the house and said.
"Okay then, please go slowly." Father Lin waved for her to come over and put her on his lap.
Lin Heng glanced at her, drove down the road, and soon arrived at the destination. He parked the car on the side of the road, and the two of them got out and walked, taking Xiaoxia across the river and into the bamboo garden.
"This bamboo garden is growing very well." Father Lin looked at it and nodded. This place has abundant water resources and the bamboo grows very fast.
“There are also quite a few bamboo shoots.”
Lin Heng took a hoe and dug twice at a crack under his feet, and a bamboo shoot came out.
"Dad, give it to me."
Xiaoxia ran over excitedly with a bamboo basket to catch the bamboo shoots.
"Slow down, there are bamboo stubbles everywhere in here."
Lin Heng was very worried about her, so he asked her to look at the bamboo stubble on the ground and stay aside and not move, because if she fell and hit it, it would be a big deal.
It's okay if he wears thick clothes, but his face must be disfigured. If this really happened, he would have to kneel on the washboard for Xiulan when he got home.
"oh."
Xiaoxia still listened to her father very much. She stayed in a safe place and walked around in circles, picking up the bamboo shoots thrown to her by her father and grandfather, and counting them happily.
Lin Heng and his father did not intend to dig bamboo shoots specifically, so they just found some that were easiest to spot. After digging about twelve or thirteen, they stopped and started chopping bamboo with a hatchet.
This time they are going to take the bamboo back and cut it into long bamboo strips to build a simple greenhouse, so they need a lot of bamboo.
The two men cut thirty bamboos as thick as bowls, tied them up, carried them back to the road and tied them to the back of the tricycle. Then the three of them got in the car and Lin Heng drove the car back with the bamboos.
After dragging the bamboo to Red Maple Mountain, the task of cutting the bamboo into strips was handed over to his father. He didn't have the skill to chop bamboo, and he had never learned it before his rebirth.
After Lin's father broke the bamboo into four equal parts, Lin Heng cut it to make it smoother, sawed it into the same length, and then bent it into a semicircle of the same diameter and placed it in the warehouse.
After waiting for a few days for it to dry out a bit, they will repair the bamboo strips, bend them into the repaired land, and cover them with film paper, and it will become a simple greenhouse that people can enter.
It was already evening when they finished all this. After a simple meal of sauerkraut noodles, Lin Heng and Xiulan took the children back to the village.
Lin Heng stayed in the village for a while and sent out a message to find some helpers, preferably those who had big yellow oxen at home to come and help plow the fields.
As long as the money is paid, these things are not difficult to find. The manpower was quickly identified and Lin Heng asked them to go to Hongfeng Mountain to help tomorrow.
Back in the house, Lin Heng lit the bedroom fireplace. After washing up, they went back to the bedroom to rest. The children didn't want to sleep, so they played in the bedroom.
Lin Heng was not planning to go to bed so early, so he made a pot of tea, ate the snacks made by Xiulan, and chatted with her.
"The weather is still cold now. I'll take you out to have some fun in the spring." Lin Heng said with a smile after taking a sip of Dendrobium tea.
Last year, Xiulan had always wanted to go for a spring outing, but she couldn't go because her children were too young. This year, she has a big car and the children are a little older, so it is no problem for her to go for a spring outing.
"That will probably take another two months. It's only February 17th in the Gregorian calendar." Xiu'an said while cracking melon seeds.
Lin Heng nodded and said, "Forget it. This is perfect. I can finish my work in the next two months, and then I will have time to go outing."
"Okay then." Xiulan said with a smile.
The two chatted for a while, drank some dendrobium tea, put the children to sleep, and went to bed to rest.
The next morning, after breakfast, they took the children to Hongfeng Mountain. The helpers they had called yesterday had also arrived and were eating the sauerkraut noodles cooked by Lin's mother.
After they finished eating, Lin Heng made some simple arrangements for the work, which was to cut all the existing ryegrass and alfalfa in the pasture and bring them back, then transport the cow and sheep manure to the astragalus field in the pasture and spread it, and finally use cows to plow and harrow the field.
As for sowing, there is no rush for the time being. We can wait until the middle of next month after the Waking of Insects. Lin Hengsan's father came to help and can help take care of it.
After Lin Heng arranged the things, he also worked together for a morning. After making sure that everything was done properly, he went home and made silage with his father for storage.
After a winter, both hay and silage have run out and will not last much longer.
Time flies, and soon half a month has passed. It is March of 1988. With the help of everyone, the 20 acres of pasture and 10 acres of astragalus fields in Hongfeng Mountain have been successfully cultivated, and they are just waiting for sowing in a few days.
However, the helpers' work did not end there. Lin Heng asked them to carry the cow and sheep dung to the orchard and apply it to the apples and grapes in the orchard.
They produced too much cow and sheep manure last year, and even then it wasn't all used up. The rest was given to his eldest brother and third uncle's family to fertilize the orchard.
During this period, Lin Heng was not idle. He frequently traveled between the city and the village, pruning the shape and branches of grape and apple trees, helping with work, looking for a suitable place to raise pigs, and going with the village party secretary to get astragalus seeds. He also went to some aquaculture places to sell his feed and discussed cooperation with the animal husbandry station.
After comprehensive investigation, Lin Heng finally found a more suitable place to raise pigs. This place is called Tongshugou, located in the sparsely populated area between Baima Village and Hongfeng Village, about four kilometers down the road from Lin Heng's home.
There are no farmlands in the ditch and no one lives nearby. The forest next to it belongs to his third uncle's family. As for the ditch, it belongs to the collective assets of the village and has not been distributed. Lin Heng plans to invest in renting it.
There are a lot of bamboos growing in this place, and only a very small stream of water that flows out from underground all year round. Only a few pools have water.
One side of the ditch is steep and full of stone walls that are difficult to climb, while the other side is relatively flat and connected to his family's mixed woods.
The only bad thing is that the way up is particularly difficult. There is a rock cliff more than ten meters high from the highway, and we have to find a suitable location to rebuild the road.
In fact, there are several similar good places, but they are all places where it is more difficult to build roads. Three of them require crossing rivers, and two require climbing mountains, none of which he likes now.
After discussing with his father, older brother and others, they finally chose this place and planned to rent the entire 200-acre area, including the adjacent woods. After negotiating with Murakami, the rent was not expensive, only 3 yuan per acre per year.
Because this was not good land, it was just an ordinary forest. If he didn't rent it, no one would ever rent it. So Lin Heng signed a five-year lease contract. The money was paid annually and settled at the end of each year.
When Lin Yue learned that Lin Heng had rented the land, he sighed: "Brother, the rent is not expensive, but it is not easy to fence off such a large area. It requires a lot of barbed wire and road construction, which is not cheap."
Lin Heng smiled and responded, "I wouldn't fence off such a large area. I'll just use thorns and trees to fence off the outside, and use barbed wire to fence off the inner 100 acres. It won't cost much."
Lin Yue nodded and asked, "When are you going to start construction?"
"Let's start on a good day. I estimate that the construction will take more than a month. It's not an easy job." Lin Heng said after thinking for a while.
He planned to go to the city to ask for an excavator to dig a road that could accommodate trucks, and then dig out some platforms inside and build some simple wooden pig pens.
(End of this chapter)
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