Chapter 28 Cool Mat
On May 1st, the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the crops were growing faster and faster.
The cultivated land of Teng tribe has reached 30 mu. With extremely primitive tools, it is already very difficult for more than a dozen people to take care of 30 mu of farmland.
Therefore, Jiang Xuan no longer allowed tourists to continue to reclaim wasteland, and they only needed to cultivate the thirty acres of land.
"These grasses, together with wood ash, manure, broken bones, and pond mud, are all piled together, compacted and fermented for half a month until they are thoroughly fermented and used as fertilizer."
"When you find earthworms in the fertilizer pile, the fertilizer can be used."
In the fields, Jiang Xuan personally taught the tourists how to make compost. Even when faced with smelly manure, he remained calm.
Compost is a great magic weapon for farming.
The low yield from slash-and-burn farming is not only due to lack of management, but also due to lack of fertilizer.
Wood ash is good, but it is definitely not enough to grow crops relying solely on wood ash.
Composting is the process of mixing various materials together and turning them into nutrient-rich organic fertilizer after decomposition, which is very beneficial to the growth of crops.
The raw materials for composting are very wide-ranging and easily available, such as grass, wood ash, manure, food leftovers, animal bones, etc.
Gan Song took to heart everything Jiang Xuan said.
Hunting has become a very difficult thing for him since he lost one arm. Even a simple noose trap is difficult to set because he only has one hand.
But now, he has found something he can do and do well, which is farming.
Although he only has one hand, through his own efforts he has mastered the skills of farming and does no less work than others.
Gradually, he fell in love with farming.
Gan Song was fascinated by the feeling of reclaiming wasteland, planting crops, and then watching the crops grow, mature, and be harvested little by little.
Gan Song said confidently: "Don't worry, Chief, we will definitely make the best fertilizer!"
"Well, if we work hard, we will harvest more food in the fall, and everyone will have enough to eat in the winter, and they won't go hungry."
Jiang Xuan gave a few more instructions, then turned and left.
"Work, work!"
Gan Song shouted, and then began to look for various materials for composting according to the method Jiang Xuan said.
There is a busy scene in the fields.
Jiang Xuan walked to the stream, found a large patch of tall reeds, looked for intact reeds, and cut them with a stone knife.
In fact, the best time to harvest reeds is in autumn, when the new reeds are at their most resilient after they bloom.
But Jiang Xuan couldn't wait any longer, so he could only cut some reeds from last year and plan to weave a few mats.
As the weather gets hotter, it is no longer appropriate to put a mattress on the bamboo bed.
However, sleeping directly on a bamboo bed is not a comfortable thing, because the bamboos are not flat and it is uncomfortable to sleep on them.
Jiang Xuan thought about it and decided to weave a few mats.
Bamboo can also be used to weave mats, and the effect is very good, but that requires breaking the bamboo into very thin strips, which is not an easy task without the right tools.
Reeds are different.
It is softer and more resilient, making it much easier to cut down and weave than bamboo.
After Jiang Xuan chopped for a while, Chishao also came to help.
She is always by Jiang Xuan's side, silently protecting him and guarding against possible dangers.
“Chichichi…”
The weather was very hot, and there were many unknown little insects in the grass beside the stream, constantly chirping.
"Sister, that's enough, no need to chop anymore."
Jiang Xuan cut a large bundle of reeds, and Chishao also cut a large bundle. The two of them simply twisted the reed leaves together to make simple straw ropes, tied the reeds together, and then carried them back to the bamboo house.
“Bang!”
A large bundle of reeds was thrown on the ground. Chishao wiped the sweat from her cheeks. Only then did she ask curiously, "Xuan, why are you cutting so much grass?"
"Weaving a mat."
"A cool mat?"
"It's the mat for sleeping on the bed. The animal skin is too hot to sleep on. I want to make a few cool mats to put on it."
"So that's how it is." Chishao nodded. The current weather was indeed not suitable for sleeping on animal skins.
"Sister, let's throw these reeds into the pond to soak first."
"good!"
The two men carried the reeds to the edge of the pond and threw the whole bundle into the pond to soak.
This is because the reeds that Jiang Xuan and his team collected were old reeds from last year. They were completely dry and very brittle, and would break easily if bent.
Soaking in water will allow the dry reeds to absorb water, making them tough again and more suitable for weaving.
After throwing the reeds down, the two men went about doing other things.
More than two hours later, Jiang Xuan returned to the pond, pulled out a piece of reed and tried to break it, and found that the reed had been softened. Then he picked up the two bundles of reeds and brought them back to the open space in front of the bamboo house.
He untied the rope that bound the reeds, then found a flat stone and a piece of wood, placed the reeds on top, and flattened the round reed stems bit by bit.
“Boom boom boom…”
As Jiang Xuan continued to hammer, the reeds were flattened and turned into flat sheets.
After Chishao finished his own work, he came over to help.
Uncaria rhynchophylla, stone loach, and Arisaema confusa also came to help.
After all the reeds were flattened, Jiang Xuan began to weave them.
If you want to weave a beautiful, fine, patterned reed mat, it is very tedious and time-consuming.
However, it is much easier to weave it into a mat directly after flattening the whole reed. It does not take long to weave a mat, it just looks a bit rough.
The tribal people have been doing weaving since childhood and everyone is very skilled at it.
Jiang Xuan first used a flattened reed as the weft, and then tied the reeds vertically and evenly on the weft as the warp.
Then, you just need to keep interweaving the reeds on these warp threads and pressing them tightly, and you can weave the reeds into a whole mat.
With the efforts of the five people, they weaved the reeds they brought back into five single mats in just one afternoon.
The next day, the mats were placed in the sun for half a day and dried again.
Afterwards, Jiang Xuan and others replaced all the animal skin mattresses on the bamboo beds.
At night, Jiang Xuan lay on his bamboo bed. The thick mat beneath him was very breathable. When people lay on it, they did not feel cold nor stuffy. It was very comfortable.
“It feels good.”
A happy smile appeared on Jiang Xuan's face. As long as he was willing to work and not be lazy, he could improve his life little by little with his own hands.
The three teenagers were also very satisfied with the new mats, which were very comfortable to sleep on.
Chishao was lying in her little room. She stroked the cool mat beneath her and said in a barely audible voice, "Xuan has grown up and is more capable than I am."
With a relieved smile, Chishao soon fell asleep and had pleasant dreams all night long.
Thanks to the book friend "Southeast Wind Eighteen Levels" for the reward of 5,000 book coins.
Thanks to the book friend "Purple Aurora" for the reward.
Thanks to the book friend "Mo Chi Xi" for the reward.
(End of this chapter)
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