Chapter 109: Harvesting Vegetables and Storing Food, Preparing for Winter
As soon as I started to look at them, I knew that these sheep were not just fat.
Su Yue scraped the sheepskin cleanly, revealing a thick layer of fat inside.
He laughed and said, "These are some really good sheep."
The mutton covered with autumn fat is enough to make people drool. Various menus are already scrolling through Su Heng's mind.
Several big men cut up the mutton and divided the meat into neat small pieces along the bones.
Wen Shu went into the house to boil some water. The sheep's internal organs were needed and would be cleaned later.
The yard suddenly became bustling with activity, and all the wooden basins and barrels in the house were brought out and filled with meat.
The freshly cut meat is strung with straw ropes and leaves and placed in a large basin.
Su Heng sat in front of the basin, rubbed salt on the meat, and then spread it out one by one on a winnowing basket to dry.
This season is pretty good. It's the eve of winter and the temperature has dropped. The meat can be hung up with salt without having to worry about it going bad.
After the sheep was divided, the meat piled up in the big wooden basin and was overflowing.
Su Heng estimated that a sheep would yield no less than 100 kilograms of meat. Since they had killed three sheep, it looked like they would not be short of meat this winter.
Su Yue roughly scraped off the grease on the sheepskin, planning to tan it slowly later.
The sheep intestines were too dirty, so Wen Shu had fetched some water to wash them, but Su Yue went over and took it.
He looked careless, but he was very careful when cleaning the sheep intestines.
Su Ming was asked to take over the task of applying salt, while Su Jing and Lu Mingchuan continued to divide the remaining two sheep.
Su Heng took a piece of tenderloin and lamb chops and said, "Mom, let's go cook. I want to eat stir-fried lamb."
It’s getting late now, so we must finish our meal before going back.
Wen Shu agreed with a smile and went to get a bunch of dried chilies and garlic hanging under the eaves. Lamb itself has a strong smell, so it also needs some spices to remove the odor.
It was already dark when the people in the yard had cleaned up the mutton.
The kitchen had already been emitting tempting aromas, and they were so hungry that they finally heard the notice that dinner was ready.
This meal is even more sumptuous than the Chinese New Year meal, with stir-fried beef and lamb chops stewed with potatoes.
Some side dishes are also fried with some fat, and the smell is different from usual.
The heavily stewed lamb chops no longer had any mutton smell. Su Heng felt that this was the taste of lamb and was completely acceptable.
The same goes for the stir-fried pork tenderloin. It is first stir-fried with chili peppers, and then braised with Su Yue’s treasured sorghum wine. Several people at the table were sweating from the spiciness, but they still kept reaching for their chopsticks.
After dinner, Wen Shu went to get two large bamboo baskets to put meat for Su Heng and the others.
This time there is more meat and the ordinary bag cannot hold it.
There are handles on these two bamboo baskets. By tying a sturdy wooden board to the back seat of the bicycle, you can carry the two bamboo baskets like a shoulder pole.
The bamboo basket was clean, but Wen Shu still carefully padded it with a cloth.
Su Yue and the others also came over to help load the meat.
"Mom, we only need two sheep. The other one is for you to eat."
Wen Shu waved his hand: "Just leave some for us. The weather is cool now, and this meat can be kept. You can take it back and eat it slowly."
Su Yue also said no.
"Dad, Mom, why are you still so polite to me? Just think of it as an early New Year's gift to you."
In fact, it’s not that I’m being polite to her. It’s mainly because Su Heng gives too much money to the family every time she comes back, and they are not yet at the stage where they need retirement support.
Besides, the sheep was killed by the son-in-law, so it is unreasonable for them to take one away at once.
But at this time Lu Mingchuan also said: "Dad, Mom, please accept it. It is also a token of my appreciation. The food I gave you was all earned by Su Heng himself. This sheep was not easy for me to help you with."
This is a very well said thing. The food is the gift from the daughter, and the meat is the gift from the son-in-law. You can't accept the daughter but not the son-in-law.
The father-in-law Su Yue's smile was almost reaching his ears. He reached out and patted Lu Mingchuan on the shoulder: "You kid, you are a good boy!"
Su Jing and Su Ming felt under tremendous pressure. They hadn't even started earning money yet, but their son-in-law had already started to honor his parents-in-law.
One sheep was left behind, and the other two could not fit into two baskets, so Su Heng tied another bamboo basket to his car.
There was no room for sauerkraut, so I put some hazelnuts in. I have to wait until next time to get the vegetables.
As for the sheepskin, Su Heng didn't want it at first, but Su Yue said that after the fur was tanned, he would make two pairs of sheepskin boots for her and her son.
In the winter here, the outside is basically covered with snow. Ordinary shoes can easily get soaked when going out, causing frostbite on the feet, but leather boots will not do that.
Su Heng agreed immediately. She didn't expect that her father had this skill.
They returned home in the dark, and Zhaocai ran over to greet them.
Su Heng rewarded it with a small piece of mutton, and it immediately took it to the bowl and ate it.
The racks where meat used to be hung in the kitchen were now filled with rows of lamb.
But if it is hung, it will gradually lose moisture and become dried meat. Su Heng now really wants it to snow soon.
When the time comes, put the meat in the snow and freeze it, which will become a natural fresh-keeping freezer.
Seeing her praying, Lu Mingchuan said, "It will be soon. In previous years, it would start snowing in November."
But when she heard it was really going to snow, Su Heng started to get anxious again: "Doesn't that mean there are only about ten days left? We haven't even harvested the vegetables in the yard yet."
It is said that we harvest in autumn and store in winter. They have to store supplies for the winter before the snow falls, otherwise they will be covered by the snow.
"Don't be afraid, there's still time."
The next day, they harvested vegetables at home, and the warehouse was filled with cabbages and radishes.
But the girl who had said she wanted to come and make clothes also came with her friends, so Lu Mingchuan cleaned up by himself, and Su Heng had to go and measure the customers' measurements and decide on the styles.
Both of them have been incredibly busy lately.
Su Heng had to find time to pickle kimchi in between making clothes. She used a method that was shared online with the highest number of views in later generations, so it shouldn't be too bad.
There are two large jars of pickled radish and pickled radish. They are great to go with rice and are also delicious when mixed with noodles.
Store the remaining radishes in a cool place together with the Chinese cabbage.
But this won’t work if it snows, as the cabbage will be frozen.
Lu Mingchuan chose a place in the yard and dug a small cellar of four square meters and two meters deep.
Arrange the cabbage and radish layer by layer with soil and cover them with dry grass. It is said that this can keep them fresh.
Vegetables that naturally have a thick skin, such as winter melon, can be stored directly in a cool and ventilated place.
Some of the dried eggplants, dried beans and other dried vegetables that were previously dried also had to be brought into the house, and the dried peppers were also hung in the kitchen.
They prepared as many vegetables as possible for the long winter.
After a few busy days, the kitchen and warehouse were filled with food.
Now that the meat and vegetables are stored and there is no shortage of food, we can spend a prosperous winter with peace of mind.
Su Heng particularly likes the feeling of her home being filled with food little by little, which gives her a full sense of security.
After finishing all this, the experimental base was completed.
Pu Fengliang specially found Su Heng, and the three of them, teacher and student, decided on the final exam questions.
The news that the Red Star Experimental Base was recruiting quickly spread to the surrounding bases.
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