Chapter 190 Collecting Herbs
Shen Qing wanted to say, what can you do by looking at the tree roots? Of course, you can find a clear path.
Let me tell you that this is a medicinal herb that can be sold for money, so won’t you try your best to dig it up?
How can I complain!
As the most filial son, Jiang Xiangdong always believed that his mother's words were more effective than imperial decrees. He immediately took the lead and said, "Mom, I'll take you there!"
After that, he took the initiative to ask: "Mom, how about I go get it back and show it to you?"
Shen Qing really wanted to take it back to read, but the vegetable garden was not far away. When she went to see the medicinal herbs, she also wanted to see what they looked like growing on the land. She could buy a book about Astragalus from the mall in the evening, which would also correspond to the book.
She refused, "No, the food and hot water will take a while. I've been sitting in the car all day, so walking is just the right way to stretch my muscles."
Jiang Xiangdong and Jiang Xiangnan said nothing, holding torches to illuminate the way forward and backward, and led Shen Qing forward.
The vegetable garden needs to be tended to regularly and is usually not too far from the main house, including theirs.
Shen Qing felt like they had arrived in less than two minutes.
The four sons have been very obedient so far, and they have sorted out the weeds, trees and roots as she instructed.
However, the roots can also be used to start fires, so they are piled together with the bushes and branches.
Shen Qing saw branches with green leaves and yellow-green pods hanging on them.
Pointing to the pod, she asked, "Is that the root growing underneath?"
If so, then these pods are seeds.
Jiang Xiangdong scratched his head, not remembering at all whether it was;
Jiang Xiangnan remembered it clearly and replied with certainty: "Yes, that's them! Don't be fooled by the fact that the ones sticking out from the ground look like weeds, but the roots underneath are incredibly numerous!
I dug and dug but never finished. I finally realized how powerful the mountains are. No wonder no one wants to come here to open up wasteland."
It was so tiring. The whole family worked for the whole afternoon but still didn't make much progress.
Shen Qing ignored the third brother's complaints, bent down to pick up a few 'roots', and took several branches with yellow-green pods, then straightened up and said, "Let's go back."
I'll check it out in the books when I get back.
Although Jiang Xiangdong and Jiang Xiangnan had a lot of questions, they were obedient and didn't ask too many questions.
The principle their family now follows is: talk less, work more, and listen to your mother to get delicious food!
Shen Qing had mutton soup with flatbread in the city, but it took more than two hours to get back, so he had almost digested it. Plus, he was still thinking about the medicinal herbs, so he took the hot meal handed to him by Jiang Yu and ate it quickly and sweetly.
I'm not afraid of working, but I'm afraid of coming home to a cold stove. And it feels really good to have someone thinking about you!
After dinner, Jiang Shui scooped hot water into the wooden basin, added cold water, adjusted it to a suitable temperature, and moved it to Shen Qing's room for her to soak her feet.
The room is separated by curtains.
Shen Qing soaked his feet comfortably, opened the mall and bought a book about Astragalus cultivation. He then took out the flashlight he bought from the mall and curled up in bed to read the book carefully.
From the shape and color of the astragalus leaves to the fruits, everything was compared with the ones I brought back.
The pod skin is yellow-green, and the seeds are green-brown... They must be harvested before the moisture dries up. Never wait until the pods turn yellow!
Because the seeds on the peel are completely dry when they turn yellow, they are called "iron seeds" and are difficult to germinate.
It is not planted by roots, but by sowing. There are two seasons every year. The spring is in March and April of the lunar calendar, and the autumn is in August and September. It is guaranteed to be carried out before the land freezes.
It is a biennial, which means it can only be harvested after two years.
Shen Qing nodded with great satisfaction.
She likes this kind of perennial plant. It does not need to be planted every year, nor is it harvested every few months. Instead, it can be planted once every two years and taken care of for two years at a time. It can be planted alternately, or other plants can be planted. The workload and labor are immediately reduced by more than half!
As for whether the long time affects the yield? This does not exist for Astragalus.
The yield per mu of fresh fruit can reach 1,800 kilograms! After drying, it is about 600 to 700 kilograms per mu.
You should know that the grain yield per mu in this dynasty could not reach this number. Even the wheat yield per mu was only 300 to 500 jin. In the same dried state, one jin of wheat could be sold for about seven wen. As a medicinal material, as long as the price of astragalus exceeds fourteen wen per jin, it is profitable!
However, medicinal materials in ancient times were expensive, especially astragalus, which is not very cheap even though it is cultivated in large quantities in China. It should be more expensive here, right?
Shen Qing was a little uneasy.
Then I took away the books and flashlights and forced myself to go to sleep!
She will get up early tomorrow to process the astragalus - collecting seeds, cleaning the astragalus, drying it, and then selling it to the herbal medicine shop in the city. If the price is right, the village will grow it in large quantities as an economic crop in the future.
If it's too cheap, grow a small amount and sell it to the mall in exchange for food.
However, she still hoped that the pharmacy could get a good price. After all, selling to the mall was not a long-term solution. They needed a real livelihood...
*
"Mom, you said that tree root is a medicinal herb?"
"Really? Is it worth the money? What price can it be sold for?"
Jiang Xiangnan and Jiang Xiangbei exclaimed in surprise, then looked around and found that they were no longer in the crowded Qili Village as before, and they breathed a sigh of relief.
But the shock in his eyes could not be concealed.
The others also looked at Shen Qing in surprise.
“When I took Ah Bing to the city to see a doctor and get medicine, I saw that the medicine boy collected something similar, but I couldn’t be sure if it was the same kind;
I don't know how much it's worth, so you guys hurry up and dig it up, and we'll clean it, slice it, and dry it. I'll take it to the city and ask for the price, and we'll know." Shen Qing said, finding a good reason.
It is not clear that it is because if the price offered by the drugstore is not good, she will secretly sell all of them to the mall and use the remaining money to buy other things.
Jiang Xiangnan asked in confusion, "Mom, why do you wait until they're dried before selling them? Can't you just sell them fresh? Anyway, the doctor at the pharmacy can tell if they're fresh by looking at them."
Jiang Xiangbei immediately thought of another possibility: "The people in the pharmacy will definitely know, but what if they tell us it's another cheaper herb? After drying it, we can just ask the price. They will just think we know a lot."
Shen Qing smiled and nodded.
The fourth child is sharp-witted and has the talent for business.
Except for the sixth brother, if the others were to do business, they would probably be ripped off and lose everything.
After Jiang Xiangbei's explanation, everyone stopped talking and rolled up their sleeves to get to work!
Jiang Xiangdong, Nan and Bei were responsible for digging, while Jiang Xiangzhong was responsible for picking the pods to ensure that no seeds were left.
Huo Bing was responsible for carrying the bundles of Astragalus to the riverside, where Jiang Shuijiangyu used bundles of weeds to carefully scrub each Astragalus root clean.
Shen Qing sat in the open space in front of the house, using a hatchet to cut the herbs into oblique slices one by one and spread them flat on the straw mat to dry.
We work from dawn until the moon is bright.
No one slacked off.
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