jdhmnovel Chapter 386 Raising Seedlings
Chapter 386 Raising Seedlings
I don’t know how I got through those years.
Zhou Guo cooked different dishes every day, including braised pork, braised spareribs, braised lamb, braised pig's trotters with soybeans, and braised fish. After eating, he would go to cut more vegetables.
What is worth mentioning is the tea soup. As everyone drank it, they found that they had gotten used to it and could not get used to it without it. Especially the old man, he must have a bowl of it after every meal.
Later, Zhou Guo also learned to pick the garlic sprouts grown in the house, cut them into sections, and stir-fry them with tea leaves. She would then add salt and pine mushroom powder. The drink had a fragrant garlic leaf flavor and a fresh taste. She especially liked the tender green garlic leaves, which were particularly fragrant when chewed.
Although it is the busy farming season, everyone works with extra enthusiasm because they know there will be delicious food as soon as they finish. They are busy and smiling, full of energy.
This made the others envious. "Why don't we let your Guoguo teach my girl a lesson? They are all the same meat, why does yours look so much more delicious?"
"Yeah, how come it smells so good every day? Even the bones smell so good!"
Generally, no one in their family eats bones. Not only is there very little meat on the bones, but they are also very heavy. Instead of spending that money to buy some inedible bones, they might as well cut a few pounds of fat meat to try. At worst, cutting some lean meat is worse than bones. Bones are the least popular.
But the Zhou family's is made of bones. When you pass by their field with a basket, you can smell an alluring fragrance. This is not just bones, it is even more fragrant than fat!
Li laughed and said, "How can she know how to cook? She has never learned it. She just tinkered around in the house and the food she made was barely edible. It's not worth it for her to teach you."
"Hey, how can you say that? It doesn't matter whether it's something you figured out yourself or learned from somewhere else, as long as the dish tastes good and smells good, it's amazing. I'll let my daughter come to your house to learn from you later. Zhou Guo, you have to teach her well and let her learn a few more tricks from you."
Zhou Guo said, "Aunt, I don't have any special skills. I just bought a lot of seasonings at home, such as ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, etc., and added them all. After that, I added water and simmered it until the water was dry. This dish is ready. It's very simple. You can make it yourself when you go back home without having to come to our house."
When everyone heard this, they realized that this was the case.
He slapped his thigh and said, "I was wondering why it's different from our white meat. It turns out that so many seasonings are used. Unfortunately, we only have salt at home. It seems that this dish cannot be made. This stuff is so expensive, I can't bear to spend it."
Ginger is not cheap, let alone those things. People in the countryside only have salt. Those who are more particular will keep some soy sauce on hand, which they only put when guests come to their house during festivals. They would not put it at other times.
It sounds like the secret to the delicious Zhou Guo family dishes is the seasonings, which means it must be the money. How can these people afford to eat? They can't even get enough food, so how can they think about eating well?
No one mentioned letting their children learn cooking from Zhou Guo anymore.
Zhou Guo was very satisfied. She was so busy every day that she had no time to entertain guests.
……
The land for raising seedlings has been prepared and it’s time to start breeding.
Before sowing, soak the seeds in a paste mixed with sheep manure and silkworm manure, spread them evenly on the ground, cover them with fine soil, and water them with a layer of water.
The chopped willow branches were inserted on both sides of the rice field in a bow shape. When it arrived late, they covered it with dry grass and branches, forming a large shed made of branches and dry grass.
Since there was no film and tarpaulin was expensive, this was the best insulation she could think of.
After planting the seeds, she would run to the field countless times a day, always paying attention to whether the temperature inside was high or low, whether to sprinkle water, whether to ventilate and dissipate heat...
It's so cautious that it's like serving a baby.
The family members laughed and said, "I've never seen her so concerned about something before. She can't even enjoy her meal."
Zhou Guo didn't say anything. She took a pen and paper to record the changes in the seeds every day. She became anxious and restless when they didn't sprout. If they failed to sprout, wouldn't it be a waste of time? She still had seeds in her hand, but these seeds were only suitable to be planted at this time. If she planted any later, it would not be suitable. Did she have to look for suitable late rice seeds?
As she was anxiously waiting, on the morning of the seventh day, she finally saw green buds popping up, each one looking like a little baby.
Zhou Guo shouted excitedly. If the buds came out, she would be halfway to success. What she was most afraid of was that the buds would not come out.
When the family heard the noise, they all came to see.
They were very happy to see these green sprouts. After all, crops are a big deal. They were worried when the sprouts didn't come out. They were even more worried when they saw that Zhou Guo couldn't sleep well, couldn't eat well, couldn't do anything well, and had a gloomy face all day long. Now it's good, the sprouts have come out, and the seedlings will come out.
Ever since the sprouts came out, Zhou Guo would squat in the fields all day long, watching the rice seedlings she had carefully cared for grow taller and stronger little by little. She felt very satisfied without doing anything.
In autumn, these will turn into heavy rice plants, and piles of grain will be harvested and turned into bowls of white rice!
Before the seedlings grew, the Zhou family had already planted all of their spring wheat, with more than ten acres of land covered with spring wheat.
After the busy farming season, Zhou Mi and Zhou Mai returned to school.
The old man also had some free time. After dinner every day, he would walk around the fields, or hang around the village entrance with his hands behind his back to talk to someone. Every now and then, he would go for a walk in the mountains and hunt some small prey to improve his meals.
Li took Zhou Gu and others to clear the rocky ground nearby, hoping to open up a few acres of land nearby. The winter here is so long, and if they don't prepare enough vegetables, the winter will be miserable.
Zhou Guo had checked it out early in the morning. In fact, the real rocky land is still nearby. The land next to the vegetable plot has been affected. If the rocks are picked out and some rotten soil is brought back from the mountain, another five or six acres of vegetable plot can be added. In autumn, cabbage, radish and carrots will be planted all over, which will definitely last longer than last year. At that time, more beans and cucumbers can be planted. If they cannot be eaten all, they can be spread out in jars, even if they are dried. It will be an extra dish in the winter.
Zhou Guo followed behind, shoveling stones into the pile of rocks with a shovel. Others either picked up or shoveled. Zhou Suli and others also came to help. Zhou Mi and Zhou Mai also came to help after school.
As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. It took the family only three days to clear such a large piece of rocky land. Only a few small stones were left, and there were so many of them that they could only pick them up while planting.
After picking up all the stones, the family went to the mountains to carry rotten soil.
Li borrowed a number of scoops and baskets from the village, and scooped in the rotten black soil filled with fallen leaves from the woods shovel by shovel, and carried the baskets into the newly cleared field.