jdhmnovel Chapter 272 Raising Earthworms
Chapter 272 Raising Earthworms
After everyone went about their own business, Gu Qingqing headed towards the vegetable garden.
When she saw the scene clearly, she was still greatly surprised. "So, you uncles are really amazing. The three of us dug for such a long time that day and only found a tiny bit. But they dug out all this soil in the gap before dinner!"
Gu Qingqing looked at the tilled vegetable field in amazement, then she looked at the gravel in the field and said with a tut-tut sound, "No wonder the villagers don't bother coming here."
Li Xin looked at the small piece of land he had dug out and asked hesitantly, "Aunt, is this enough for us to eat? Should we dig a bigger piece?"
"That should be about right. There are at least three acres of land here. Let's clean it up first. If we feel that we don't make enough money later, we can still dig some more."
"Aunt, should we start planting?" Li Xin asked from the side.
Gu Qingqing shook her head.
"It's still early. Let's first make vegetable plots here, then sweep the fermented manure on the plots. After drying them for a few days, we'll start planting vegetables. Do you know how to make vegetable plots?" Gu Qingqing asked.
"I know how to make a vegetable patch." Li Xin has never eaten pork but has also seen a pig run?
"Okay, it doesn't need to be cleared, as long as it can pass. Also, we need to pick up the gravel on the ground."
After saying that, Gu Qingqing turned to Dahua and said, "Dahua, follow behind Daxin and help him pick up the gravel. I can do it myself here."
"I know mother."
Gu Qingqing helped Li Xin point out the approximate location, and then the three of them divided into two rows and started to work.
After a while, Gu Qingqing heard Li Xin say to Dahua, "Dahua, go get a bamboo tube from home. I found an earthworm. Put it in a bamboo tube and feed it to the chickens."
"Okay, I'll go right away." Dahua said as she threw the stones in her hand into the broken bamboo basket and ran towards home.
Gu Qingqing didn't hear clearly, and half bent over and asked, "Daxin, what did you find?"
"Aunt, I found an earthworm. Let's take it back and feed it to the hens later." Daxin happily picked up a soft long strip to show Gu Qingqing.
"earthworm?"
The moment Gu Qingqing said this, her eyes suddenly widened and brightened, and then she exclaimed "Oh!" Why didn't she think of it?
She now raises so many chickens and ducks. Although there are tender vegetables and insects to eat on the mountain, with more than 400 mouths active in that area, the grass is not a problem, but the insects will become scarce one day.
If I could raise some earthworms, wouldn't I be able to improve the food for her babies from time to time?
Gu Qingqing had an idea in mind and said to Li Xin, "Daxin, collect the earthworms and snakeheads first. Don't rush to feed the chickens when you go back. I'll see how to raise these things."
When Li Xin heard that Gu Qingqing knew how to raise it, he immediately asked excitedly, "Aunt, can you raise this insect?"
She had never learned how to raise earthworms, but she had read a book in the library before about "The Effect of Earthworms on Soil", which talked about how earthworms improve the soil and their benefits to Chinese medicinal materials.
Finally, it talks about how to raise earthworms artificially.
It mentions box cultivation, pit cultivation, ground bed cultivation, etc. Each cultivation method requires a different framework to be built.
Gu Qingqing didn't want to go through so much trouble, and she couldn't create any environment, so potted plants were the best for her.
"When you get home at night, fill the broken pot with some soft soil, rotten leaves and some cow dung."
Li Xin frowned when he heard this. "Aunt, what do they eat? Cow dung?"
"Hahaha, how can you eat cow dung? Just pluck a handful of grass and leaves every day, mash them and throw them into the basin." Gu Qingqing paused when she said this. Earthworms are not snakes. She is not afraid of one or two, but if there are too many and they are densely packed...
She seems to have some intensive phobia of mollusks!
"Daxin, if there are a lot of earthworms in the basin, would you be afraid?"
Li Xin didn't understand why his aunt asked this, and shook his head firmly, "Aunt, why are you afraid?"
Tsk! How to answer this question?
Gu Qingqing then realized that she was thinking too much, and shook her head, "It's okay, I'm overthinking, let's try it first." She didn't say the rest, which was: If you can't stand it, then don't raise it.
......
"Second brother, our family has been saving money and tightening our belts to support your studies. Whether or not you can become the top scholar in the end is not a big deal, but you must pass the exam this year and come back as a scholar. That way you will live up to your parents' expectations of you and your ancestors' protection of you."
"Look, you need to study in our family, and the children in your house are too young to be of any use. Your sister-in-law is a woman, and her strength is always limited. Dad and I are the ones doing the work in the fields. Oh, and there are also the brats in my house."
"If you can pass the exam and become a scholar, our family will have finally made it. Not only will the county exempt us from corvée labor, but we can also buy slaves. By then, we can buy one or two strong laborers to do the work, which will definitely reduce the burden on us and our parents." Wen Youtian originally wanted to say that it could lighten his burden, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly had an idea and said in a high-sounding way that it would reduce the burden on Wen Dacheng.
"Why are we working so hard now? Aren't we waiting for you to pass the high school entrance examination and lead us to become the official's master and wife? The younger ones in the family are also here to get married..."
blah blah blah!
Wen Youtian was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of Wen Dacheng knocking on the pipe.
It was only then that Wen Youcai took the opportunity to look up at his elder brother, who was leaning against the end of the kang with his arms folded. When did he become as chattering as an old woman chanting scriptures? Just this moment made him irritated.
Wen Dacheng naturally noticed the second brother's gaze. At this time, he coughed lightly and drew the second brother's gaze back.
Then, Wen Dacheng's voice rang out in the room, "Big brother, I'm still useful. What burden do you have? Do you think you don't want to pass the exam? It's not that easy."
"Dad, it's not easy but he has to take the exam. Otherwise, what's the point of supporting him to study? Mom, don't you agree?"
Mrs. Wen Chen was sitting cross-legged on the kang, like a giant Buddha contemplating the truth.
The eldest son is her beloved treasure and also her first child, so there must be different emotions for her. The eldest son is an honest man and doesn't talk much on weekdays. The reason why he could say such words today must be because of the lazy wife Xiao Zhang who was behind him.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Wen Chen ignored her eldest son and instead glared at Zhang Cuilan fiercely.
Zhang Cuilan was sitting on a small stool, holding Wen Xibao's arm to teach her how to stand, but she was inexplicably seeing her mother-in-law glaring at her?
Zhang Cuilan used to be a bit lazy, but now, because of the torture of her mother-in-law, she feels that she wakes up earlier than the chickens in the backyard, sleeps later than the dogs, works harder than the cows, but eats worse than the pigs.
My mother-in-law is still glaring at me now?