Rebirth of Rural Literary Life

Chapter 16 Second Income

Earthworms are omnivorous animals. All kinds of poultry manure, livestock manure, melon and fruit peels, vegetable leaves, leaves and non-toxic domestic waste can be used as feed for earthworms.

Considering the large-scale demand for chicken feed in the later period, He Ping found an open space beside the reservoir, and no one cares about it these days anyway.He Ping came to the reservoir to raise earthworms. There are several considerations. The first is that earthworms need a humid environment. The surface soil near the reservoir is moist enough, even if it is not enough, just come to the reservoir every day to get some water to irrigate; the second is the silt in the reservoir, the reservoir The silt inside is a good thing for earthworms. It contains a lot of organic matter. It can be said to be a natural fertilizer, which is just right for earthworms.

He Ping led Han Zhaoshe to dig shallow pits one meter square and about [-] to [-] centimeters deep, and then began to wash the silt from the side of the reservoir.

Of course, He Ping, who had experienced drowning once, would not lean into the reservoir. The boy Han Zhaoshe came in handy. He and his second brother Han Zhaojun fished him out of the reservoir at the beginning. The water quality is very good.

After working all day, I finally filled the bottom of dozens of earthworm pits with silt. This alone is not enough, and I have to ask each family for poultry and livestock manure, swill, rotten vegetable leaves, grass roots, leaves, etc. , anyway, as long as it is organic matter, you can put whatever you want.

Don’t think these things are junk. In this day and age, recycling rural waste is much better than doing it 40 years later. Whether it’s feces, swill, or rotten vegetables and leaves at home, they are all useful.The manure is the organic fertilizer for the land, and the swill and rotten vegetable leaves are the feed for poultry and livestock, so nothing is wasted.

He Ping had the cheek to pull these things all over the team, and even mobilized Han Zhaojun to help. It took a few days to finally fill up these earthworm breeding ponds. He only needed to retting them for another ten or eight days until the organic matter in them rotted. After the fermentation is completed, the earthworm breeding pond is completed.

Having a breeding pond is just the beginning, and the highlight of the next few days is the introduction of species, that is, digging for earthworms.

It will take a few days for the breeding pond to be ready. He Ping is not in a hurry. After work and dinner, he takes Xiao Zhuer and Han Zhaoshe to dig by the side of the reservoir for an hour.

Digging earthworms is also particular. If it is only used for bait, then of course you can dig it casually.

But He Ping is used for breeding, so we should give priority to selecting those sexually mature earthworms.Earthworms are hermaphrodites, and usually two earthworms mate for heterozygous fertilization and reproduce. The earthworms with protruding rings on their bodies are mature.

This busy work lasted more than half a month. When the second group of chickens hatched, He Ping would dig up enough earthworms in the breeding pond, and the next step was to wait for the earthworms to reproduce on their own.Generally, after 7 days of mating, the parent earthworms will produce an egg package, and one egg contains 1 to 7 fertilized eggs. After 11 to 22 days, small earthworms will hatch, and it will take about 50 days for the small earthworms to mature sexually, and so on.

That is to say, if He Ping wants to make chicken feed in batches, he needs to wait at least two months.This is also relatively close to the time when he estimated that the demand for chicks in the surrounding market will be saturated.

Another morning, He Ping woke up early, and all the chicks at home had hatched. Today is the third day of the fifth lunar month, the day for the big market, and the Dragon Boat Festival will be two days away.

At this time, there is no festive atmosphere, and there are no sales promotions, but you can still see the joy and anticipation of the coming festival from the faces of passers-by.

He Ping is going to sell chickens in Daji today. All 196 chickens are brought to the market. It is best to sell all of them. This can save some food. If they cannot be sold, they have to bring them back to catch the next Daji.

Of course, He Ping couldn't take the 196 chickens by himself. He Ping called Han Zhaojun brothers, took Xiao Zhuer, and each of the four carried a bamboo basket and rations for the chickens.

The team going to the market today is particularly strong, probably because of the Dragon Boat Festival, everyone wants to do some shopping before the festival.

He Ping was happy, it was a good sign.

Going to the market these days is a happy event for most members of the commune. Everyone laughs and laughs all the way, and the most talked about thing is He Ping's hatching of chickens.

He Ping, as an outsider, although he is a young man, his work is really not comparable to the general strong labor in the production team, and he has the small problem of fishing in troubled waters in later generations. He wasn't very satisfied either, he always felt that this kid was spoiled and spoiled, that he couldn't bear hardships, and he was just a street slut.

However, He Ping's actions recently made the members of the production team look at each other with admiration. Hatching chicks is not a physical labor, but it can be regarded as a technical job, and it is an extremely exhausting technical job.It is also a skill to be able to do this well.Just like Xu Laocai in the team, his physique is not comparable to that of a strong man, but he is skillful and can do all kinds of farm work. He Ping even went to guide him when he hatched chickens. The family life is prosperous.

Of course, no matter how good He Ping does it, some people will still make irresponsible remarks, such as "raising chickens is the work of old ladies", just like those keyboard warriors on the Internet in later generations.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approaches, the festive atmosphere of the market is also very strong, and there are many stalls selling rice dumplings and colorful ropes.

As usual, He Ping put the bamboo basket on the ground. The difference was that this time not only there were more chicks, but also the team grew stronger.

"How much is the chicken?"

The dry and thin old man asked after observing Chick Cub's mental head for a while.

He Ping, who had experience in selling goods once, would not let people catch his tongue, and said with vigilance: "Master, we raise this at home, come here to exchange some food, eggs are also fine."

The dry and skinny old man nodded and smiled, "Hey, I understand, I understand."

After some bargaining, the five chicks were successfully sold and exchanged for twelve catties of national food stamps.

The dry and skinny old man made a good start for today's stall, and there is an endless stream of people who come to exchange chickens. Every year in the first two months of spring, many rural commune members will get some chickens and ducks to supplement the slaughter at home or turn in the previous year. He Ping picked the poultry at the right time.

The sun is approaching, and the big market is gradually coming to an end. Many stall owners around have packed up their things and left. He Ping looked at the five chicks left in the bamboo basket. It is estimated that it will be difficult to sell them today. Then he said: "Okay, it's almost sold out today, pack it up and go back."

A few people happily packed up their things. When they came, they brought 196 chicks and sold 191 of them. If the business is so good, they won't be able to make a fortune in the future.

"Brother He, how many things did you change today?" Han Zhaoshe looked excited.

Han Zhaojun stood by and didn't speak, showing both curiosity and excitement.

Xiao Zhu'er also looked up at He Ping with a look of hope.

He Ping took them to a corner where no one was around, and counted today's income. He remembered it when he bought it, but then there were too many people, and the exchange of things was complicated, so he couldn't remember them all.

(End of this chapter)