My village can't be like this

Chapter 666 Grain Rain
After the rice seeds have been soaked for two full days, the water can be filtered and spread on the seedling bank.

In previous years, it would have taken Zhang An's family a whole day to harvest so many rice seeds.

This year, however, there is no need for that, because Zhang An's aunts not only come to help when turning the ridges and planting the rice seedlings, but also come in droves when sowing the rice seeds.

In the village, sowing rice seeds and raising rice seedlings are mostly done by women because it is a delicate job.

So Wang Fang, along with her sisters-in-law, finished all the work of raising seedlings in just half a day.

It takes about ten days to half a month for these rice seeds to grow into seedlings that can be transplanted for the first time.

During this period, all farmers need to do is to copy the seedling fields for transplanting.

There are actually some differences between the nursery field and the main field. In general, farmers will plant and harvest twice a year, and their time is allocated just right.

But it is different for the nursery fields, because the seedlings need to be transplanted in advance to prepare for the subsequent transplanting in the main fields. Therefore, every winter, farmers will not plant crops such as winter rapeseed in the nursery fields. They are more often used as vegetable fields for a few months.

In this way, when the spring comes and the seedlings need to be transplanted in April or May, the vegetables in the rice fields will have been eaten up and there will be no waste.

Zhang An’s family used to have a rice field, but it disappeared later.

Because when the paddy fields were exchanged a few years ago, all of their main fields and rice fields were exchanged to others.

But for their family, it doesn’t matter whether there is a rice field or not.

Because their family has sown a lot of rice seeds every year over the years, the rice field needed for transplanting the seedlings naturally cannot be too small.

Even if their family's previous two-mu rice field was still there, it would not be enough, and they had to use the main field instead.

Now, after their family exchanged land with others, all the land is at their doorstep.

Even if a part of it is used as a nursery field for the first transplanting of seedlings, it will be much better than the old nursery field.

After all, the fields are now right at the gate, so irrigation, farming and travel are much more convenient than before.

Although all of their fields have been used to grow garlic and it is not yet time to harvest the garlic, this is not a problem at all.

Because last winter, before the Chinese New Year, their family had already pulled out nearly an acre of garlic sprouts and asked Ding Yi to take them over to sell.

In this way, we not only got the highest price for garlic seedlings, but also made preparations for transplanting the seedlings in the spring of this year.

So now there is an acre of vacant land in front of their house that can be used.

However, although the field was empty, he did not immediately put water in to plow it.

Zhang An is not a very hardworking person, and he doesn't want to get busy right now.

Because it will take ten days or half a month for the seedlings to grow, this period of time is neither long nor short.

If he releases water into the field now and plows the rice field in advance, he will have to release water into it frequently over the next few days.

Once the paddy field is irrigated and cultivated, it must be kept watered at all times.

Otherwise, if the water in the field dries up, even if it does not dry up to the point of cracks, the paddy field will no longer retain water for a long time.

For farmers, whether paddy fields can retain water is a very critical issue.

Because in water-retaining fields, as long as the weather is not extremely dry, you can fill a field with water and leave it alone for ten days or half a month.

On the contrary, if the paddy fields are not filled with water, you will have to run to the fields every few days.

Although releasing water to paddy fields does not sound like a very hard task, only those who have farmed know that it is not an easy job.

Because there are not just one or two people who go out to release water every day, but many people.

There is only so much water in the ditch, and once more people release water, they will inevitably compete for water.

Every year, there are many disputes over water.

And this is the case when society is doing better nowadays. If it were a dozen years ago, there would be many fights and brawls caused by letting the water out.

In serious cases, it can even lead to group fights between villages.

Although this kind of thing has not happened in recent years, Zhang An still remembers it clearly in his mind.

Even so, under the conditions of good weather and good harvest, there is water in the river. Although there are many people releasing water, as long as you are willing to spend time, the water can be released.

But if God doesn't give us face and it doesn't rain but the sun is scorching every day, and there is no water in the ditches and many paddy fields are dry, that would be the most helpless time.

So releasing water is not an easy task. Take Changqing Village for example. Although it is right next to a big river and not a place with water shortage, Zhang An still often sees people in the village working in the fields late at night.

After the rice seeds were sown, the aunts of Zhang An's family also went back to pick up their own rice seeds for this year.

However, every morning, without Wang Fang asking, they would still come to water Zhang An's rice seedling bank and remove the rice seedling film to dissipate heat.

In this way, time passes day by day, and the Grain Rain solar term is about to arrive.

Although summer is the rainy season, there are actually two days when the water level really rises.

One is Grain Rain and the other is Dragon Boat Festival.

When Grain Rain arrives, it will start to rain. Although not much, it is more than the previous spring rain which is as precious as oil.

But when it comes to the Dragon Boat Festival, God is no longer just being naughty. From time to time there will be a downpour, and such days normally last for about a month.

So the old people often say that in a year, the Rain Water starts on the fifth day of May and ends on the sixth day of June.

However, what really marks the arrival of the rainy season is not the heavy rain during this period, because no matter how heavy the rain is, it will end eventually.

Their real function is to collect rainwater to the ground, thereby triggering water sources hidden underground.

Once these mountain springs are triggered, they will continue to flow even if it doesn't rain for a long time, and will only stop flowing during the dry season in winter.

This is why farmers grow rice in the summer.

The arrival of Grain Rain means it is time to sow seeds.

Because the crops in the fields have not yet been harvested, the sowing refers to rice seedlings. As for corn and other crops, they have to wait until after the summer harvest.

When Zhang An got up in the morning, it was raining heavily. The rain was not too heavy, but not too light either. A shallow layer of rain water had already accumulated in the empty field of Zhang An's house.

After breakfast, Zhang An put on his raincoat and went to the upper reaches of the river, where he let the river water through the canal into the fields.

After so many days, the rice seeds their family had sown earlier had grown into seedlings nearly a foot tall.

In two or three days, it will be time for transplanting, so Zhang An can't be lazy anymore and has to hurry up and plow the rice field.

Although the seedlings on the seedling bank are already alive, there is no need to water them every day, and it doesn't matter if they are transplanted a little later.

But Zhang An didn't plan to wait any longer, because the bigger the seedlings grew, the better it would be to transplant them there.

On the contrary, now is the best time for the first transplant. If it is later, it will not be conducive for them to take root.

When Zhang An released the water, Zhang Jianguo had already dug a ridge in the field with a hoe. Because the field was very large, most of it was planted with garlic.

Although garlic is not as afraid of water as ginger, it will be harvested in more than half a month, so they must not be flooded.

When the fields were flooded, Zhang An went home, took out Dahei, and went to the fields with a plow.

He did not bring Taxue and Xiaohei this time, because there was only a small acre of land, and having Dahei, the head of the family, was enough.

"Xiao An, take this and put it on our horse, so it won't catch a cold."

Just as Zhang An was about to leave with the horse, Wang Fang came to the door holding a large plastic sheet.

In Wang Fang's eyes, Dahei is the most precious animal in the family as an individual.

The rain at this time of year is still very cold, and she is worried that her horse will get sick from the rain.

That's why they took out such a large piece of plastic sheet and asked Zhang An to put it on Dahei as a raincoat.

"Okay, I got it. I'll put it on after we set up the plow in the field."

In fact, Zhang An knew in his heart that this little rain was nothing to Dahei.

But he knew that if he didn't agree to his mother's words, he might be nagged for a long time, so he just did as his mother asked.

"You should put it on now, or it will get wet. You can take it off when you plow the field."

However, Wang Fang did not let Zhang An go. In her opinion, it was just a matter of draping the plastic sheet over the horse's back and tying a knot. It was not a big deal, so why wait until the fields to do it.

At this moment, Wang Fang seemed to be in a mood that if Zhang An didn't cover Dahei with the plastic sheet, she would do it herself.

So in order to prevent his mother from going out to the yard in the rain again, Zhang An chose to obey orders.

When they arrived at the field and just set up the plow, Dahei couldn't wait to pull the plow and started moving, slowly turning into a jog.

It wouldn't matter if it ran away, but there was so much water in the field that its four restless hooves kicked up water droplets that splashed everywhere.

Not only were its legs and body covered in mud, but even Zhang An, who was following behind it, was not spared.

Although he was wearing a raincoat to protect himself from getting wet, his face was not protected and was kicked in the face by Dahei's hind hoof.

"You beast, if you don't behave yourself, don't blame me for spanking you."

Zhang An freed one hand, wiped the mud off his face, and said viciously.

He knew very well that the beast Dahei was taking advantage of the opportunity to have fun.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhang An's shout, the big black horse that was still trotting immediately slowed down and pulled the plow to plow the field in an orderly manner.

In this family, the person it fears most is Zhang An.

Because it knows that if its owner says he will punish it, he will definitely punish it.

When it first came to this family, it had a much worse temper than it does now.

But after being beaten up several times by Zhang An, it was immediately subdued, and it still had some psychological trauma.

Moreover, what it feared in its heart was not only that it would be beaten, but what it feared the most was that its master Zhang An would cut off its space spring water.

You have to know that in the same circle, when other neighbors are enjoying the delicious space spring water, how powerless it feels to be able to do nothing but watch.

After Dahei settled down, farming became much easier.

Zhang An can then use his strength to adjust the plow mouth so that the soil can be plowed deeper each time.

If you want paddy fields to retain water better, you need to plow them a little deeper.

In this way, when the soil expands into silt, it can effectively prevent the infiltration of field water, thereby achieving the effect of water conservation.

Of course, you can't plow too deep.

Because this was only the first transplanting, the seedlings were only about one foot tall, and the paddy field was plowed too deep, so you couldn't see the end of the seedlings once you planted them.

"Hey, Zhang An, your family is already planting rice in the field."

When Zhang An was directing Dahei to plow the field, Zhang Jianwen shouted at the edge of the field.

Although everyone has to plough the rice fields after Grain Rain, other families usually start a few days later.

Because they had just sown the rice seeds not long ago, there was no need to be so anxious.

"It's raining now, so let's do it now. My seedlings can be transplanted in the next two days. If we wait any longer, it will be a bit late."

Zhang An shook the reins, signaling Dahei to turn around, while talking to Zhang Jianwen.

"Your family is always so early every year. My seedlings have only sprouted on the bank for a short time, but yours already has several leaves."

Zhang An's family's seedlings were planted just below the embankment. Although covered with film, Zhang Jianwen could still see the general situation inside whenever he passed by.

"Hehe, if you plant them early, you can harvest them early."

In the past, people in the village would sow rice seeds a few days before Grain Rain.

But since Zhang An's family switched to growing blood rice, they have moved up the time and basically start raising seedlings just after Qingming Festival every year.

This is because blood rice is essentially a late-maturing variety and its growing period is longer than other rices.

Even after being screened through space and soaked in space spring water, it won't be much earlier.

Therefore, planting early is equivalent to shortening the harvest time.

In addition, the autumn sun is getting weaker day by day.

The earlier you plant, the earlier you can harvest, and the earlier you can dry and store them in the warehouse.

Moreover, in the past, every household in the village dried their rice in the threshing ground. If you harvested the rice one day earlier, you could occupy a spot before others. If you harvested late, you would have to wait until others had finished drying their rice before it could be your turn.

An acre of field is not very big, so it is very easy for Dahei to work it. He had already plowed the field twice in the morning.

After returning from lunch in the afternoon, Zhang An once again took Dahei to continue plowing the field, trying to break up the plowed mud.

Zhang Jianguo was also not idle. He brought a pumping board from home and pumped the ridges of the fields to prevent field water from leaking out through the ridges.

Although rice seedlings can be planted directly in the plowed paddy fields, it is best to leave them for two days if conditions permit.

Two days later, Zhang An led the big black rear plow to plow the field again, and their family began to plant rice.

Their fields are very busy this year because there are a lot of people planting rice. All the uncles and aunts from Zhang An's family who have nothing to do have come. It feels like there is almost no room for people to stand in the fields.

(End of this chapter)