Good farming at the foot of Changbai Mountain

Chapter 24 Picking up Acorns

The next day, everyone got up early, and after breakfast, Zhixin and the old man led Wen Han and Wen Cheng up the mountain.The third child and the fourth child also led their families home. Jing Wan and Jing Xian followed their parents back to the county town. Jing Han was a little bit reluctant to part with them and kept asking them to come back when they had time.Before leaving, Zhiming told Mrs. Chen that Zhixin would take all the red goods made this year to the county to sell after he finished planting the sticks in two days.Mrs. Chen agreed, saying she would go there in two days.

The Chen family was still the same, and brought a lot of things to the two families, such as pine nuts, walnuts, mushrooms, etc., and took a lot.This time, Mrs. Han didn't pick anything, and took them all.Seeing the backs of these people leaving, Chen felt uncomfortable. For people of her age, what she hopes most is that her children and grandchildren are by her side, so that they can be lively and lively.

Last night, Mrs. Zhu talked to Mrs. Chen about adopting Wenchang, but Mrs. Chen did not agree.Firstly, the Zhu family is still young, so maybe they can have another child.Furthermore, brothers Wen Cheng and Wen Chang cannot be separated. If they adopt to the family of the third child together, they are afraid that the third child will not be able to afford it.The old couple is still active now, and it is still possible to support two children.However, Mrs. Chen also said that if after waiting for four or five years, Mrs. Zhu still does not have any, then Wenchang will be recorded in Zhiming's name, and Wenchang will be asked to provide for Zhiming and his wife until their death.

After thinking about it, Mrs. Zhu felt that it was the same. There are two daughters in her family, so if there are two more sons, it would be really embarrassing.So I no longer think about adoptive things.

After seeing off their son and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Xue led Jinghan and the others to the garden to pull cabbage and radishes. This year's cabbage and radishes are growing well.Mrs. Chen and others pulled out the radish first, and Mrs. Xue took a kitchen knife and chopped off all the leaves and tops of the radish.In this way, the radish will not germinate, and it will not become chaff.Of course, it is also necessary to reserve a few larger ones, so that they can be used as seeds for next year.

The chopped radish tassels should not be thrown away either. They should be tied up with ropes and hung in a shaded place.When it is dry in the shade, you can eat small tofu in winter.In winter, especially in the days before spring, ordinary people will cook some small tofu, which is very good to eat as a dish.

After cutting all the radishes, Xue dug a hole in the ground with a shovel, put the radishes into the hole, and then filled it with soil.Of course, when filling the soil, a few corn stalks should be inserted in the middle, so that the radishes underneath can breathe and will not be broken.The Xu family planted two kinds of radishes, one was the red radishes eaten yesterday, and the other was ordinary green radishes.Mrs. Xue saved a lot of red radishes for the children to eat as snacks, and buried all the green radishes.

If there are more people, the work will be faster. The radish has not been buried yet, and Mr. Bian led the children to pull the cabbage again.This cabbage generally has two uses, one is to pickle sauerkraut, and the other is to store it in the cellar and wait until winter to fry.Pickled sauerkraut cabbage does not need to be too good, good ones should be kept in the cellar.So Mrs. Chen took a kitchen knife and cut down the cabbage that was going to be pickled, and then Jinghan and the others carried the chopped cabbage into a pile.For the rest to be stored in the cellar, you can wait for a few more days.

Mrs. Chen chopped down all the cabbages that needed to be pickled, and then went to repair the cabbages.That is to break off all the old clappers on the outside, and keep the tender heart inside. Of course, don’t repair it too hard, just break off two or three old leaves and it’s almost the same.All the repaired cabbages are stacked together, and the sauerkraut will be pickled in the afternoon.I can pick up the ginseng seeds tonight, and then I have to pick the seeds and plant ginseng, so I don't have much time to pickle sauerkraut.Furthermore, if you marinate it early, you can eat it early.In the winter here, we just point to sauerkraut to live.

After Mrs. Xue buried the radishes, she asked Jinghan and the others to bring back the ones that were left to eat raw, and then came to help Mrs. Chen repair the cabbage. "Mother, this year's vegetables are growing well. It seems that there is no need to worry about winter. That's the best, otherwise it would be really embarrassing." While talking, Mrs. Xue continued to repair the cabbage without stopping.

It took more than an hour for the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to repair all the cabbages. "Okay, it's almost done. Let's pickle the sauerkraut in the afternoon. There are so many people in the family, so we have to pickle three big jars of sauerkraut. I don't know if it will be possible."

After a busy afternoon, everyone was tired, so it was time to make lunch.Going back to the kitchen, Huixin has already started cooking. "Huixin, let's cook at noon today. You have learned how to cook from your sister-in-law for a while. Let's see how you are doing?" Chen ordered.This daughter is going to get married after all when she grows up. Being a daughter-in-law is not only good at needlework, but also cooking.Don't you say it all?A pair of scissors on the kang, and a shovel on the pot table, if you can hold both of them, you can be considered a good daughter-in-law.

Huixin nodded after hearing what her mother said, "Hey, mother, I'll cook at noon today." She also helped Mrs. Xue on weekdays. frightened.

Mrs. Xue washed her hands, "Okay, then I will help Huixin today, and let's try the skill of knowing the heart at noon." He said.Just help to light the fire.

I saw Huixin was cutting vegetables on the chopping board, she seemed quite proficient, not bad.Huixin was cooking there, and Mrs. Xue helped to light the fire. After a while, the smell of food wafted from the kitchen.

Jinghan went into the kitchen to have a look, it turned out that it was my sister-in-law who was cooking.Hehe, it smells good, it should be pretty good. "Mom, when are we going to have dinner? We want to go to the mountain to pick up some acorns in the afternoon. Those things are good for feeding pigs." This Jinghan knows that acorns can be ground into powder. , people use it to satisfy their hunger.

"Okay, you go. The mountain in front of us is full of oak trees and acorns. Come back before it snows. You can save a lot of food by feeding pigs." Of course Mrs. Xue did not object, the child They are willing to work, but she is too happy.The work of getting things up the mountain is usually done by the children of various families.If anyone's children are diligent, they can bring a lot of things home every autumn, and there are those who are too lazy and don't want to do anything.

All the food was ready, everyone worked together, put the food on the table, and then began to eat.Jinghan tasted these dishes, the taste is not bad, it is not as good as the mother's cooking, but the little aunt has only learned these days, so it should be considered good.This cooking is also a matter of practice makes perfect, the more you do it, the better.

Mrs. Chen nodded while eating the food, "Well, it's okay, I will practice more in the future. You are not young anymore, after a while, I have to make arrangements for your marriage. When you have a husband's family, you can't do it." You are so brisk at home. You have been weak since childhood, so I didn't let you work too much. You have to be diligent when you get married. Look at your fourth sister-in-law. Although your mother doesn't say anything, she is not happy in her heart. How can this daughter-in-law not do any work? Our family is considered good. Men in the Xu family don’t beat their wives. Go out and see how many wives are not beaten? If yours The food is good, and you can feel less angry." Chen also felt sorry for Huixin, so she would tell her little by little.

Huixin naturally understood this, "Mother, don't worry, I will definitely learn it well." Marriage between a man and a woman is a necessary process, and Huixin naturally didn't say anything about not marrying.These days, how can there be a girl who does not marry when she reaches her age?That doesn't make people laugh.

Everyone ate very quickly. After eating, Jinghan, Jingya, Wenxuan and Wenchang all went up the mountain with their baskets on their backs.In autumn, Jingya followed her up the mountain, because at this time, one more person can get a lot of things.Several people went into the forest and picked up acorns on the ground.Acorns are the fruit of a kind of oak tree here.In the south there is a tree called an oak, which also bears acorns.

There are really a lot of oak trees in the forest, so there are also a lot of acorns. After a while, Jinghan picked up a basket.Pour the basket into the back basket, and then pick it up with the basket.It's okay for Jingya to do this, because she doesn't need to climb a tree or anything, just pick it up in the basket when she sees it. "Jinghan, how much do we want to pick up?"

"Sister, of course, the more the better, this thing is good for feeding pigs and chickens, so that we can save food, won't we have more food to eat? Let's pick it up, if there is more, our family will have more next year You can catch a few pigs, and you can earn a lot of money by raising them." Jing Han is still full of money, although there are no good ideas now, but raising pigs is also a good way.

After listening to Jing Han's words, everyone felt that it made sense.If there are more pigs in the family, they can sell for more money, and when the Chinese New Year comes, they can save more meat to eat at home.At the thought of meat, everyone cheered up and picked it up in the basket.

At home, Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Xue are pickling sauerkraut.The two large pots in the kitchen were all cleaned, filled with water and boiled.When the water boils, put the cabbage brought back from the garden, root down, into the pot to scald.When the root is almost hot, turn it over and lightly scald the side of the cabbage leaf.Of course, this job is very dangerous, the cabbage is very hot in boiling water.Xue used a shovel to turn over the cabbage, which was better than using his hands.The cabbage that has been blanched can be loaded into the tank.The Xu family has several large vats, which are used to pickle sauerkraut.

The two mothers were busy with their hands, putting the hot cabbage into the jar and stacking it. This was a laborious job, and it had to be pressed firmly, otherwise the cabbage would easily rot.After finishing a tank, find a large flat rock and press it on top of the cabbage, so that the cabbage will not rot easily.

When the three big vats were all installed and covered with big stones, Mrs. Xue poured the boiling water in the pot into the three big vats respectively. If the hot water was not enough, he boiled two more pots. "When the sauerkraut falls tomorrow, let's seal the mouth of the tank with yellow mud, so that we don't have to worry about oily fumes." In the afternoon, the tired Chen couldn't stand upright.

(End of this chapter)