The rural life of a peasant girl

Chapter 89 I bought a carriage (1)
As for raising sweet melon seedlings, with the experience of last year, it can be said that Su Ling is much easier this year. The first step is to soak the seeds to accelerate germination.This was suggested by Su Ling.Soak the sweet potatoes in warm water of about forty degrees Celsius for about 10 minutes.When many crop varieties are cultivated, they must be soaked in advance.So Su Ling's proposal didn't feel strange to anyone.

There is no thermometer, but Su Ling knows that the skin temperature of the human body is in the [-]s, so he tested the temperature of the water with his hands. If it feels warm in this season, but not too hot, then the temperature is about the same.When soaking the seeds, turn the sweet potatoes constantly so that the sweet potatoes can be heated evenly.

After soaking the seeds, cut the sweet potatoes into cubes.This is very similar to potato seedlings.About one or two sweet potatoes can be cut into four or five seed pieces.

Cutting into pieces is a delicate job, only Su's father and Aunt Liu do it, and Su's mother can only watch from the side.There are special tools for dicing.It was carefully collected by Su's father.It was a small knife about an inch long and about the same width.There is no handle, but the side of the blunt mouth is embedded in the wooden block, and the wooden block is wrapped with coarse cloth and thick tendon, which is convenient for holding the knife.The blade of the knife is very sharp. Father Su only uses it when cutting potatoes and raising seedlings. He usually puts it away so that no one will be accidentally cut.

After cutting the seed block.It's just going into the bed to raise seedlings.If the weather is in the south, most of the seedlings are raised in open-air seedbeds.But here in Huaxi Village, the current climate is obviously much colder than that in the south.In this case, germination will be delayed.

"Let's just lay a seedbed on the kang?" Su Ling said.

There is nothing in the Su family's house except defecation, and there is a room in the new yard with a big kang built inside. It is more than enough to use this house to grow this mu of sweet potato seedlings.

Father Su nodded. In fact, there are other seeds in Huaxi Village that need to be kept warm and will be put on the kang, so it is not surprising that Su Ling proposed this method. Some people raise seedlings late, so they put them on the kang. of.This kind of germination is fast, but the temperature of the kang should be controlled.The kang needs to be burned several times a day, requiring careful care.

Father Su is quite confident in controlling the temperature of the kang.

"It just so happens that the big kang in our new house hasn't been burned after it's finished. It should be burned to remove the moisture." Su's mother said, the house with the big kang was not intended to be inhabited, so the kang there has not been burned. Nothing unusual.

Finally, the seedbed for raising sweet potato seedlings was set up on the big kang in the new house.The sand used for the seedbed is also the finest and best sand, and it is also mixed with poured fine dung as fertilizer.

Since the seedbed was built, Aunt Liu and the little maids were in charge of lighting the fire and looking after it during the day. At night, Shishu accompanied Father Su and simply slept in the new house, and got up in the middle of the night to burn the kang and look after the seedbed.Needless to say, such hard work.But thinking about the prospect of yielding a thousand catties per mu, even if it is more difficult and tiring, the two of them are willing in their hearts.

mid-February.

Every day before that, Su Ling would go to the seedbed to see the development of sweet potatoes.

Finally, at night Su Ling came to check.She held the candlestick on the seedbed and checked it bit by bit.

"Ah, it's sprouted. The sweet potato has sprouted." Su Ling exclaimed in surprise.

In fact, there is also a reason for the name of this sweet potato. When Su Ling planted sweet potatoes for the first time, he slipped his mouth.In fact, this thing came in from Fanwai, it should be called sweet potato.

Once Su Ling spoke, he called sweet potatoes sweet potatoes.To make things right, she said that sweet potatoes look like melons and grow in the ground, so they should be called sweet potatoes.In fact, in her previous life, she always called sweet potatoes sweet potatoes, but she seldom called sweet potatoes by their scientific name.

The big guys didn't have any doubts, but quickly accepted the name sweet potato.Because the name sweet potato has a more local flavor than sweet potato, and it is more in line with their living habits.

Mother Su hurriedly came over, and by candlelight, she could really see short potato sprouts emerging from the seedbed.The potato sprouts are very small and have just emerged. If you don't look carefully, you will really ignore them.

"It really sprouted." Su Ho also said in surprise.

Su's father heard it from the outer room and rushed in. They were also very happy to see the sweet potatoes sprouting.

"It's just the beginning." After Su's father was happy, he said, "This thing is more exhausting than beans. You can't relax until the seedlings have grown."

"That's right." Mother Su nodded with a smile, "It's not easy being a farmer."

Su Ling actually knew this truth.For example, raising seedlings requires patience and technology.The same households are farmers, and some of them are not good at cultivating rice seedlings. Every year when the season of planting various rice seedlings comes, there will be people selling rice seedlings at the big market in Qingshi Town, and they are very popular.

"Father and mother, this seedling finally came out, and our family's painstaking efforts were not in vain." Su Ling was also very happy. The last time I planted sweet potatoes was when the weather was relatively warm, and it would be fine to cultivate them directly in the soil. , but this time, she started to cultivate it not long after the new year, and the weather is relatively cold. In this ancient and backward technology, and there is no cultivation in a greenhouse, she is really afraid that it will not succeed. Fortunately, it always succeeds now.

The sweet potatoes sprouted, and the leaves grew within a few days.

The most important thing now is to hire long-term workers to help. Now the fish pond is almost finished, and the house next to the fish pond is also under construction. It should not take long for it to be completed.

For this matter, Su Ling made a special trip to the town. Before that, Zhu Yazi from Yaxing had been paying attention to the candidate for the long-term worker. After so long, there should be news. Besides, it’s been a long time since I went to the delicious dim sum shop, even though it’s all by myself. The trustworthy people are there, but let's go and see, after all, the boss is not present for too long, and the employees will slack off.

Su Ling specially went with Su's father when selecting the long-term workers this time. After all, it will be Su's father who will manage these long-term workers in the future, so it is up to Su's father to choose the right one.

"Ling'er is here! I already have a suitable candidate for the person you asked me to keep an eye on last time. I wanted to blackmail you to send the news, but I didn't expect you to come now, just in time." Zhu Yazi's face was full Smiling, he asked as soon as he saw Su Ling, completely ignoring Su's father beside Su Ling. "Would you like to see it now? I'll call them all out."

"Well, call me over here! This time I have to let my father choose the right one." Zhu Yazi discovered Su's father at this moment, and secretly resented himself for not saying hello to Su's father earlier, and thought with a big smile on his face Su's father said hello, Su Ling smiled at Zhu Yazi's behavior, and let Su's father learn to socialize and contact other people, but Su's father, who has been honest all his life, has never seen anyone compliment him like this!It was very uncomfortable for a while.

Fortunately, Zhu Yazi was also very winky, seeing that Su's father didn't like his compliments, he immediately started serious business again, and called out all the long-term workers he had collected these days.

(End of this chapter)