Lady of the Lord From the East

Wei Wei took the children outside to catch ladybugs for a long time, and the harvest was very rich.

By the way, she also dug up some dandelion cornflowers and yarrow back, ready to plant next to the cornfield, and give these ladybugs a new home.

The ladybugs were kept in the jar for a long time, and they were a little out of spirit. Fortunately, most of them were still alive. Wei Wei asked the commander and children who had been dug up to put these ladybugs on the leaves with bugs.

The ladybug moved very slowly, and it didn't move for a long time when it was put on the leaves. After a period of time, it was probably determined that there was no danger, and then it crawled towards the still alive aphids and began to eat.

Just start eating and you'll be fine.

After finishing this work, I brought some food for the children as usual, Wei Wei went back to the room to rest for a while, and it was almost time for dinner.

During dinner, Wei Wei told Felix about it by the way.

She was a little worried about whether the wheat cultivated by the serfs in the manor also suffered from insect pests. After all, compared with the wheat seeds used by other people, her wheat seeds were more resistant to insect pests, but they also had insects. Wei Wei did not know this alone. Is it just because of other plants in the garden, or is it the same with those cornfields outside.

All the land she grows in the garden adds up to less than an acre, and even some pests can be dealt with quickly, but outside is different.

"Garlic water can drive and kill some pests, but it is not omnipotent. It is best to prepare some insecticides."

Moreover, although garlic is not more expensive than other spices such as Chinese prickly ash and pepper, it is also a seasoning. It is prepared in large quantities into insecticidal water to repel insects, and it needs to be produced regularly, which is not something that ordinary serfs can afford.

Felix has learned a lot of management matters during this time, and he has a lot of knowledge about things in the fields. When Wei Wei talks about aphids, he naturally thinks of other common pests and diseases.

For today's farmers, when there are insects in the fields, they can only be grasped by hand. Often, before a piece of land has been caught, the adjacent land is also infected, which eventually leads to the reduction of field production or even no harvest. This can be said to be the most headache for farmers except for prolonged droughts and floods.

In fact, a lot of land is reduced due to insect pests every year. After all, it is an era that relies entirely on manpower and no pesticides. The serfs are really struggling to deal with the damage.

So she mentioned that Felix also started to have a headache: "If it really doesn't work, I'll let people buy more garlic back - are you sure this will really kill the pests?"

"Certainly, at least it works well on little bugs like aphids, you can try it yourself."

Felix's mind was still spinning very fast. Under the premise of believing in Wei Wei, he thought of other possibilities: "So are there other alternatives? The more favorable kind."

If only garlic could be used, Felix would have to take care of his own plot, and the other serfs would have to pay for it themselves, and most of them might not be able to pay the money, and in the end it was likely to increase labor Go back with some garlic on credit from him.

But Felix feels that he currently has nothing to do for them that needs to increase labor, and he is more concerned about the cost issue.

This is probably the sequelae of the recent over-seeing of accounts.

"Substitutes?" Wei Wei was stunned for a while, then suddenly, she couldn't help but patted her head: "Yes, it's my fault that I didn't think of it before, I'll go out and look for it tomorrow."

Before, she was limited. She only remembered what she could use on hand, but she forgot that there were actually many natural insect repellent plants in nature.

For example, in ancient China, plants such as Mangcao Tripterygium wilfordii were used to make insecticides and insecticides. Although there were no relevant records in the Middle Ages in Europe, there is a plant that is highly regarded in modern times.

The next day, Wei Wei watered the corn and wheat fields with garlic water, and then went out on a horse with tools alone, looking for the plants she saw in the book last night.

Although it took some time in the middle, she finally found it.

Pyrethrum, a perennial herb of the Compositae family native to Europe, has a flower shape similar to that of a daisy and can be cultivated for medicinal purposes, but is mainly used to make agricultural pesticides in modern times.

It is also the main raw material of mosquito coils.

In fact, most of the plants of the genus Asteraceae contain pyrethrins. This substance has a strong contact killing effect on insects and can disrupt the normal physiology of insect nerves, causing them to die from excitement, convulsion to paralysis, but as long as there is not a large amount of It is safe for humans and animals to use, but the disadvantage is that it is highly toxic to fish and harms some beneficial insects. Long-term repeated use will also lead to resistance of pests.

Of course, these shortcomings are not currently in Wei Wei's consideration.

As a wild plant, there are not a lot of pyrethrum, but these pyrethrum and small daisies are often mixed together, and the flowers are very similar. Big, be careful not to get confused.

The flowers, stems and leaves of pyrethrum are all usable materials, and the roots can be regenerated next year, so Wei Wei picked a basket of flowers and leaves, and dug up a few more plants to take back, leaving the rest in place Waiting for the results or continue picking next year.

This time, Wei Wei brought back the pyrethrum instead of taking it to the kitchen to make it. Instead, she built a fire in the open space outside the kitchen, and then put a pot on it to cook it.

Boil the flowers and leaves with water at a ratio of 1:10 for 20 minutes. After boiling, filter out the flowers and leaves. The chrysanthemum water left behind is the insecticide she needs.

The chrysanthemum water can be used directly after it is cooled, and it can be stored for two weeks without deterioration. The only thing to note is that the pots that have been boiled with chrysanthemum water cannot be used to cook other things during this period, so as not to mix with toxicity.

Wei Wei made this batch of boiled chrysanthemum water to use in her field. Today, she went out to check it out. There were indeed sporadic aphids. Fortunately, they were killed by hard-working serfs. Sprinkle some chrysanthemum water to prevent.

The serfs were very convinced by Wei Wei's words, especially after seeing the effect of burning fire dung, so the chrysanthemum water she sent by her people was quickly spilled in the fields, so that every wheat plant was affected as much as possible. Protect.

In the next few days, other people's wheat fields began to find traces of aphids and other pests one after another, but Wei Wei's fields that had been sprinkled with chrysanthemum water did not even appear a single bug, even with her Neighboring fields are also much less infested by pests than other fields.

Felix, who has been keeping an eye on Wei Wei's field, naturally did not miss this sign. In fact, Felix, who had been very convinced of Wei Wei in terms of farming, found pyrethrum and made chrysanthemum water. After Wei Wei found pyrethrum and made chrysanthemum water, he Send someone out to pick pyrethrum according to those plants.

After seeing the effect, the recovered pyrethrum was all boiled in a pot to produce a large amount of chrysanthemum water, which was then distributed to the earl's private plot by the serving serfs to sprinkle it.

The other serfs soon discovered that the lightly scented water was very effective against the bugs in the ground. They approached the steward, and cautiously expressed their hope that they could buy some of this water from the Count - if the price was acceptable to them. if.

This time, Felix kept the method of making chrysanthemum water secret - although it was not difficult at all - and the serfs needed to exchange a handful of beans for chrysanthemum water that could water a field.

After all, he is not a philanthropist. It takes a lot of firewood to cook pyrethrum, and it is impossible to give it to the serfs for free.

It is still very cost-effective to exchange a handful of beans for the insects in the field to disappear without a trace. After all, the beans are not valuable, and the serfs found that the "insect removal water" exchanged in exchange can be poured into two fields, and the effect will not be bad. too much.

Although it's not that no one noticed that the slaves in the castle are always wandering around the fields looking for small white chrysanthemums, but they also vaguely heard that the women in the castle are very popular recently using a skin care product made of flowers, so everyone It was thought that these slaves picked flowers to make skin care products for the people in the castle.

And those who knew the secret were all tight-lipped, not only because of the earl's orders, but also because they, the servants who worked in the castle, could trade pyrethrum for enough vermin water for their own fields.

As soon as I was busy, the insect pests that might have reduced the production of the manor disappeared so silently, and the wheat in the fields was still lush and lush, and there was not even a moth, which was very gratifying.

And the effect of removing insect water was quickly spread to the manor through the mouths of the serfs. In several surrounding villages and towns, farmers already had a headache because of the large number of insects emerging from the fields. When they heard the news, these people hurriedly brought beans. , went to the manor and hoped to buy some deworming water back.

Recently, almost all of the pyrethrum in the manor has been picked. Felix, who has discussed with Wei Wei whether it is possible to open up some wasteland to grow flowers, heard the news and let people change the price of external sales to two handfuls of beans for one piece. He sent slaves outside the manor to find more pyrethrum to return.

Originally, according to his original intention, the serfs should use oatmeal in exchange for deworming water, instead of beans that are so cheap that the nobles will hardly eat them.

But Wei Wei's tofu made with beans let him know whether the beans are delicious or not, and it mainly depends on how to make them.

Of course, there is no soy in Sardinson. Soy only appeared in Europe in the eighteenth century, but tofu does not necessarily need to be made from soy.

Now the common beans in Europe are peas and chickpeas, both of which can be used to make tofu, but they are not as common as soybean tofu.

Soy products have always been the favorite food of human beings. Wei Wei made tofu not for the consideration of the serfs, but a coincidence.

The reason was just because she just wanted to eat tofu.

In addition to using brine gypsum, tofu can also be made with white vinegar and lemon juice, but the taste is slightly different.

When Felix was thinking about what the serfs should use in exchange for the deworming water, Wei Wei happened to use chickpeas to grind soy milk, and then ordered tofu with lemon juice to make the tofu feast for dinner that day, and sighed smoothly during the meal. As soon as she ran out of beans in the kitchen, Felix decided to exchange beans for deworming water.

This is good, the serfs are reluctant to give up other grains but not a handful or two of beans, and Wei Wei will soon have new beans to make tofu and develop new dishes, and is currently thinking about whether to find some brine or natural gypsum to come back. Tofu, to make it taste a little better, and Felix finds new surprises on the table every day.