The first month of the year is the most leisurely time for country people in the year. Even Zhou Lang, who had been busy weaving bamboo baskets, stopped what he was doing, except during the Lantern Festival, when he took his boss and his third son with him to the county town to set up a stall.
Apart from selling bamboo baskets, I am hardly busy anymore.
Man Bao took the opportunity to bring up the matter of clearing land for his eldest sister.
Before Zhou Xi could refuse, Zhou Dalang hurriedly cleared the rice in the bowl and said, "That's okay. Let's go together after we finish breakfast. I've gone to see the land that Man Bao chose. It's not very big.
There aren’t even any trees, so it’s easy to bloom.”
Qian glanced at her eldest daughter who wanted to refuse, nodded and said, "Well, I'll just listen to Man Bao on this matter."
Then he said to Zhou Xi: "That piece of land is yours, and you will keep the profits from the land yourself from now on."
Zhou Xi felt a little uneasy and lowered his head in response.
After dinner, the whole family went to the fields, and even Lao Zhoutou followed him with his hands behind his back to take a look. Qian called Zhou Xi and said, "Since studying, your sister has become smarter and smarter. We have learned many things."
I don’t even understand. Since she asked you to plant ginger, then you should plant it carefully. It only takes some effort anyway. The land was created, and the most important thing in our family is people."
Zhou Xi has been home for more than ten days, and she has noticed a difference. In her impression, Manbao is a weak and weak Yaomei. But after returning home for a long time this time, she found that her family still loves her as much as before.
But there are many differences.
For example, when we were choosing grain seeds two days ago, Lao Zhou called Man Bao over and asked her to calculate how many kilograms of grain seeds would be spread on the fields at home.
For another example, during the Lantern Festival a few days ago, the second child was going to the county town to sell bamboo baskets, and he specifically asked Manbao if he was going.
Man Bao disliked the fact that it was too cold and the homework assigned by her husband was not good enough, so she did not go, but let the fourth, fifth and sixth children go. After returning home, the second child handed over all the money to Man Baoshu.
, how much he paid to the father, and how much he had left, Man Bao could clearly calculate.
Zhou Xi looked at it with a calm face, but was shocked in her heart. At night, she couldn't help but wonder, is it true that all daughters resemble their father? If his father is smart, then his daughter is that smart?
Now that her mother mentioned this, she couldn't help but sit next to her and asked: "Mom, Man Bao is so smart, what should I do in the future?"
Qian's sewing hand paused slightly, and then said: "It's a good thing for children to be smart. What should I do if anything happens?"
Zhou Xi wanted to say more, but Qian said: "You should also go and take a look at the fields. After all, it is your land. You can't just let your brother and sister-in-law work hard."
Zhou Xi responded, got up and chased Zhou Dalang and the others.
Man Bao, Da Tou Da Ya and other children rushed to the front, screaming and diving into the weeds.
Zhou Dalang couldn't help scolding them and stabbed them all over.
Manbao, no, it should be said that the land chosen by Keke for Zhou Xi is right next to Zhoulang's land, but there is a stone in the middle.
Lao Zhou looked at it and found that the land was very small, only about two cents, but there were a lot of weeds growing in it. Because it had just passed the winter, the weeds were withered and yellow, but some grass buds were sprouting on the ground at this time.
He hoeed and found that the soil was okay, and there were no big trees or large rocks in this area. Although it was a bit small, two cents was enough.
Old Zhou gave Dalang the hoe, nodded and said, "Okay, let's just cut the grass here."
Then he went to say to Zhou Lang, "Look at you, look at your sister, what kind of land did you choose? It is full of trees and rocks. It took two months to open up the land."
Zhou Lang said unconvinced: "My big one!"
Old Zhou snorted, "What's the use of it? If the land is not fertile, can you grow anything?"
When he said this, Old Zhou became angry and said: "You are not allowed to take fertilizer from home in the future. If you want fertilizer, you can make it yourself. Look how much fertilizer you picked into the field some time ago. Don't you want it for farming at home in the spring?"
This was because Zhou Lang felt guilty and he lowered his head.
Manbao, who was happily picking up stones and throwing them out, ran away after hearing this, because she asked her fourth brother to pick out the fat.
Xiao Qian obviously knew it was her idea. When he saw her running over quickly, he stretched out his finger and tapped her forehead.
The more people there are, the faster we can open up wasteland. What's more, Zhou Dalang, Zhou Dalang, Zhou Lang and Zhou Lang are both good at work, much better than their three brothers. There are also Xiao Qian and others who cut grass and collect stones.
Each of them took a corner, hoeed it directly, and dug out the land in one day.
Of course, it is not enough to turn it out. Tomorrow, you have to knock out the grass roots and other soil, break it into pieces, and turn it over again. It is best to spread a layer of fertilizer and cultivate it.
However, Lao Zhoutou is very stingy now and does not allow anyone to touch the family's fertilizer. In his opinion, nothing is as important as spring sowing, which is the family's annual ration and cannot be neglected.
So Zhou Dalang planned to go to the mountains to dig out a layer of mud and spread it on Zhou Xi.
However, they obviously did not choose a good place. The excavated soil was wrapped with many unrotted leaves. Man Bao looked disgusted and said, "How can we farm like this?"
Zhou Dalang asked Manbao with a smile, "What do you think we should do?"
Man Bao squatted on the ground and asked, "Can't you retreate it just like you do at home?"
"This is not fertilizer." Zhou Dalang said. The fertilizer at home is made from manure mixed with wheat straw, straw and river mud.
Man Bao was the first to dig out soil with leaves from the mountains, but Zhou Dalang was a good farmer. He had seen that the layer of mud dug out was indeed a little richer than the soil from the land.
That's why he was willing to do this.
Man Bao did not have his solid idea. She thought that since Keke said that fallen leaves can add fertilizer to trees, it means that fallen leaves are also fertile.
Didn't Keke just say that the layer of black soil under the tree is the fertility added to the soil by the decay of fallen leaves over the years? The reason why the vegetation in the mountain forest can grow so well without anyone fertilizing it
The reason is that falling leaves and flowers will add fertility to it.
In this case, they should use them for retting, because doesn't retting speed up the process of decay?
Of course, she doesn't know how to fertilize, so this kind of thing should be left to her eldest brother and the others.
Zhou Dalang asked her, "Is it written in the book? How is it fertilized?"
"I don't know," Man Bao said, "I haven't seen such a book yet, but don't worry, brother. I'll take a look when I get back. Now you can just make it according to what you have at home. No need to add fertilizer or water, and we'll
It’s time to water the river and sprinkle more leaves in it.”
Zhou Dalang:......
This is the first time I heard that fertilizing does not require fertilizer and water, but leaves are sprinkled on it.
He didn't trust Man Bao very much, but she was really pestering, so he had no choice but to take his brothers and dig a big hole for them next to the ground, and pour all the soil mixed with leaves from the mountain into it.