Chapter 143: Start harvesting potatoes
This year's skirt mushroom season is particularly short.
In the past, they started to emerge in March and disappeared at the end of May.
This year, they only appeared in early April and disappeared in mid-May.
The villagers of Shanshui Village felt sorry, but they also knew that there was nothing they could do about it.
Then they thought that more bamboo mushrooms would come out in June. June is not the busy farming season like April, and there is a lot of rain in June, so there are more bamboo mushrooms. As long as you are not afraid of hard work, you can still pick more mushrooms.
At the end of May, the busy farming season ended early, and the skirt mushroom season also ended. It was the most leisurely time for the villagers in the first half of the year.
Shuiqing's family decided to start harvesting potatoes.
"Dad, Shuiqing's family has decided to harvest potatoes!" Wang Guifen hurried home to tell her father-in-law.
When the other people in the family heard it, the second son Li Wu asked first: "Didn't they say they would harvest in June? Why did they harvest in advance?"
Shuiqing's family started to plow the fields on the 10th day of the first lunar month. Later, their family exchanged work for planting. When they went to help plant, the earliest was in late January, and the latest was in late January or early February.
"Yes, it was said before that potatoes would be harvested in about four months, but it's less than four months now. If we harvest a few days later, the harvest might be better." The third brother, Li Qiang, frowned, with a look of distress on his face.
Plowing the land, sowing, weeding, fertilizing... Farmers have worked hard for several months, just waiting for the final harvest.
Just a few days later, the harvest can be much better. It would be so painful to harvest it early.
Wang Guifen had just come back from chatting with Shuiqing, and told Shuiqing what he thought: "Well, it's because they are afraid of heavy rain and floods!
Shuiqing said that potatoes can't be soaked. Once soaked in water, they will either rot or sprout. A few months ago, Boss Fan's family ate sprouted potatoes, and you know how miserable they were;
Their family thought of simply taking them home early and storing them. The harvest can only be worse."
The old village chief sat on the recliner and didn't say a word for a long time.
The three sons and three daughters-in-law all looked at their father.
They don't know about other elderly people, but their own father is indeed "an old man in the family is like a treasure". No matter what happens, he is the backbone of the family!
"Dad, do we have to harvest in advance? Our family plants later than his family." Li Qiang asked nervously.
They have a large family and can endure hardships. After planting potatoes for Fan Jin's family during the day, they dug the land for half a night at night - fortunately, planting potatoes during the day is not physical work, and it is not tiring for them at all, otherwise they may not be able to bear the physical work day and night.
In early February, the whole family went to the fields and planted all before mid-February.
However, this was more than ten days later than Shuiqing's family.
The old village chief frowned and asked his eldest son: "Old man, have you been to the fields these days?"
Li Wen hurriedly replied: "Why didn't you go to see it? I wish I could see it several times every day."
"Then have you dug it out and seen it?" The old village chief asked again.
Li Wen opened his mouth, looked at this and that, and said stutteringly: "How dare I, how dare I? Isn't it a waste of food to dig out potatoes before they grow well?"
The old village chief looked at his three sons and ordered: "You three go to the field, each dig one mu of potatoes and take them home;
Remember, don't be lazy, dig them back as quickly as you can."
Although the three didn't know what their father meant, they obeyed and sighed, ran to the yard, picked up hoes and bamboo baskets, and ran to their own potato fields.
An hour later, the three returned to the yard panting and carrying bamboo baskets.
Wang Guifen and the other two women hurried forward to help.
Seeing the full bamboo baskets, Wang Guifen whispered: "Dad only asked you to dig one mu of land each. You didn't dig three mu of land by yourself, did you?"
Li Wen grinned, and the joy on his face couldn't be concealed: "Mother, this is one mu of land!"
"Sister-in-law, we really only dug one mu of land each!" Li Qiang's face was full of joy of harvest.
The old village chief heard the noise in the yard and came out with a cane.
He first checked the size of the potatoes in the basket, estimated the weight, and finally estimated the time.
Then he said: "The biggest potato is smaller than the one you exchanged from Jin Xiaozi. It seems that the time has not come yet.
According to the time you three dug potatoes just now, each person can dig at most one acre a day, and it takes time to pick up and transport them back.
Our family planted 15 acres, and it will take at least five to ten days to harvest all.
This basket is estimated to have 130 to 150 kilograms. If this is the harvest, be satisfied and there is no need to take the risk and wait any longer."
Heavy rain does not wait for anyone, and often floods the fields overnight.
Hearing that a basket has more than 100 kilograms, Wang Guifen, Zhang Hui, and Zhao Lan were stunned.
This is only one mu of land, so wouldn't one mu of land have a harvest of more than 1,000 kilograms?
Their family only planted 15 acres of land, so wouldn't it be more than the corn harvest of dozens of acres in the past?
Swallowing her saliva, Zhao Lan murmured in regret: "I should have been more diligent and planted a few more acres of land!
No, if we use all the land for planting corn to plant potatoes, won't our family have too much to harvest?"
Li Qiang also followed his wife and said: "It would have been good to plant a few more acres of land at the beginning."
Wang Guifen is the eldest sister-in-law, much calmer than the others, and smiled: "Don't be greedy, who knows then?
Let's harvest the land, didn't Shuiqing say? We can plant another season in September, then we can plant more!"
The others nodded like pounding garlic.
Wang Guifen's parents are also from this village. When planting potatoes, her parents and brothers also went to Shuiqing's house to open up wasteland and help for a few days under her persuasion. Although they didn't plant much, they still had five acres of land.
She turned to her father-in-law and said, "Dad, I will go back to my parents' home and tell my parents to see if they will accept it in advance."
"Yes." The old village chief nodded.
The old village chief's family and the Wang family were in Shanshui Village. News that the two families were going to harvest potatoes in advance spread to every household.
When they heard about the yield, people who didn't grow potatoes were even more shocked.
After returning home, my intestines were so regretful that I couldn't help but sigh.
Several other families who grow potatoes, no matter how many acres they have, are also beginning to worry.
After harvesting, even if the yield is a little less, it is several times more than the corn!
If you don't collect it, if a heavy rain comes, it will all be gone.
After only struggling for one night, several other families also made up their minds to harvest potatoes!
On the second day, Shuiqing's family let out the news: Her family is recruiting people to collect potatoes, and they can pay for it with copper coins or potatoes. Those who are willing can just sign up.
After learning about the yield of potatoes, other people were worried about how to grow potatoes. When they heard that they could use potatoes in exchange, they immediately became excited.
Sign up!
Be sure to sign up.
Potatoes are delicious, better than black noodles, and not worse than corns, but they have a large yield.
In front of output, everything else is just a cloud.
For a time, the people in Shanshui Village became busy again.
Those who grow potatoes harvest potatoes, and those who don’t grow potatoes help Shuiqing’s family harvest potatoes.