Riding the wind of rebirth

The other type of sweet potato cannot be considered purely wild. It is a crop that was left behind after the villagers practiced slash-and-burn agriculture and crop rotation in the mountains many years ago. It has grown on its own since then, with no one taking care of it.

Sweet potato is actually a type of yam. It grows very large underground and is called "foot sweet potato" because its shape resembles a human foot. There are two types: one with purple skin and white flesh, and the other with purple flesh. The purple-fleshed one is called "sweet potato".

Sweet potatoes have high water requirements, so they don't grow well on the mountains of Daliang Mountain, but the area around the reservoir inlet is an exception.

Soon, led by Azi, everyone found a sweet potato vine. Yan Xiao picked up a military shovel and started digging. The more he dug, the bigger it got. In the end, he dug out a super big sweet potato, weighing at least 20 kilograms.

Zhou Zhi gathered a pile of dry grass, lit it, and burned it to produce a pile of ashes. Yang He cut the sweet potato diagonally into four-fifths, leaving the root part where the main vine was connected. Zhou Zhi applied the ashes to the wound on the sweet potato, then covered it with soil and buried it again. After that, the two of them dug two arc-shaped trenches on both sides of the main vine, filled them with ashes, and then covered them with loose soil.

What are you two doing?

"Preserve the seed and fertilize it," Azi said. "That way, the sweet potatoes will grow again next year. Brother Yang and I know how to farm."

Yang He laughed and said, "That's right, my family was almost classified as landlords back then."

"This stuff's sap can cause allergies and itching, so don't mess with it." Zhou Zhi picked a section of vine, wove it into a braid to increase its strength, then wrapped it around the remaining sweet potato, which weighed about twenty pounds, and lifted it up like a bucket: "Let's go, that's enough to eat."

On the way back, walking along the water's edge, Azi soon discovered purslane, water celery, wild onions, wild rhizome, and bamboo leaf vegetables, and instructed everyone to pick them.

Seeing that everyone was having a good time picking water celery, Zhou Zhi still felt it was necessary to emphasize this to everyone, saying, "Don't pick this stuff casually in the wild. There is a deadly poison hemlock that looks very similar to it. The main difference between the two is their smell. If you are not familiar with it or are not sure, it is best not to pick it randomly."

"Liangshan Prefecture has quite a lot of produce," Yang Honghui said. "Before I came here, I thought it would be quite desolate."

“The main advantage here is the abundance of flowing water,” Zhou Zhi said with a smile. “The rest of the mountain slopes, which have no runoff, are already doing well in terms of water and soil conservation. This is why we are undertaking green energy projects to bring the water up and ensure that the entire mountain has sufficient water.”

"As long as there is water, the surrounding 100,000 mu of forest land centered on Lianhe Town will soon be transformed into lush green orchards, all of which will be high-value fruit trees. The villagers will soon enjoy the joy of a bountiful harvest."

"About how many years?" Yan Xiao asked.

“If it is cultivated from the original plant, it takes three to four years, and it takes about six to ten years to reach the fruit-bearing period,” Zhou Zhi said. “Now we have introduced sour pomegranate as rootstock. It can take root in one year, be grafted in two years, and enter the fruit-bearing period in the fourth year. Compared with the previous cultivation method, it can be carried out about three years earlier on average.”

"Cherries take even longer to mature, but good rootstocks can be found for cherries, including plum and apricot trees. We have also introduced a superior cherry rootstock called 'Gissela' from Germany, which not only dwarfs cherries but also allows them to reach full production in the third year."

"That's pretty good. It means that the villagers will be able to sell their fruit by the year after next," Yang He asked.

“It won’t be that fast.” Zhou Zhi shook his head: “The main reason is that the two types of orchards are still responsible for propagation, that is, producing seedlings. This requires operations such as pruning, layering, and girdling of branches, which will inevitably affect the fruit production.”

"Fortunately, the saplings themselves can be sold, and even grafted branches can be grown into saplings together with rootstocks for sale," Azi said with a smile. "This year we saw two kinds of fruit, and after tasting them, the villagers are even more enthusiastic." The Moroccan pomegranates are much larger and look better than the local soft-seeded pomegranates. As for the taste, they each have their own merits. Personally, Zhouzhi even feels that the local soft-seeded pomegranates have a slightly better flavor. However, Moroccan pomegranates have a higher yield, look better, have a longer shelf life, and the color of the berries is much brighter than that of local pomegranates. They are more competitive in the market and more suitable for mass production and export. The villagers can still understand the difference.

The cherries are even more impressive, being three to four times larger than local cherries, and unlike local cherries, they are not delicate and can be transported via cold chain.

The only downside is that it doesn't taste like a traditional cherry, but it's perfectly fine to think of it as another delicious new fruit.

Back at camp, it was almost time to cook.

The stove is reserved for grilling. For cooking rice or roasting chicken, which requires a large pot, it's more convenient to dig a stove in the ground and light a fire.

The rice used for the porridge was carefully processed. It was soaked in water the night before, drained, and then frozen.

This kind of rice can be cooked into a pot of porridge in just ten minutes, which is extremely fast.

Because it contains pickled peppers and pickled ginger shreds, the pickled pepper chicken giblets are cooked on a teppanyaki grill, then stir-fried yam beans are added and mixed well, and the dry pot chicken giblets are ready.

On the other side of the stove, they started grilling the ingredients that had been seasoned the night before. Next to the large pot of porridge, they set up a pot to roast chicken. Smoke, steam, and aroma filled the entire campsite.

For every person who works, there is someone who doesn't. For example, Yan Xiao pulled Yang Honghui to sit on a recliner and sip tea, while also trying to convey the wrong idea to Yang Honghui: "When we go out to play, we basically give Zhouzi and his gang a chance to show off. Now Zhouzi's equipment is getting better and better, and he's getting more and more relaxed. Back when we went out to play, we often just had instant noodles and canned meat. Look at us now, we're even eating firewood chicken."

"Can't you two go gather some firewood?" Zhou Zhi said as he flipped the roasted sheep intestines. "You have no sense at all."

"Didn't Yang He go?" Yan Xiao said. "And what about A Zi? We don't need you, do we?"

Just then, Azi ran out of the woods: "I found so many pine mushrooms, and matsutake mushrooms too!"

Yan Xiao jumped up and stood up: "Where are you? Where are you? Azi, let me help you..."

Yang Honghui also got up and followed Yan Xiao, running excitedly towards Azi: "What do matsutake mushrooms look like? I've only heard of them, I've never seen one before..."

Enraged, Zhou Zhi shouted, "Hey! Take the bag with you! Don't you know what Azi is doing out here?! You're so clueless!"

There are so many kinds of mushrooms in the Daliang Mountains. The season for termite mushrooms, green-headed mushrooms, and big-footed mushrooms is over, but there are still some mushrooms left in the mountains, including matsutake, pine mushrooms, and piles and piles of oak mushrooms.

After giving humanity this final gift, the mushrooms will quietly grow mycelium underground during the cold season, continuing to expand their underground kingdom, awaiting the arrival of the following year. (End of Chapter)