My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 385 The Earth Dragon Trapped in the Farmland [Part 2]

I returned home at noon, ate a simple meal, and then went to the bamboo house by the mountain lake to repair the fence outside and sow some flower and grass seeds.

Chen Ling didn't plant any rare or exotic flowers or plants; they were just ordinary ones, mainly to decorate the bamboo house. He just planted them casually.

Recently, many people have been going into the mountains, and some have even wandered around here to admire the bamboo forest and lake scenery, so he hasn't used the spiritual water to stimulate growth.

They circled the bamboo house, dug out a few small ditches, scattered seeds, scooped up half a bucket of lake water to water it, and then went down the mountain and left it there.

The afternoon sun was warm, and countless wild bees flew in and out of several beehives in the woods on the hillside, collecting fresh nectar. Chen Ling walked over with a bucket of water and saw five beehives scattered in the woods, all of which had bees settled in.

He couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.

After careful calculation, it's been almost a month since the beehives were placed there.

So he put down the bucket and carefully dispersed the largest beehive of the swarm.

Upon opening it, I saw that inside the beehive, the combs were connected, covered with a thick layer of pollen, and countless bees were crawling around on the pollen.

Upon sensing the human intrusion into their territory, they all took flight with a "whoosh," emitting a piercing buzzing sound, and rained down on Chen Ling like raindrops.

"Go! Go! Go."

Chen Ling gently shooed the beehives away twice, then casually put them back down.

Most people are afraid of these wild bees, but he isn't. As soon as they land on him, he collects them into his cave, and they can't sting him at all.

Once it's done, you can release it externally.

"At this time of year, all the flowers are in full bloom, and these bees are collecting a lot of pollen, but it's hard to tell how much honey is being produced."

Chen Ling pondered for a moment, then tried the method his father-in-law had taught him: he squatted in front of the beehive and gently tapped it from top to bottom on the outside to listen for the sound.

A dull sound indicates the presence of honey.

An empty sound means there's no honey.

The soft sound, somewhere between a dull thud and a hollow echo, comes from the honeycomb where young bees are being nurtured.

I tried tapping it a few times.

Chen Ling shook his head and stood up: "No, it's just a lot of pollen, there's hardly any honey in it."

This is not simply because these wild bee nests have only been established here for a short time.

It's also due to the bee species.

That's just how native bees are.

If it's an Italian bee, in this season when the mountains and fields are covered with blooming flowers, it's no problem to collect honey every two or three days.

This is no exaggeration.

If you switch to native bees, you can harvest them twice a year in the north, which is considered a lot. With normal traditional methods, you can only harvest them once, and there aren't many nectar sources in winter.

"The bees in my cave, guarding the flowers and plants there, haven't reached the point where they can harvest honey every two days. They are quite different from Italian bees."

There's nothing we can do about it. After the cave mutated, the honey production did increase, but they also consumed a lot of it themselves.

Even with the help of a cave, it is not something that can be achieved overnight to cultivate a superior native bee breed comparable to Italian bees.

There is still a long way to go and a heavy responsibility.

"However, the flowers are blooming frequently these past two months. Not to mention the many wildflowers in the mountains, the locust flowers and rapeseed flowers are also in full bloom, so there is no shortage of nectar sources. I estimate that we can harvest honey around the Dragon Boat Festival."

Chen Ling pondered for a moment, then inspected all five beehives, taking into account the recent decrease in the number of tourists visiting the farm.

He then moved all the beehives down and placed them one by one among the flowers in the orchard.

Only after doing all that did I carry the bucket back home.

At this time, Rui Rui was still taking a nap. Wang Su Su and her sister, along with their parents, had nothing to do, so the four of them were pickling salted eggs in the yard.

Hearing that Chen Ling had moved the beehives down, he didn't say anything.

Wang Susu simply asked Chen Ling, "Now that the grape trellis is up, are we still going to plant gourds? A gourd trellis would look quite nice too."

"Okay, then I'll plant them in the backyard. There's a grape trellis in the front yard, that'll do."

The young couple discussed it and decided to plant the gourds in the kitchen area of ​​their backyard, near the doghouse. They planned to build a trellis for the gourds to climb, providing shade for the dog in the summer and filling the house with beautiful gourds in the fall. Not only would they look nice, but they could also be eaten as vegetables.

I ordered two gourds.

After thinking for a while, the two planted a few pumpkins and loofahs on the edge of the farm near the snake box.

These kinds of things grow very quickly and produce a lot of fruit. One or two plants can grow into a large patch. These loofahs and pumpkins are also very large, especially the pumpkins. Planting one or two pumpkins is enough for a family of three to eat from late summer to winter. If they are not fed to poultry or livestock, there are often leftovers.

After planting pumpkins and loofahs, I planted two rows of various kinds of beans along the base of the wall.

And so, the young couple quietly continued their work, planting melons and beans.

Several weasels suddenly appeared from some corner, like a group of large yellow rats, and scurried up to the two of them, rubbing against and sniffing. Seeing that the two of them didn't have time to pay attention to them, the three little weasels ran to the doghouse and started playing.

Little Yellow and Little Fatty were right beside the two of them, wagging their tails, stretching out their bodies, and basking in the sun.

These little creatures are probably the most elusive birds in the house, besides that unreliable, silly bird belonging to Er Tu Zi. You practically never see them around.

Several times Chen Ling wondered if they had wandered off and gotten caught in a trap set by humans.

But often, you'll find them popping out from some hidden corner, excitedly cuddling at your feet.

Anyway, he never goes home from a proper place, always doing things unexpectedly.

This is the current situation: Little Yellow and Little Fatty are sunbathing, three little weasels are running around chasing and playing with the cat and dog, and the colorful birds are chirping and singing. The whole farm is full of life, and a warm atmosphere of life is quietly flowing through it.

It truly is a time of peace and tranquility.

Teamwork makes the dream work. Chen Ling and Wang Susu, this young couple, worked really fast. In just half an hour, they finished planting and watering the two long rows of beans at the base of the wall.

After finishing her chores, Chen Ling took advantage of her son taking a nap and the fact that her parents weren't around. She chuckled and asked Wang Susu to sit down in the kitchen. She massaged her back and shoulders, gently stroked her belly, and let her feel the little life growing inside.

After cuddling for a while, Wang Susu saw that a kettle of water had boiled and wanted Chen Ling to help her wash her hair. She was busy taking care of the baby all day long, and even after taking care of the baby, she couldn't stay idle. There were always things to do in the village and on the farm, and she was the kind of person who couldn't sit still. She didn't have much time to wash her hair all day long.

Washing hair is simple; Chen Ling has long since mastered washing his wife's hair and scrubbing her back, and is now quite skilled at it.

It's a pity they haven't taken a bath together in a long time; he misses it quite a bit.

While combing his hair, he whispered something to Wang Susu. In broad daylight, Wang Susu couldn't bear to hear such words. She blushed with embarrassment and anger, and punched him with her small fists.

"Forget it, I'll do it myself. You can go do whatever you need to do. I'm not even showing yet, and I'm really afraid you'll do something reckless."

Wang Susu's face was full of resentment. She reached out to snatch the comb from his hand and chase him out.

Chen Ling deftly dodged the attack and gently combed his wife's hair, saying, "Hehe, it's alright, don't worry. Do I look like someone who doesn't know what's important?"

"...Then why did you say those things just now?" Wang Susu closed her eyes, enjoying his tenderness, but gave a soft hum, indicating her disbelief.

"By the way, what did you say you were going out to do when you were planting beans?"

"Oh, just now, I was planning to go to the riverbank to let the horses graze, and while I was at it, I was looking for wild duck eggs around the riverbank. If I found any, I would bring them back for the chickens to incubate."

Recently, wild pheasants from the mountains have been frequently infiltrating my flock of chickens. Although they haven't settled down yet, they're pretty close.

Having been paying attention to this matter, Chen Ling naturally wouldn't forget his duck-breeding plan, and finding wild duck eggs was imperative.

"is this okay?"

"Okay, even if we can't lure the pheasants and ducks here, we should at least trick them into laying eggs here. When the eggs hatch, the ducklings will hatch. If we can't keep the adult ones, we can keep the baby ones."

Chen Ling said confidently.

Wang Susu knew that he often sounded like he was just talking big, but he always managed to get things done easily in the end, so she smiled when she heard this.

I started to feel a little excited.

After combing his wife's hair and cuddling her for a while, Chen Ling slung his small bamboo basket over his shoulder, woke up the little blue horse that was sleeping soundly in the sun on the grassy slope, and headed towards the old river bend.

Just after climbing over the steep slope and walking a short distance to the edge of Wang Lixian's wheat field, Wang Zhenzhen came speeding towards them on her little bicycle, with Xizi, who always had pigtails, on the back seat.

At the same time that Chen Ling saw them, the two of them also saw Chen Ling.

Wang Zhenzhen's eyes lit up, and she shouted from afar, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, the earth dragon has come out and blocked those outsiders in the southern farmland. You should go and see! I'm going home to call my sister and Rui Rui."

(End of this chapter)