I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 194 Perfect Fertilization
Luc, feeling hot all over, lifted the thin wool blanket, sat up, and grabbed the water cup beside him as if his muscles remembered. His dry lips were instantly melted by the wet water droplets.

"It's too hot, Niwa, bring in another basin of water!"

Luke put on his clothes, turned around and called out to the only maid who did the menial work outside the door. After a while, an ordinary-looking woman came in with a basin of cold well water, replacing the warm water that had been heated by the window. She bowed and slowly left.

The maids brought by Du Si were all very polite, much better than the half-baked etiquette that Robert's family had learned secretly.

Luc rubbed his sleepy eyes. He had been smelting iron all night and had just returned to the Knight's Castle this morning to catch up on some sleep. The sun was setting and it looked like it was already afternoon.

He stood up and folded the wool blanket. This was supposed to be the maid's job, but Luc didn't want to have everything handed to him, especially his personal belongings.

".The wooden fort still has certain shortcomings."

Luc looked up at the ceiling. Even though it was made of wood and stone and had been treated to moisture-proofing, it was still hot during the day and cool at night, so even in summer he was still covered with a blanket that was only one-third as thick.

Passing by Du Si's wooden table, I saw a small square cashmere mat placed under the stool leg. It was a finished product woven from goat wool a few days ago and was used by his wife to decorate the desk.

In addition to the cashmere mats, the manor has accumulated a lot of things during the past few days of concentrating on iron smelting.

The first thing was that the bucket of maple sap had gone bad.

Maybe the weather was too hot, or the antiseptic ability was too poor, and the food started to smell bad after being stored in the cellar for just a few days. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, otherwise it might have contaminated other foods in the cellar.

After having it dumped out, Luc couldn't help but feel a little worried.

It can't be stored for a long time, what's the use of this insect repellent?
You know, there are the most insects and mosquitoes in summer, and they can't survive for long in summer. Isn't this a vicious circle?
We have to think of a way.
He shook his head and put the matter aside for the time being. There were other urgent matters that needed to be dealt with right now.

He walked up the wooden stairs to the first floor and called out to Old Eck. For some reason, this guy had become more energetic over the past three years. He strode up to Luc, bowed, and said in a loud voice:
"Master, there have been some problems with plowing the fields recently."

Agricultural production is a big deal. Luke sat up straight when he heard that.

"Perhaps the crops are too abundant this year, and the serfs are a bit overwhelmed."

Old Eike stroked his beard and said, "Especially the new serfs. They're fine taking care of ordinary rye, but they have no idea how to take care of hops and the like. The worst part is, they don't even know how much fertilizer to use."

"I have no idea how much rye or flax to put in."

"So, the growth hasn't been very good recently."

“And it hasn’t rained in a long time.”

From the time Luc set out for Macon until now, it has not rained at all in the spring when it should have rained, which makes old Eike very worried.

Although irrigation channels have been built, a good harvest still requires good weather throughout the year, but Luc cannot force this.

I could only comfort old Eike and think about fertilizing.

How to accurately apply fertilizer is indeed a difficult task.
As old Eike said, when there are many crops, the amount of fertilizer required by different crops will be different. Too much or too little will affect the harvest.

".Give me a few days to research it. Anything else?"

Luc rubbed his temples. People say that being a lord is comfortable, but the prerequisite is that you are an extravagant and short-sighted lord. If you want to make the manor prosperous, there are too many troubles, one after another.

Every day when he opens his eyes, Luc has to take care of the eating, drinking, defecating and urinating of dozens of people.

"I think besides Amy, three more women are pregnant at Free Farm," Old Eck said after a pause. "Master, I don't think they'll be able to participate in the farming work in the fall."

"There aren't many seeds for autumn planting. If you can't participate, then don't participate. Pregnancy is a good thing."

Pregnancy means that the population will slowly grow, which is not a bad thing.

At present, all the seeds that Luc has, except for wheat, rye, wild leek that can be cultivated twice, and apples and flax that need to be cultivated for many years, only parsnips and turnips need to be planted in autumn. The rest of the seeds are sown in the spring.

Seeing that Old Eike had nothing else to say, Luke waved him away and began to think about the distribution of fertilizer.

Currently, the fertilizers in Luc's hands are mainly fermented feces, wood ash, fish offal, etc.

Hans is responsible for collection and Ryan is responsible for unified management.

After thinking for a while, he walked out of the Knight's Castle and woke up Ryan who was still sleeping soundly. After thinking for a while, he went to wake up Jason again, not to ask him to follow him, but to ask about the progress of iron ore mining in the day.

"Master, I went to collect them all day while you were building the bellows. I think they were about 150 pounds."

One hundred and fifty pounds Luc smacked his lips, hmm. That's quite a lot.

But that was the result of Jason's continuous mining for a day. Currently, as the privacy of the manor, Jason is responsible for mining, iron smelting and ironmaking alone. Perhaps he should be assigned a reliable assistant.

"Based on the iron smelting capacity of the earthen furnace, we can estimate that one-fifth of the iron can be smelted out of one hundred pounds of ore."

The shovels in the manor were purchased over the years from various locations in Cooper Castle, Macon County, and were basically enough for daily use. The only thing missing was about thirty hoes. "Thirty, sir. If you assign me a helper, I can make them in fifteen days."

"If it were just me, I think it would take a hundred days."

The hoe I made last night was a quick-made product. It can be used, but its lifespan will be two-thirds less than that of a normal hoe.

Normal iron smelting requires at least a day and a night just to bake it in an earthen furnace.

A hoe made in this way can only be used for one or two years.

"Okay, you start mining first, and I'll help you find an apprentice in the next few days."

Jason's eyes lit up when he heard the word "apprentice".

As expected, if you want to get promoted, it’s faster to become a lord.

Let Jason rest first. Tomorrow Ryan will carry him to Black Ridge Valley on his warhorse and back at night.

There is no way. There is no industrial chain like the salt factory in Black Ridge Valley, so we can only make do with it for now.

Taking Ryan with him, Luke continued to explore the land. It took him three days, and he finally figured out a reasonable fertilization plan!

Another day passed, in the evening, on the first floor of the Deer Hall, Luc sat in the main seat and gave instructions to Old Eike and others about the new fertilization plan.

"The focus of wheat and rye is still toilet fertilizer, and occasionally some wood ash is used as a supplement."

"Cash crops like flax and hops take a long time to grow and require more nutrients, so we use fish fertilizer."

"Apples, grapes, and a mix of both."

"I'll write down the specific amounts and times in a table. Old Eike, you'll keep half, and I'll keep the other half."

"By the way, Ryan, how much can you read?"

Luc tapped the table and suddenly looked at Ryan. The blond Ryan scratched the back of his head and said, "Three words."

".Damn it, if you don't learn ten by tomorrow, you won't be able to eat for the whole day!"

Ignoring Ryan's sad face, Luke's ears moved slightly, and he suddenly looked out the window. The next moment, his pupils instantly showed joy.

At some point, a dark cloud gathered in the sky and slowly pressed over the entire mountain top.

Noticing the change in Luc's expression, Old Eck and the others turned their heads and then all smiled.

"Hey! It's finally raining!"

"Yeah, Robert has been going to church to pray quite a lot these days. It seems God has shown His power."

Da da da!
Luc knocked on the table to draw everyone's attention back. "Since God bless us, let's go see the quality of the houses in Ward Village later. Let's get back to the topic!"

"The bones of the sheep and pigs that froze to death last time are still there. I fermented them into bone meal fertilizer and applied it to the apple and grape crops."

The place where nearly twenty free farmers settled was renamed Ward by the nostalgic old Eike, and Luc had no objection.

"Okay, let's hurry back before it rains!"

After explaining the specific division of labor for fertilizing, and waiting until the Deer Hall was empty, Luc slowly moved a bucket of brand new maple leaf juice from under the table.

While thinking about fertilizing, Luc also came up with a way to preserve maple leaf juice.

"Ha, I almost forgot. Wouldn't adding some salt make it last longer?"

Satisfiedly closing the lid of the barrel, Luc looked towards the rumbling clouds.

It seems that this rain will not be light.

Accompanied by thunder, the hot wind turned into cool breeze and began to pour into the wooden fort.

As a breeze with a particularly damp smell brushed his cheek, Luc suddenly had an idea.

"Wait, can maple sap be used as fertilizer for blueberries?!"

“.Let’s try it tomorrow!”

(End of this chapter)