1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 22 You have a good mouth, right?
Quarrel is good for marital harmony~
Just listen to this.

But after the second sister and Brother Yi had a fight, they both felt much better.

According to Brother Yi, the proportion of rotten vegetables in the field is too high, and it is too labor-intensive to pick them up, so there is no need to spend that effort.

The two of them have ten acres of land, most of which are leafy vegetables.
I definitely can’t collect it all by myself.

But when Brother Yi yelled, the meaning changed.

Even though I said it calmly, my second sister would not agree. According to her, since it was a waste of labor, then there would be no need for workers. The two of them could collect the waste themselves and collect as much as they could.

The purpose is to stop loss.

Brother Yi didn't want to do this hard work, but after being yelled at by his second sister, he had no choice but to go and suffer together.

In the afternoon, Chen Jiazhi took Li Xiu to clear the dead branches and leaves from the cowpea, kidney bean, bitter melon, and loofah fields, thin out the overcrowded side branches, and re-guide the vines.
The work on less than one acre of land was finished in half an afternoon. At around four or five o'clock, Brother Yi and his partner started to harvest the vegetables, and Li Xiu also went to help.

Chen Jiazhi didn't go.

He would probably feel even worse if he went to Brother Yi.

He also had things to do, such as spraying pesticides on cowpeas and loofahs again. Even after spraying mancozeb for prevention, diseases were inevitable.

I had to spray carbendazim again for treatment.

Fortunately, there is no major problem with the root system, otherwise I would have to irrigate the roots to treat root rot.

It was sunny for two days in a row, and then scorching hot for two days in a row, and many leafy vegetables died.

But the soil moisture was not that high, so Chen Jiazhi went to the cowpea and loofah fields to shallowly plow the soil to make it loose and breathable. At the same time, he spread wood ash to absorb moisture and replenish potassium, and added some phosphorus fertilizer to promote root growth.

The composted pig manure that had been ordered earlier was also delivered.

Chen Jiazhi began preparing the land for planting, spreading one ton of decomposed pig manure and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers per mu, and adding quicklime to disinfect the soil and neutralize the acidity.
By the morning of April 10, the sowing of water spinach in Field 1 and the first small piece of Chinese cabbage in Field 5 had been completed, and the small arch shed was also completed at the same time.

The seeds were soaked in advance to germinate, and they were already white when they were sown.

Because there were no vegetables to sell, Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu worked in the fields all day long when the weather was fine.

It mainly involves land preparation, fertilization, and watering.
I'm exhausted after working all day~
Chen Jiazhi originally didn't want Li Xiu to come out, but on this point, Li Xiu refused to back down at all. Even if he agreed by chance, he would come back to the field when Chen Jiazhi wasn't paying attention, and he couldn't be stopped.

I just don't care about it anymore. I lived a peaceful life in my previous life anyway.

Starting from April 10th, Chen Jiazhi planted water spinach and Chinese cabbage on April 11th and 12th.

Both plots 1 and 2 are planted with water spinach, the variety Daguqing, using dry sowing;

Plot No. 5 is planted with Chinese cabbage, variety 49xin, which is sown directly.

The time from sowing to harvesting of these two vegetables is very short in summer, and they can be harvested in 20 to 30 days. If you are fast, you can harvest two crops before the heavy rain at the end of May. However, the growing period of the large-bone green water spinach is longer.

It rained during the sowing period, but it was short and did not affect land preparation and sowing.

"Whoo~"

After finishing sowing the last piece of Chinese cabbage, Chen Jiazhi breathed a sigh of relief. Now he was not afraid even if it rained again.

Without a rotary tiller, land preparation had to be done manually with a hoe, which was slow. If it rained heavily, the soil would become very wet and work would be impossible.

So we have to race against time.

No one knows when God will do something bad again.

Looking up at the sky, Chen Jiazhi felt that it would be a good time for God to send some rain, so there would be no need to water the plants.

But today the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is high, so if you want the seeds to germinate you have to keep the soil moist.

This water still needs to be poured~
Li Xiu was already watering the plants. Standing on the other side of the vertical ditch, she used a dung scoop to pour water out of the ditch one scoop at a time.

But the movements are not very skillful yet.

There are no micro-sprinklers, or even water pumps and pipes to pump water, which makes watering a super hard job, no easier than digging the ground.

After a while, his hands were covered in calluses. Chen Jiazhi also put down the seed pot, picked up the dung scoop, and stood at one end of the compartment. The other half of the compartment had already been watered thoroughly by Li Xiu.

He only needs to water this half thoroughly.

Soon, Chen Jiazhi got involved, looking at Li Xiu's position opposite, and chasing forward little by little. It didn't take long before the two stood facing each other.

The middle compartment is about 5 meters wide.

Li Xiu suddenly increased her strength, and a bucket of water almost fell on Chen Jiazhi like flowers scattered from the sky.

Chen Jiazhi looked up and saw Li Xiuzheng looking at him and smiling.

"Okay, how can I be afraid of you when it comes to strength?"

However, Chen Jiazhi didn't really splash water on him, he just scared him. This was a rare moment of playfulness and fun during the work.

It was not until it was completely dark that the two of them finished watering the plants and went home in the dark. On the way, they happened to meet Li Mingkun carrying a basket of vegetables home.

"Old man, how are the prices of vegetables now?"

"Local vegetables are scarce, and the price of leafy vegetables has increased a bit, but the price increase is of little use. As soon as the sun came out in the past two days, most of the vegetables died."

At this time, there are relatively few people who use small greenhouses to grow leafy vegetables, especially migrant vegetable farmers, and most people are unwilling to spend the money.

Didn't even know there was such a measure.

“Let’s hurry up and sow the seeds.”

"This is the only way. Let's try our luck and see if God is willing to give us a chance to eat."

After returning home, Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu started cooking. Their second sister and brother-in-law had not come back yet. As the weather got hotter, their workday would only be delayed, and working in the dark would be the norm.

For dinner, I made stir-fried pork slices and stir-fried vegetables.

After buying wood ash and banana leaves, Chen Jiazhi also bought tools such as ropes and kept some in reserve, and the frequency of eating meat decreased.

But it is still much better than other vegetable farmers.

After the meal was ready, Yi Dinggan waited for a while before his second sister and her husband came back. As soon as they entered the room, he saw the fried pork slices on the table.

"I'm starving. Let's eat, let's eat."

"I've never seen you so energetic while working!"

The second sister also saw the meat on the table, but didn't say anything. She knew that Jiazhi had enough food and was indeed tired recently.

After dinner, Chen Jiazhi gave Yi Dinggan a cigarette and the two sat at the door and chatted.

After a while, Qi Yongfeng, Guo Mancang, Li Mingkun and others came over.

During this period, several people got used to chatting with Chen Jiazhi, mainly because they had cigarettes to smoke, and Chen Jiazhi was not stingy in giving them cigarettes.

Even vegetable farmers from other townships, such as He Qiang, occasionally join in.

"Have you prepared your greenhouse? Don't just focus on sowing seeds. It might start raining again someday."

Li Mingkun puffed on his cigarette and said, "I only own three acres of land. I really don't have any extra money."

Guo Mancang: "I'm about the same."

Qi Yongfeng shook his head. "Don't say that. You're all better off than me. If I had to live in a small greenhouse, I'd have no money left to buy seeds or eat. Now I can only hope for less rain."

Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment and said, "Yongfeng, grit your teeth and work on the small shed on your two mu plot of land. I'll lend you the seeds. As for food, with everyone's help, you'll be able to get through it."

Qi Yongfeng looked at Li Mingkun. The two families lived in one house. Li Mingkun was silent for a moment, but finally nodded in agreement.

Pata~ Pata~
When they heard the sound, they felt something was not right. They looked outside and saw that the raindrops seemed to reflect light in the night.

"Qi Yongfeng, you have a lucky mouth!"

(End of this chapter)