The mother and daughter came to the field. Chen Wanbai put the plow on his body, grasped the handle with both hands, leaned back slightly, and pulled the plow backward step by step. The plow was smoothly inserted into the earth, and following her pace, it dug neat trenches of suitable depth.
Mrs. Liu looked at it with wide eyes, her face full of disbelief. She said in surprise: "Oh, it really works!"
Chen Wanbai stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said: "Mom, look, does this save more effort than just using a hoe? And it's also very efficient. With this hand-pulled plow, we won't have to work so hard in the future."
Mrs. Liu looked at her daughter with relief: "My daughter is smart enough to come up with such a good idea. Method."
Chen Wanbai just smiled and said nothing. If he talked too much, he would make mistakes. It would be better to let Mr. Liu figure it out on his own.
After working hard for most of the morning, mother and daughter cooperated with each other and finally turned over a large piece of land divided by Chen Wanbai. They stood on the edge of the field, looking at the neat and flat fields in front of them, and their hearts were full of joy.
"Mom, let's take a rest first and plant seeds later." Chen Wanbai suggested. After all, I have been busy for almost a whole morning, and I am indeed a little tired. In addition, the physical labor is intensive and consumes a lot of money.
Mrs. Liu nodded in agreement: "Okay, let's drink water and rest for a while."
After resting under the tree for a while, the mother and daughter returned to the field. Chen Wanbai took out the rapeseed seeds he had asked Wan Chaogui to help buy and prepared to sow them.
The main types of rapeseed in this era include woad-type rapeseed and mustard-type rapeseed. Brassica rapa is a type of rapeseed that evolved from cultivated watercress and is called Brassica oleracea. Brassica napus is derived from mustard.
The type of rapeseed Chen Wanbai bought is a type of rapeseed.
(Note: Chinese cabbage is Chinese cabbage. "Minghuidian" mentioned: "Chinese cabbage is commonly known as Chinese cabbage." It is mainly called Chinese cabbage, and Chinese cabbage is not commonly used.)
(Note: The source of the information is the "Method of Planting Rapeseed by the People of the Lower Wu" summarized in "The Complete Book of Agricultural Affairs".)
Chen Wanbai took out a small horn hoe and dug a shallow trench in the soil. , Liu followed and spread rapeseed, about dozens of rapeseeds in a pit.
"Mom, let's spread more. There is no fertilization in this land, so it may not grow well." Chen Wanbai turned around and reminded Liu while digging a ditch.
Originally, the yield in ancient times was low, and the land was opened up randomly without enough fertility. Chen Wanbai was worried that the germination rate would not be high by then.
"Hey, okay." Mrs. Liu agreed, scattering a few more rapeseeds in her hand.
After all the rapeseeds were spread evenly into the ground, Chen Wanbai used a hoe to lightly cover them with a thin layer of soil to ensure that the seeds could contact the soil.
After a busy morning and half of noon, the mother and daughter finally sown the entire field with rapeseed seeds.
Chen Wanbai took the photoHe clapped the soil on his hands and looked at the neat field in front of him with satisfaction: "Mom, rapeseed has been planted in this land. When these seeds germinate, we will see a field of tender green vegetable seedlings."
Mrs. Liu nodded, with a satisfied smile on her face: "Yes, when the rapeseed grows, we will be able to eat fresh vegetables grown by ourselves."
Rapeseed seedlings can be eaten as green vegetables. , they will bloom and set seeds only when they are old. Cut the rapeseed and press the rapeseed into rapeseed oil.
With a full sense of accomplishment, the mother and daughter packed up their tools and walked home slowly.
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After returning home, the two simply made some food and had a hasty lunch.
After dinner, Mrs. Liu went to take a lunch break, while Chen Wanbai went to the fields again.
The land that was soaked with farmyard manure some time ago has been completely decomposed after these days of fermentation, and it is ready for growing vegetables.
It is the end of September and the weather is cool. It is a good time to plant some autumn and winter cold-resistant vegetables.
Although compared to modern times, the variety of vegetables is limited now, Chen Wanbai still bought some common vegetable types, such as white radish, water spinach, mustard greens, spinach, garlic sprouts, etc.
Previously, Chen Wanbai had asked Tian Guihua and learned that every spring from February to April and autumn from August to October, the court would distribute some grain and vegetable seeds to ensure that farmers could grow in the appropriate seasons. Sow seeds in time.
The main purpose of the distribution is to promote agricultural production. Most of the seeds distributed are new varieties for farmers to promote and trial.
This made Chen Wanbai very excited. She wanted to see if she could find some seeds she knew. But when she was about to go to the village chief to ask for grain seeds, Tian Guihua poured a basin of cold water on her.
"Xiaobai, don't run away. How long has it been? In early August, all those seeds were taken away."
It's also something that costs nothing. Who will let it go.
Chen Wanbai secretly decided to do it as early as possible in the coming year, hoping to get something new.
(Note: Ancient books such as "Ming Huidian", "Da Ming Law", and "Ming History" all have records about the court distributing seeds. For example, "Ming Huidian" mentions: "Every spring and autumn , ordering counties and counties to distribute seeds to help people in farming.")
Chen Wanbai came to the vegetable field, squatted down, and carefully looked at the soil in the field, and found that it had become soft and fertile.
She stood there, looking at several plots of land that had been divided, and planned what kind of vegetables to grow in each plot to ensure that each vegetable plot had enough growing space and nutrients.
The first thing she planted was cabbage. Although she had already planted it in the morning, the land did not have enough fertility, so she planted another piece in the vegetable field in the afternoon. Different from the planting method in the morning, she used a hoe to dig shallow trenches in the ground, with an interval of about nine inches between each trench. Then divide the seeds intoSpread evenly in the ditch, cover with a layer of fine soil, and finally tread lightly with your feet.
In the second piece of land, she is going to plant white radish. White radish requires deeper soil, so Chen Wanbai used a hoe to dig trenches about an inch and a half deep, with about six inches between each trench. Sow the seeds and then cover with soil and pat them firmly.
The third piece of land is planted with mustard greens. Although there are wild mustards all over the mountains and plains, Chen Wanbai is worried that they will be dug up all in the winter, so it is safe to plant some.
Mustard grows quickly and has strong cold tolerance. She used a hoe to dig shallow trenches in the ground, about seven and a half inches apart, and spread the seeds, covering them with fine soil and compacting them slightly.
The fourth piece of land is reserved for spinach. She first drew shallow grooves on the ground, each about four and a half inches apart. The spinach seeds were small, and she sprinkled them lightly into the trench and covered them with a thin layer of soil. To make sure the seeds are evenly distributed, she works them gently in the trench with her fingers, then compacts them.
The last piece of land is used to grow garlic. The method of growing garlic is different from other vegetables. She needs to first divide the garlic into cloves, and then insert these garlic cloves into the soil one by one, with the garlic head facing down, and keep about three inches between each clove.
After the sowing was completed, Chen Wanbai picked up the water scoop and began to water each piece of land.