As September arrived, the night temperature seemed to drop in an instant, and the temperature difference was even greater than during the previous Beginning of Autumn - although the temperature finally dropped below 28° at night.
For farmers, the seasons never lie.
"It's almost white dew, so we should plant the vegetable seeds quickly, right?"
Wu Lan asked Professor Song.
After all, she had originally planned to go to the street to buy seeds because Professor Song said he had the seeds... Indeed, Brother Zhang had brought over several express boxes a few days ago, all filled with vegetable seeds.
Professor Song led his students to pick a basket of young mugwort leaves early in the morning. These mugworts were cut back when making moxa sticks before, but no one had taken care of them during this period, so they soon sprouted new tender leaves from the poles.
When Uncle Seven saw this, his first reaction was, "What? Do you want to eat mugwort balls today?"
Professor Song waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, it's time for autumn planting soon. I'll try to prepare some fertilizer first. It's said that the tender leaves of mugwort in April and May are the best, but I didn't catch up then. This is because our mugwort is of good quality, so I picked some and brought it back to see."
Mugwort as fertilizer
Oh, Song Sancheng had been throwing manure on the fields since he was a child, but he had never heard of this. He came over to take a look:
"What can I do with this little bit... Do you want more? I'll pick a few more baskets for you later."
Professor Song: … He really just wanted to test the effect with a small amount.
but…
"Okay!" He nodded. "We are taking the green and ecological path! This kind of ecological fertilizer is indispensable. Pick as much as you can."
"But they have to be picked early in the morning, when they are tender, and they can't be exposed to the sun. If they are exposed to the sun and photosynthesis occurs, the effect will be wrong."
Just as Song Sancheng was about to nod, he was stopped by Song Tan: "Dad, let someone else do this job, you go to town and practice the second subject."
Get up at five o'clock and pick the fruits until seven o'clock, 50 yuan for two hours. Old men and women love this job the most - oh, I forgot, all the old men and women in the village were picked away by her grandfather.
In short, there is always something that aunt is willing to do.
Anyway, her dad didn’t need to go. After all, it had been a month, and they practiced together every day. As a result, her mom had to take the third test, but her dad failed the second test twice…
Got to hold on tight!
Song Sancheng: ... If he didn't pass the second test, then he didn't pass. Why are you talking so loudly?! He just had bad luck and was a little nervous, not that he can't drive!
Professor Song tried to hold back, but couldn't help laughing. When Song Sancheng looked over, he turned serious again: "By the way, Tantan, I brought back a lot of larch hairs during the field holiday, but I think it's not enough. Find someone to get more when you have time."
Song Tan was surprised: "What do you need so much pine needles for?"
Professor Song laughed and said, "Compost. Aren't there several large fermentation tanks built on the mountain? They can be used after a few days of drying."
"Later, you can get a big crusher and we can use it to break up the branches, leaves and dead grass from the wasteland."
Song Tan thought about it and understood: "It's the kind that my uncle Zhang knows, right? Using Bacillus subtilis and Trichoderma harzianum to ferment?"
"right."
Professor Song nodded: "The fertilizer that Lao Zhang piled up before was good, but he was too thrifty and didn't want to use some materials... In fact, it should be added if necessary."
"You have such a large mountain. To maintain it, the money spent on fertilizer is actually not worth mentioning."
Song Tan actually doesn't know much about scientific planting, but she has some advantages -
"That's right! In that case, Professor Song, just give me a list of what you need and I'll bring it back."
"Don't worry, don't worry." Professor Song had a plan in mind:
"The barrels and bottles we ordered last time have just arrived. We are going to sort them out first."
"First, find someone to tidy up the riverbank a bit. The tubers of king bamboo grass and sweet elephant grass will be sent to you in a couple of days, and you can plant them directly then."
"I'll take you to pick some cattle and sheep at the end of the month. Unfortunately, there's a new cattle king this year, worth 660,000, but he was just auctioned off, so I didn't get to see him..."
"660,000?!" Song Tan was shocked!
Song Sancheng, who had just ridden his motorcycle, couldn't hold back: "660,000 for a cow? How can I sell it without losing money?"
That meat is made of gold!
Yan Ran laughed at the side: "I'm sure you're not buying them to eat meat. This kind of Huaxi cattle bull that we bred ourselves is ready for slaughter quickly, has fine meat, is very cold-resistant, and has excellent genes!"
"If it's sold for 660,000, the farmer will continue to sell its frozen semen, and he can sell 500,000 in his lifetime... Do you think 660,000 can make back the money?"
Song Tan: ... I don’t understand scientific farming, but this way of making money is something I never thought of.
But thinking about the children at home, Sun Shouping later wanted them to find a partner and have children, and the asking price was 20,000...
This comparison is not difficult to understand.
Zhang Yanping and Xin Jun looked at each other, feeling a little weird and awkward... With the development of society, how come even the most powerful people have to make money in this way
However, for Professor Song and others, this only means—
"The calves this year are definitely generally of good quality. I can pick more high-quality ones later. By the way, Tantan, do you want a dairy cow?"
Song Tan thought for a moment and said, "Milking is much more troublesome than feeding cows. If we do more, we will need a lot of supporting manpower and equipment. If we do less, it won't be large enough... Let's just forget it."
Professor Song nodded and said, "Okay, then you can find someone to dig up the area on the riverbank that the excavator can't reach. Once the grass is planted, we'll go out to see the cows."
"It will take about two days, so you should arrange your time accordingly."
"Okay." Song Tan nodded: "What about the mountain? Let's start cultivating the mountain as well?"
Sun Ziqiang finished the land reclamation project on the mountain last week, but he has a good relationship with Lao Xu and they are used to working together, so he simply seamlessly joined Lao Xu's team.
Now, people are digging the foundation where Song Tan plans to build a new dormitory!
Professor Song nodded and said, "Let's rent some farm machinery and turn in the base fertilizer that Lao Zhang prepared. It's all fermented and well-rotted, so it won't burn the seedlings."
After the fertilizer is put in, he will make the final arrangements for the planting plan and can start sowing directly.
As he spoke, he sighed: "It's also because the weather this year is too abnormal, too hot... Otherwise, we could grow cabbage, garlic, and autumn potatoes in July and August in previous years..."
But there is nothing we can do about it.
After all, God doesn’t listen to advice!
Professor Song took out his notebook and said, "By the way, go order another 1,000 kilograms of two-filament silver-black mulch film in the next two days."
Song Tan kept nodding: "Okay, okay, buy, buy, buy!"
Professor Song paused, and then continued, "Fruit trees are not needed on the mountain, but vegetables are indispensable. Let's try a hundred acres first."
"Ten to twelve kilograms are needed for one acre of land..."
He closed the notebook and wrote casually, "It's about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. Just order it and have it delivered directly."