Era: Started from raising livestock in the mountains

Time flies by, and it is already March 20th in a blink of an eye. The spring equinox has passed, and Qingming Festival is approaching.

The trees began to absorb water, and the spores on the branches gradually became full.

In the warm places in the city, peach blossoms should have bloomed at this time, and the scene of "grass is far away but not near" should be here, while all the spring in the mountains is still hidden.

Early in the morning, after breakfast, Lin Heng went to Hongfeng Mountain to put the red dates on the carriage. He opened the bag and Lin's father used a shovel to fill it with sheep manure that had been decomposed last year.

"How many bags do you need?" Lin's father asked while filling it.

Lin Heng thought for a while and said, "I need 20 bags. Not only do I need to put some in the vegetable garden, I also want to put some on the fruit trees in the back mountain."

This year, the melons and fruits will not be bred in the yard, but moved to Hongfeng Mountain. It is much more convenient to apply fertilizers and so on.

"That will take a whole morning." Lin's father said.

"I guess I will do this all day today." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"That's okay. I don't have anything to do today. I'll come over to help you after I finish digging the breeding ground." Lin's father said.

"Okay." Lin Heng agreed with a smile.

Soon six bags of sheep manure were loaded, each bag weighing about 90 kilograms. After loading the car, Lin Heng drove the red dates to the road below the village gate, and then moved them into the yard one bag at a time.

"Dad, we have dug the ditch!"

As soon as Lin Heng entered the house, Xiaoxia shouted to him happily.

"That Xiaoxia is really amazing." Lin Heng came over and put down the sheep manure fertilizer.

Xiulan pointed to the dug gully in the strawberry field and asked, "Is this okay?"

"Okay, I'll just put the fertilizer in." Lin Heng nodded and shoveled the fertilizer into the ditch with a shovel.

These strawberries had been thinned last year, and the excess seedlings were taken to Hongfeng Mountain for planting. It's just that it's a little cold over there, and the seedlings died in winter, and it will take a few days for them to sprout.

The temperature in the yard is higher. These strawberry seedlings have retained a few leaves. After applying fertilizer, they are wrapped with bamboo strips and film paper. Early-ripening strawberries can be eaten around the end of May.

Combined with the strawberries on Hongfeng Mountain that only start to ripen in mid-June, they can be eaten for two months.

There are more strawberries now, occupying a whole piece of land. After finishing, Lin Heng spread sheep manure fertilizer on the other three plots of land, and dug up all the coriander, spinach and other vegetables planted in them.

In addition, the grapes and lilies in the backyard are all covered with some decomposed sheep manure fertilizer. A total of twelve bags of sheep manure fertilizer were used in the front and back yards.

When Lin Heng came back for the third time to fertilize the fruit trees in the back mountain, Xiaoxia pestered him again and raised her head to ask: "Dad, when are we going to plant sunflowers?"

She has never forgotten to plant sunflowers.

"Then you and I will go to Hongfeng Mountain to plant them later. We need to raise seedlings first." Lin Heng looked at her and said.

"No problem, Dad!" Xiaoxia immediately said with a smile.

After applying ten bags of sheep manure to the saplings on the back mountain, Lin Heng took the seeds and took Xiaoxia to Hongfeng Mountain.

Lin's father had already dug the ground and watered it thoroughly. The sandy soil mixed with decomposed sheep manure was very suitable for seedlings.

Lin Heng gave the seeds of cucumbers, watermelons, and peppers that he bought to his parents to plant, and found a place on the side to plant sunflowers with Xiaoxia.

He poked a hole in the ground with a small wooden stick, and Xiaoxia planted the sunflower seeds in it. She was very happy to plant sunflowers with her father.

After planting, Lin Heng sprinkled some water on the surface, waited for his parents to finish sowing other seeds, and covered the bow with bamboo strips and covered the surface with film paper, and the miniature seedling greenhouse was ready.

After finishing the work, Lin's father looked at Lin Heng and asked, "Son, what do you think is better to plant on the remaining ten acres of land on the mountain?"

Last year, 30 acres of land were reclaimed on the mountain, and 10 acres of ryegrass were planted at that time. There were originally 3 acres of ryegrass, elephant grass and alfalfa, which added up to 13 acres of pasture.

In the early spring of this year, they are going to plant ten acres of alfalfa forage. These two days, Lin's father and mother have been sorting out some weeds in the field.

After the alfalfa is planted, there are still ten acres of land left empty. Lin's father can't bear to see the land idle, so he came to ask Lin Heng for his opinion.

"It's not worth planting crops, why don't we just plant astragalus?" Lin Heng looked at his father and asked.

Astragalus likes this kind of sandy soil on the sunny slope, and it should grow well if planted here. He didn't want his father to plant crops, it was troublesome and not worth the money, and he would have to come to help in the summer.

"That's fine, as long as the land is not empty." Lin's father nodded.

"I'm afraid that astragalus will be worthless by then." Lin's mother said worriedly.

Lin Heng smiled and explained: "Don't worry, mother. Chinese medicines like Astragalus are in great demand and will definitely increase in value. It's just a little worse than ginseng, Panax notoginseng, and Polygonatum odoratum. Unfortunately, those things have to be planted under trees and don't like to grow in the open air."

"Then plant Astragalus. When are you going to buy seeds?" Lin's father asked.

Lin Heng thought for a while: "Before Qingming Festival, I can just go down and get some roses to graft."

"Then I can only plant them directly in the field, and there will be no time to raise seedlings." Lin's father said.

"It's okay, just plant them directly." Lin Heng said.

After chatting, Lin Heng went to the cattle and sheep shed to take a look. The wounds of the sheep that were slapped a few days ago were basically healed, and there was no problem.

The ewes also successfully completed conception, and it was not clear whether they were pregnant or not.

After feeding some grass to the cattle and sheep, Lin Heng went down the mountain to look at the musk deer, pigs, and fish eggs.

After walking to the warehouse below and washing his hands, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia home.

The temperature on the mountain is still very low now. Even if it is sunny during the day, you have to wear autumn clothes and a double-layer coat, but you don’t have to wear a cotton jacket like before.

This spring is expected to be very busy. Apart from other things, it will take more than half a month to plant ten acres of alfalfa and ten acres of astragalus.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when I got home. Xiaoxia entered the house and happily told her mother about planting sunflowers.

"My daughter is great. She planted crops without getting her clothes dirty." Xiulan picked up Xiaoxia and praised her, and gave her some biscuits to eat.

"Mom, eat too!" Xiaoxia gave her mother a small portion,

"Dad is great too!" Then she gave Lin Heng a portion.

"Thank you."

The cute look of the little baby melted their hearts and felt the joy of taking care of children.

"What are you going to do in the afternoon?" Xiulan poured a cup of tea for Lin Heng, sat down and leaned on the sofa and asked.

"Nothing, just stay at home. I haven't gained much from hunting recently, and the prey is not fat, so forget it."

Lin Heng took her hand and said.

"Then you take care of your two sons. I don't want to take care of them anymore." Xiulan smiled and blinked.

"Do you want to go out and play?" Lin Heng was curious.

"No, I'll stay in the house, but I don't want to take care of the kids in the afternoon." Xiulan said.

She has accumulated a lot of troubles taking care of the kids all the time. Children who don't know anything are always tiring.

"That's okay. You play and I'll take care of the kids." Lin Heng said with a smile.

"Thank you, husband!" Xiulan pinched Lin Heng's face.

In the afternoon, she took Xiongba out for a walk and brought back a basket of ferns. After coming back, she took the dried fish that Lin Heng made for Xiaoxia and went fishing in the fish pond.

"If you want to fish, I'll take you to the pond in spring. The grass carp we raised in front now weigh four or five pounds." Lin Heng said with a smile.

Last year, the grass carp fry were not only fed with shrimp feed, but also fed with grass every day, and they grew exceptionally fast.

"Okay." Xiulan agreed happily.

Xiulan had a really happy afternoon. Lin Heng also cooked dinner for her. The two drank a little wine and fell asleep drunk.

The next day, they rested at home for a day. Lin Heng roasted the leftover sheep eggs at home. Xiulan also tasted some, but felt that the taste was not as good as the lamb.

Early in the morning of the 22nd, Lin Heng called his eldest brother Lin Yue to go to the city together.

In this era, he usually would not go far away alone. Even a grown man would feel unsafe.

"Brother, are you still buying corn seeds and rice seeds this time?" Lin Yue asked while sitting in the car.

"Just bring a few bags, don't buy more." Lin Heng said.

All the seeds bought last time have been sold out, and some people are not enough to come and buy some more.

But he will not buy more to store.

"It's really warm in the city, and the peach blossoms are blooming." When he came to the city, Lin Yue looked at the surrounding environment and smiled.

"It's like this in the mountains. There's nothing we can do about it." Lin Heng smiled.

He drove to the seed station first and asked if there was anyone selling astragalus seeds here.

Unfortunately, there is none, because not many people grow them, and most of the current astragalus is wild resources.

"What should we do? We can't go to Ancheng to buy it, right?" Lin Yue asked with his hands spread out.

Lin Heng had expected this and said, "I'll go to the station to ask if there are any going to the provincial capital."

However, he was even more disappointed after asking. They just pulled a batch of goods from the provincial capital and would not go again for the time being.

In desperation, Lin Heng looked for other ways, and finally Li Guocheng helped him, saying that he had a friend who was going to the provincial capital to deliver a batch of goods in the next two days, and he could buy some for him.

Lin Heng did not let anyone suffer a loss, and gave the money for buying astragalus seeds on the spot. He bought it last year and knew the price of astragalus. In this era, the price of state-owned enterprises will not change much.

Astragalus seeds are not expensive. When I bought it last year, it was 50 cents per catty. It must be the same price now. He plans to buy another 300 catties, which is 150 yuan.

The germination rate of seeds is very uncertain, and Taibai City does not have it yet. There is no harm in buying more at one time.

Lin Heng gave the money directly to Li Guocheng, and gave him an extra 20 yuan for the trip, but the requirements were very strict. He required that the seeds must be from the Ancheng Seed Station, and the receipts and other things must be kept for him.

"Don't worry about this. My driver friend will definitely get you the extra 20 yuan." Li Chengguo said with a smile.

"I believe you." Lin Heng smiled. He believed not in people, but in the power of money.

Then Li Chengguo invited him to dinner again, and Lin Heng did not refuse. He had lunch at his house and chatted nonsense, which made Li Chengguo very happy.

After dinner, Lin Heng drove his eldest brother straight to the flower market in the city. In the car, Lin Yue asked: "Do you want to go to see Lin Hai's situation in the afternoon? If there is anything, you have to help."

"No need, let him be independent for a while. He has a brain, but he is not independent enough." Lin Heng shook his head and said that he asked Lin Hai to work out because he wanted him to go out.

"Okay then." Lin Yue nodded. He also felt that Lin Hai should go out for exercise.

Roses have a very long history of cultivation in China. Almost everyone has them at home, and they are the most popular in the market.

Lin Heng asked along the way, but there was no one who specialized in rose cultivation. In the end, he had no choice but to buy a dozen roses of different colors. He planned to go back and graft some of them first, and then graft them to wild roses when they grow up.

It doesn't matter who buys them. Lin Heng specially picked some things from old men and women to support them, and released his kindness to the best of his ability.

"Young man, I want rose branches for grafting, right?"

After Lin Heng paid, the old man asked with a smile.

Lin Heng nodded: "Yes, I am going to graft. The rose seedlings I bought have too few branches, and they are gone after I cut a few."

The old man looked at Lin Heng and said: "Then I will tell you a place. Go to Nanshi Mountain. The government has planted a lot of roses but no one cares. It's okay for you to cut a few branches and go home."

Hearing this, Lin Heng quickly got him a cigarette: "Thank you, old man, I'll go right away."

Take the roses and some daily necessities that he bought, Lin Heng and his elder brother drove to Nanshi Mountain. After two turns, they found a large area of ​​roses. It seems that they want to make a flower wall, but no one takes care of it.

Lin Heng picked up the small branches of roses growing outward with the pruning shears he just bought. Although these roses have just grown new leaves and have not bloomed yet, Lin Heng still keenly saw that this is a rose wall grafted with different colors.

He immediately followed suit and picked up some branches of various varieties, tied them together with wire and tied them to the back of the car, and then took them back to trim and graft them.

After getting two bundles, Lin Heng felt full and drove back to Hongfeng Mountain.

It was already past three o'clock when he returned to the village, so Lin Heng took back the daily necessities and a bunch of wild flowers he picked on the road.

The rose seedlings he bought were also planted in Hongfeng Mountain. There were two tree-shaped lollipop roses planted and grafted in the backyard of his home last year, which were enough. More would be messy.

"For you." Lin Heng put down the things and handed the flowers to Xiulan. This is a poppy picked by the river, tied with three-color flowers.

"Picked it by the roadside, it's so beautiful!" Xiulan took the flower and smelled it happily.

"It took a long time to pick it by the river." Lin Heng said with a smile, and took Xiaoxia a big white rabbit milk candy.

Xiulan filled the Ru porcelain narrow-necked bottle with water, inserted the flower in it, and adjusted the position of the flower from time to time, striving for a perfect angle.

She had never learned flower arrangement, so she just played with it by herself to cheer herself up. As long as it looked good, it was fine.

"Pack up your things. I'm going to Hongfeng Mountain to graft roses. I've already had lunch."

Lin Heng said as he watched Xiulan arranging flowers.

Xiulan turned around and said, "Change your clothes before you go. I've washed your work clothes and put them on the bed."

Lin Heng turned to the bedroom to change his clothes, then took a knife and called his eldest brother to go to Hongfeng Mountain together.

"We got so many rose branches. I guess we can't use them all." Father Lin said when he saw them coming with so many branches.

"We should be able to use them all." Lin Heng said.

He sorted the branches and signaled his father and eldest brother to graft different varieties together. Don't make one section of this variety and another section of another variety. That wouldn't look good.

After they were done, they came to the fence with the branches and started grafting roses.