12dz Chapter 61 Digging Sweet Potatoes, Harvesting Turmeric, and Achieving a High Yield
Chapter 61 Digging Sweet Potatoes, Harvesting Turmeric, and Achieving a High Yield
"Yes."
The couple couldn't help but sigh.
Shen Xiaotang picked up a corn cob and handed it to her father, who had already finished eating it.
"Dad, Mom, don't let the past troubles hold you back. We're going to work hard to live a good life."
Liu took a deep breath and said, "Tang'er is right. Let's not dwell on the past and try to live a good life."
Since then, Shen Qingchuan still goes to the fields every day to weed and check on the crops, but not a single blade of grass can be seen in the fields.
During that time, some villagers actually went to steal corn, hoping to secretly pick some to take home and cook, but they were caught by Shen Qingchuan and embarrassed, and dared not go again.
More than a month later, the crops were ripe.
Shen Xiaotang dug up a turmeric plant and looked at the small turmeric sprouts growing at the base; they were half the size of the ones she had dug up from the mountain.
I didn't expect that a month after it finished blooming, it still wasn't ripe.
Alas, I miscalculated!
There was nothing she could do; it was her own fault for not looking at the growth cycle of turmeric when she saw the comparison picture of turmeric and ginger on Douyin in her previous life.
I was so excited that I planted turmeric!
Liu said with a worried look, "Tang'er, these turmeric plants are still small. In a few days, when other families start harvesting rice, and we're the only ones not harvesting, won't people notice?"
Yes!
Everyone else has started harvesting their crops, and they're the only ones who haven't. Wouldn't that be too conspicuous?
How can this be done?
"Mom, the sweet potatoes are ripe. Let's dig them up and bring them home first. We won't cut down the corn stalks yet, we'll just break off the corn cobs."
Keep the poles on; at least they'll block out the turmeric.
Mrs. Liu was a little worried, "But..."
Shen Qingchuan spoke first, "Let's do it Tang'er's way. After the corn is harvested, I'll lie in the field with my bedding and watch over it at night."
With someone watching, no one will dare to steal it again!
Liu nodded and said, "That's the only way. But there are a lot of mosquitoes now, so her father will have to suffer."
"As long as you can protect your things, there's nothing hard about it."
The family decided to start by digging up sweet potatoes.
After a whole day of work, Liu finally finished harvesting the sweet potatoes and carried them home. She also dragged all the sweet potato vines home, intending to keep them to feed the pigs.
When the pigs get bigger around the Lunar New Year, they can be sold for money.
When they had some free time, the couple weighed all the sweet potatoes, bag by bag, and found that they weighed over a thousand kilograms.
The couple were so happy they almost jumped for joy, praising their daughter for her great contribution, not only for creating the overturning device that changed the soil quality of the dry field, but also for choosing the right sweet potatoes to plant.
Shen Xiaotang thought to herself, "In my previous life, the yield of sweet potatoes per mu reached 6,000 jin. This is nothing."
Compared to the previous life, it's still far from good enough!
However, she couldn't tell her parents about what happened in her previous life. Anyway, if her parents were happy, she was happy too.
After three to five days, all the rice and corn in the fields were ready to be harvested, and everyone began to harvest their crops.
Shen Qingchuan and Liu Shi continued to work in shifts, taking seven or eight days to finish what could have been done in two.
The villagers living next to them teased them, but the couple didn't say anything, just smiled.
The autumn heatwave is intense, with the sun blazing down.
Without the sweet potato vines, the turmeric gets plenty of air and sunshine, growing rapidly and changing every day.
Some of the leaves have even started to turn yellow.
Shen Xiaotang and her father dug up a tree together, and it was much bigger than when they dug it up on the mountain before. One tree could bear seven or eight fruits.
It's much more productive than the mountains!
Each of these is about two ounces and worth four copper coins!
Overwhelmed with excitement, the father and daughter gritted their teeth and let the turmeric grow in the field for another five days.
With no one around at night, the couple took advantage of the moonlight to dig up turmeric in the fields.
Little Yu was small and timid. She was afraid to be home alone, so her father carried her to the fields.
Shen Qingchuan and his wife, Liu, dug slowly ahead, while their two daughters followed behind, filling sacks with the contents.
"Dad, Mom, be careful when you dig. Don't hurt yourself, or it won't be worth anything."
"Okay, Father and Mother will remember!"
The family worked tirelessly until almost dawn, finally finishing harvesting all the turmeric.
I've been busy all night!
Shen Qingchuan and Liu carried five or six bags home, making several trips, and even dragged the turmeric seedlings back with them.
When I got home and weighed myself, I was over 300 pounds.
It even yields more than rice!
"My God, Tang'er, are we dreaming? Even your father can't believe it. Are we growing turmeric? How can medicinal herbs be more productive than rice?"
"Let's say we sell these for 300 jin (150 kg). How much would that be?"
Shen Xiaotang smiled and said, "Dad, we weren't dreaming. We were naturally planting turmeric, but I never expected that our first time planting it would yield such a high yield."
In the previous life, there were chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as pesticides that helped with flowering, fruit setting, and abundant fruit and flesh. The grain harvest was over a thousand catties, much more productive than this turmeric.
She continued, "It's probably because we planted the plants evenly, weeded them frequently, and applied manure several times that we had such a high yield."
"It weighs a little over 300 catties. We'll sell 200 catties and keep 100 catties for next season's planting. 200 catties is 2,000 taels. One tael can be sold for two coins. This time we can sell four taels of silver!"
Liu covered her mouth and exclaimed in surprise, "Heavens! Four taels of silver in one go?"
She truly felt like she was dreaming, and dreaming beautifully at that!
Half an acre can sell for four taels of silver, and it hasn't even been sold all yet. What does that mean?
She felt it was all so unreal, and foolishly pinched herself hard.
"Ouch...it hurts!"
"Tang'er, Mother really wasn't dreaming!"
After his initial surprise, Shen Qingchuan became worried.
"Tang'er, we only have four mu of land. If we plant all of it with turmeric next season instead of rice, how will we pay our taxes next year? What will our family eat if we have no food?"
Shen Xiaotang smiled faintly and said, "Dad, you're being silly. Let me do the math for you and Mom."
The couple asked in unison, "How do we calculate it?"
"If the weather is favorable and the rice yield is moderate, the maximum harvest is 200 jin (100 kg). How much can it be sold for?"
Shen Qingchuan was smarter than Liu Shi and was the first to calculate, "We can sell one jin of grain for twelve wen, two hundred jin would be two thousand four hundred wen, and one mu could sell for two liang of silver plus four hundred wen."
“Yes, an acre of grain only sells for two taels of silver and four hundred cash. If we sell all of our half-acre of turmeric, we can get six taels of silver. If we plant four acres of turmeric next year, we can get more than forty taels of silver. Can’t we use some of that silver to buy grain and pay our taxes? We can afford to buy grain to eat!”
The couple were both stunned!
Upon calculation, it's true.
It's the most cost-effective way to use all of it to grow turmeric!
Shen Qingchuan was so surprised that he clicked his tongue. "Yes, Tang'er is really good at doing the math. We can earn much more from one mu of turmeric than from grain. Why should we grow grain? We can just buy it and eat it. We can make more money from the price difference alone!"
Mrs. Liu smiled broadly, nodding vigorously, "You two are good at calculating. Tang'er said we can earn this much, so we can earn this much. We'll listen to Tang'er. Next season, we'll do it the same way!"
The couple spent a whole day cutting down all the corn stalks in the field and bringing them home.
The next day.
Shen Qingchuan borrowed a cart, loaded it with two hundred catties of turmeric, and had his eldest daughter ride on it. He pulled it all the way to town and headed straight for Feng's shop.
Shen Qingchuan carried all the bags of turmeric into the pharmacy and led his daughter to the shopkeeper.
Manager Feng stared at the father and daughter in front of him for a long time before he recognized them.
"Oh my god, is it really you two?"
"It's been half a year since I last saw you. You've changed your clothes and gained weight. I thought I was seeing things and had mistaken you for someone else!"