Joe's Farming

After just two days, all the potato leaves had withered.

Because there were too many people who wanted to dig potatoes, but the land was too small, Qiao Yu assigned Da Zhuang, Gu Feng and three children to help him dig.

He stood guarding by with a bamboo basket.

As they were afraid of damaging the potatoes in the field by using a hoe, Gu Feng and Da Zhuang each used a shovel.

The three children were holding small shovels that Gu Feng had specially made for Qiao Yu to use for growing vegetables and flowers.

An hour later, all the potatoes were harvested.

Qiao Yu stared blankly at the two baskets of potatoes in front of him. He originally thought that he would be satisfied with just one basket, but who knew that he would end up with two full baskets.

And apparently this is because the potatoes were grown in the wrong place and season, so one-fifth of the potatoes are particularly small.

This means that if given the best growing conditions, these potatoes can yield even more!

Da Zhuang didn't know how many potatoes there were at the beginning, so he didn't have any feeling.

But Gu Feng remembered that the potatoes that Qiao Yu harvested at that time were only half a bag, about ten pounds, but now he has harvested so many.

"Brother Gu, weigh it quickly!" Qiao Yu said excitedly.

Da Zhuang carried the potatoes to the yard and everyone gathered around.

"It looks like a lot for such a small area," said Uncle Wang in surprise.

Qiao Yu nodded: "At that time, I brought back only 11 or 12 kilograms. I thought it would be good to get 100 kilograms, but I didn't expect to get so many. This shows that potatoes are also very productive in Dayan."

Gu Feng found a water-carrying pole and passed it through the rope on the scale bar.

Da Zhuang and Gu Gang took the initiative to carry the burden, while Gu Feng controlled the scale beam and hung the weight.

"One hundred and eleven pounds." said Gu Feng.

Then weigh the next basket using the same method.

"One hundred and fifteen pounds."

Qiao Yu's eyes lit up: "A total of 226 kilograms! My God, such a small area has such an amazing yield. If all these potatoes are planted, it will be more than 5,000 kilograms in three months! Uncle, how much grain can we grow from one acre of rice and wheat?"

Qiao Yu was still relatively conservative. He knew that as long as the potatoes were given enough space and nutrients to grow, a higher yield could be achieved!

This is so exciting.

Everyone was shocked by the number Qiao Yu reported. Five thousand kilograms! How many potatoes would that be?

"Generally speaking, one acre of top-quality rice can produce up to 500 kilograms, medium-quality rice can produce 400 kilograms, and low-quality rice can produce about 300 kilograms. The wheat yield is a little less, and 400 kilograms per acre is considered top-quality."

Qiao Yu nodded: "If I can plant two mu of potatoes, then I can produce 2,500 kilograms per mu. If I plant three mu, the yield is about 1,700 kilograms per mu. It is definitely the most productive grain crop we have at present!"

Uncle Wang said excitedly, "Yes, it must be. Sweet potatoes grow so fast, and one acre of land can only produce one thousand kilograms at most. The potatoes that Qiao brought back are really good stuff."

Qiao Yu nodded, then asked in confusion: "It sounds like sweet potatoes are also very productive, why don't people plant more?"

Uncle Wang seemed a little surprised that Qiao Yu would ask such a question: "Sweet potatoes are too easy to spoil and difficult to store. They will rot soon after being harvested. How much can a family eat? So no one will grow them in large quantities."

Qiao Yu thought about it and concluded that it was probably because the water and sugar content of sweet potatoes were too high, so they were easy to rot, which explained why farmers were unwilling to plant them.

And there was another problem. He knew that sweet potatoes were not suitable for everyone's stomach, but potatoes were different. Potatoes were used as staple food in many mountainous areas in later generations.

Potatoes are easy to grow, have a high yield, and most importantly, are easy to store.

As long as it is placed in a dry and ventilated place, it will be fine for several months. Of course, it is best not to eat the green peel. It will cause poisoning.

Apart from this, there seem to be no other disadvantages.

The more Qiao Yu thought about it, the happier he became, and the brighter his expression became. He told Da Zhuang and Su Qing to restore the place where they had planted potatoes to its original state, so that Su Qing could live more comfortably, and to check if there were any small potatoes that were missed.

Seeing her husband so happy, Gu Feng asked, "What are you thinking about? You look so happy."

Qiao Yu pulled people to the front of the yard, pointed to the wasteland he had reclaimed some time ago and said, "Look, when spring comes, this area of ​​ours will be full of potatoes. I'm not just thinking about us. When the time comes, we'll save some seeds and sell them to the government. Let them distribute them to families whose harvests are not good."

Gu Feng's eyes moved slightly, and he looked at Qiao Yu deeply several times.

Qiao Yu was uneasy by this look: "What's wrong?"

Gu Feng smiled and said, "Why is my Qiao Er so pretty?"

Qiao Yu deliberately said angrily: "It doesn't look good, so you don't like it, right?"

Gu Feng hugged her and looked at the vast mountains with her: "Qiao'er is the most beautiful in my eyes, no matter what she looks like."

Qiao Xing originally wanted to ask Qiao Yu how to grow potato seedlings, but when he saw the two fathers together, he quietly returned to his room.

After standing for a while, Gu Feng was afraid that Qiao Yu would feel cold, so he asked him to go home and warm himself by the fire.

"We keep firewood every day at home. Do we have enough firewood?" Qiao Yu asked worriedly.

Gu Feng smiled and said, "Don't worry, there is still some charcoal left from Big Brother's previous burns, and we also stockpiled some firewood for cooking. If it's really not enough, we can go to the back mountain and chop some."

Qiao Yu thought about it and agreed. He just thought that we couldn’t go up the mountain because of the snow. In fact, for the natives, winter is just colder than usual, so they still have to do what they have to do.

"Don't go to the back mountain, go to our Xiaokang Mountain to cut trees. I'm going to cut down most of the trees there next year anyway."

Gu Feng nodded: "Okay. I'll take them to chop it down in a while."

Qiao Yu said distressedly: "Wear more clothes, don't catch a cold."

Gu Feng stretched out his gloved hand: "It's not cold. If you're lucky, I'll catch a rabbit for you."

Qiao Yu immediately said happily: "Okay, okay, I haven't eaten rabbit for a long time."

We now have fish, chicken (not edible yet), duck, pork, and mutton at home, but no rabbit.

Seeing how greedy his husband was for rabbits, Gu Feng said lovingly, "I'll try to catch two more for you."

Gu Gang heard his brother talking about catching two, so he asked, "What do you want to catch for your brother-in-law?"

Qiao Yu said happily: "My husband wants to catch rabbits for me, big brother, are you going?"

Gu Feng raised his lips in amusement. He was obviously going to collect firewood. "Qiao'er is worried that there is not enough firewood at home. I plan to take Dazhuang and Su Qing to the mountain to chop firewood, and catch two rabbits for him to eat."

Gu Gang immediately turned around and said to Hong Xiu, "Wait, I'll go catch two rabbits for you and use the rabbit skins to make you a pair of gloves."

Hongxiu blushed immediately and responded softly.

Bai Lan was sitting next to Hong Xiu, teaching her how to embroider. She smiled when she heard this. The eldest master and the second master both loved their wives.