Joe's Farming

Digging lotus roots in this weather is like torture.

Even though half of the water in the fish pond has been drained in order to dig lotus roots, there is still silt under the water, and it is easy to sink into it when digging lotus roots.

But because the money was so high, we quickly recruited enough people.

The lotus roots of Qiao Yu's family are mainly concentrated in the shallow water area near the shore, occupying almost half of the area of ​​the fish pond.

We hired twelve people this time and the digging was completed in just one day.

But even a strong man cannot stand keeping the lower body underwater for a whole day.

So Qiao Yu and Gu Feng only needed to come up after digging half of the mine, and they could dig the rest tomorrow. They would still be paid.

After digging out the lotus roots, you must immediately rinse off the dirt with clean water.

This step was undertaken by the villa staff.

People in Shangtian Village had hardly ever seen lotus root, so some villagers came over to watch.

So the open space in front of Lingyun Villa was full of people.

Qiao Yu held Gu Heng in her arms, and watched with the three little ones.

Although Gu Feng did not go into the pond, he was helping out.

Every time someone dug out a piece of fat lotus root from the pond, people on the shore would exclaim in surprise.

Qiao Yu was also amazed by the lotus roots in her garden. The nodes were thick and long, and they were pink and white after being rinsed.

"Brother Qiao, how much do you sell this lotus root for?"

Some greedy villagers have already started asking for prices.

"Ten cents a pound."

Qiao Yu told him the price he had already considered.

“Oh, it’s not that expensive.”

Qiao Yu smiled and nodded.

He was thinking about his family's fish pond, which he didn't take care of much, except that he hired someone to take care of it and spent some money.

This pond of lotus roots is at least one acre in size, so it is no problem to produce 2000 kilograms.

Ten cents per pound, he didn't lose anything.

But he doesn't plan to sell all of it retail.

I still plan to stock up at least half, after all, I have three stores at home where I can sell them.

The ten cents is just to allow those who want to try something new to eat it.

After the first batch of lotus roots were dug up, Qiao Yu called Ling Lie over and asked him to set up a large iron pot in the yard.

Then go to the fish pond and catch a few big fish.

"Cut the fish into large pieces and fry them in oil. Add water and green onions and ginger slices, boil them, add lotus root and stew them. Finally, add some salt."

Qiao Yu thought for a moment and added, "Use less oil and make sure both sides are fried until golden brown. Then ask the kitchen to prepare bamboo bowls. When it's ready, everyone present can have a bowl."

"Got it!"

"Go."

Qiao Yu was very confident in Ling Lie's cooking skills, so after giving him these few suggestions, she let him do it with confidence.

The one who went to the fish pond to fish was Xiaojiu. He just went down with a fish basket.

Because the pond was half full of water, he startled the fish and caused them to splash everywhere.

The three little ones were obviously more interested in catching fish, and they ran over to cheer for Xiaojiu with Xiao Chengzi, who was watching the fun.

It’s a pity that Xiaojiu underestimated the fish in the pond. They looked easy to catch, but in fact they swam very fast.

In the end, it took Xiaowu and Xiaoliu working together to catch a few grass carp and silver carp.

Qiao Yu’s family has been raising fish for nearly a year, and the fast-growing ones can weigh almost three kilograms.

Xiaowu and his friends caught seven or eight and went ashore. The guests on the shore immediately said they wanted to buy two more to cook for lunch.

Xiao Wu: "Don't worry, our fish are all freshly caught. They are guaranteed to be fresh. We will catch them for you before dinner later."

Of course the guests were happy and kept saying it was delicious. Everyone knows that the fresher the fish is, the better it tastes.

Qiao Yu released water into the fish pond originally for the purpose of digging lotus roots.

But I found that the people on the shore were also very interested in the fish.

Let Xiaobai go and ask everyone if anyone wants fish. It's 20 cents per pound.

Fish outside usually costs around fifteen cents, and some people think twenty cents is too expensive.

Qiao Yu didn't force it. As long as the fish pond was there, the fish could continue to be raised.

Even so, as it was near the end of the year, several villagers still bought some to eat as part of their meat consumption.

Half an hour later, the aroma of lotus root stewed with fish wafted into the fish pond.

Qiao Yu said loudly: "Everyone, work harder. Once we dig this up, we can come up and drink the soup."

After hearing this, everyone no longer felt tired and just wanted to finish digging quickly and go ashore to drink some hot fish soup.

The onlookers didn't expect that they could get a bowl of lotus root and fish soup for free just by joining in the fun, and they happily lined up to get the soup.

Even Bai Ming glanced into the pot several times.

"Don't worry, I asked Sister Lan to stew two pots, lotus root stewed with pork ribs and pig's trotters." Qiao Yu blinked.

Pork is more expensive than fish, and he couldn't afford to invite so many people, so Qiao Yu asked Bai Lan to cook in the kitchen.

They drink it among themselves.

Bai Ming blushed and chuckled.

It was the first time for the villagers to eat lotus root. Some thought the taste was too light, while others thought it was soft, glutinous and sweet, which was very good. They immediately weighed two kilograms to take home.

Qiao Yu also diligently introduced to people how to eat lotus root.

"Lotus root is like potato. It can be boiled, fried, or served cold. It doesn't have to be used to stew meat."

Everyone thanked him and couldn't wait to go home and experiment.

After the onlookers finished drinking the soup, the team digging lotus roots also came ashore.

The fish in the big iron pot was basically untouched, and everyone tacitly only ordered the soup and lotus root.

Qiao Yu asked Xiaowu and the others to divide the remaining soup among the twelve people.

You can eat here or take away.

Sure enough, as he expected, except for one man who ate it directly, the rest took it home to share with their families.

The guest who had just tasted the lotus root soup asked for lotus root stewed with fish.

Qiao Yu brought some green leafy vegetables and dipping dishes for them to dip in.

Soon, the employees who were cleaning the lotus roots also finished their work.

Qiao Yu invited everyone to try the new food together.

At times like this, children are the happiest.

You can eat delicious food and have so many people accompany you.

Only Little Orange said with some regret: "It's a pity that my brother went back to town, otherwise he would definitely like it."

Gu Xiaoxue comforted him, "It's okay, Daddy will definitely keep it for your brother."

Xue Bao was right, this was what Qiao Yu had originally planned.

He also brought a hundred kilograms to Yipinxuan.

The spareribs stewed with lotus root are not greasy at all and have the fragrance of lotus root. Dip them in the dipping sauce prepared by Qiao Yu, and they taste so delicious.

The lotus roots from Qiao Yu's house are also delicious, but a little more glutinous. This may be because the lotus roots are dug late, so the starch content is higher.

Qiao Yu thought that he would dig it in two batches next year.

Dig it once in late summer, it should be crispy by then.

The lotus pond can also be expanded a little bit and used specifically for growing lotus roots.

It can be built next to the fish pond, which makes it convenient for water collection and drainage.

Then catch some loaches and put them in.

Tsk tsk, don’t make your life too good.

"Qiao Er, what are you thinking about?"

Gu Feng looked at his husband and his mind wandered again.

Qiao Yu leaned close to him and whispered her plan.

Gu Feng nodded.

"After the lotus roots are dug, I'll ask someone to dig out the lotus pond. But loaches are hard to find in this weather."

Qiao Yu waved her hands quickly: "Don't worry, don't worry, we can wait until spring to catch loaches."