The happy little days of the Ye family

Chapter 234 Busy Autumn Harvest 2

When all the 15 acres of corn in Xiaohoushan were recovered, the three acres of rice and two acres of corn harvested first were finally dried.

Because there was relatively little rain this year, the grain output was reduced by about 3%. A total of 1300 kilograms of rice was harvested from 2 acres of rice, and a total of 1100 kilograms of corn cobs were harvested from the [-] acres of corn at home.

Mr. Ye was very pleased to see the dried rice and corn. "Although the grain production has decreased this year, the situation is not too bad."

“After the autumn harvest, we go up to the mountains to pick more chestnuts and wild sweet potatoes, and in the spring we plant more sweet potatoes on our private plots, so that the people in the village can survive.”

Old Mrs. Ye frowned and sighed, "There was little rain this year. I'm afraid there will be too much rain next year. I don't know how the harvest will be like."

These are the experiences of old farmers who have been farming all their lives. If there is too much rain this year, there is a high probability of drought next year. On the contrary, if there is little rain this year, there will be more heavy rain next year.

This autumn harvest has reduced grain production, and we don’t know what next year’s harvest will be like. Every household in the village is disappointed.

The housewives, who are very budget-minded, are all racking their brains to think of how to get more food.

After harvesting the rice fields, all the scattered rice was picked up cleanly, for fear of missing a grain of rice.

Many families in the village who have already harvested food go up the mountain early every day to pick chestnuts, or look for wild sweet potatoes and yams, food that can satisfy their hunger.

There are many mountains around Taohua Village. The villagers have saved a lot of seeds and plan to secretly grow sweet potatoes, potatoes and pumpkins on the mountains next spring to eat high-yielding foods.

After the grain is ready, it must be stored in the cellar. Father Ye and Mr. Ye will move last year's old rice in the cellar to the outermost part of the cellar, and all last year's corn will be moved to the utility room. These last year's corn will be sold.

The newly collected rice and corn were all neatly placed in the cellar, and the cellar was also replaced with new lime to prevent moisture.

The grain from this autumn harvest, plus the old rice leftover from the summer harvest, can be eaten until the end of next year. Mr. Ye and Father Ye looked at the grain in the cellar, feeling satisfied and proud. At least they would not go hungry next year.

At this time, the cellar was only half filled, and Mr. Ye planned to store the remaining half of the space with corn recovered from Xiaohoushan.

The corn in Xiaohoushan was cultivated in the past two years. The fertility of the land is insufficient, and there is not enough fertilizer for fertilization, so the yield is relatively low.

Mr. Ye estimates that the corn from this acre of land can only yield 300 kilograms of corn cobs, and 15 acres is equivalent to 4500 kilograms of corn cobs.

Mr. Ye plans to keep 2000 kilograms of corn cobs. Combined with the previous grain storage, the family will have enough food for about two years.

Last year's old grain was sold, and the old man planned to keep some of the remaining corn leaves and his son, and use the rest to pay taxes.

After the Ye family's autumn harvest ended, the Tang family began to harvest soybeans from the valley. A total of more than 50 acres of soybeans were planted in the valley, and Tangshan hired 20 people in the village to help harvest the beans.

Autumn harvest is harder than usual odd jobs, so Tangshan offers 25 cents a day's wages, including a lunch.

Many people in the village wanted to earn this salary. As soon as Tangshan released the news, half the village came to the Tang family to look for Tangshan.

Some people even went to the Ye family to ask Mr. Ye and Mrs. Ye for help, but they were rejected by the two. Although they were in-laws, they couldn't tell the Tang family anything.

There were too many people coming to Tangshan, and the father and son had just moved back not long ago. It was hard to offend people in Tangshan, so they couldn't decide who to ask for help with the autumn harvest.

Finally, Mr. Ye gave Tangshan an idea and asked Tangshan to ask the village chief to help recruit people. He also asked the village chief's youngest son Ye Qiushao to be the leader to help collect soybeans.

Mr. Ye goes to the valley to harvest with the Tang family and his son every day, while Mrs. Ye, Mother Ye and Ye Qingqing help make lunch.

At this time, there were not many vegetables in the small vegetable garden. Mrs. Ye and Ye Qingqing went to the small vegetable garden to pick some beans and loofah.

In the kitchen, Ye Mu is cutting dried fish. Ye Mu plans to make two pots of braised rice with cured fish, beans, string potatoes, and a piece of loofah and egg soup for lunch.

This meal can be said to be a relatively luxurious lunch in the village, but the autumn harvest is a laborious job, and if you don't eat well, you don't have the energy to harvest food. Therefore, every summer harvest and autumn harvest are the best times for food in the village.

The Ye family, the Tang family, and the 20 people from the village who were invited to help collect grain, Ye Mu and the other three have to cook for more than 20 people at noon. In order to save trouble, Ye Mu cooks various kinds of stewed rice and rice bowls almost every day.

Braised rice with cured fish, beans and potatoes, braised rice with dried mushrooms and cured chicken, stewed wild rabbit with dried beans and rice, wild rabbit stewed with potatoes and rice, plus an egg and vegetable soup. Villagers who can afford to help with the autumn harvest can't wait to work as long-term workers in the Ye family. .

After the food was ready, the villagers worked even harder. It only took 10 days to recover more than 50 acres of soybeans from the Tang family.