Chapter 8: Astragalus Sinicus

Chapter 8: Chinese Milk Vetch

Song Sancheng frowned: "Are you planning to plant rice on all those dozens of mu of land?"

Otherwise, there would be no reason to need so much Chinese milk vetch for fertilizer—dozens of jin? A single mu of land only requires five or six jin of seeds.

It was currently the end of February, and everyone was still wearing down jackets and thick cotton coats. Once March passed, the temperature would rise quickly. As long as there was no late spring frost and the temperature difference between day and night wasn't too extreme, most crops could be planted.

If they planted Chinese milk vetch, they wouldn't be able to till the soil again to plant other things until at least late April or May... That would be fine; it wouldn't delay other crops.

According to Song Sancheng’s farming experience, May was the most suitable time for planting in the countryside. Every year in March and April, there was a late spring frost, and the large temperature difference between day and night would freeze the seeds to death, making it unsuitable.

It was just that he felt uneasy about spending so much money and wasting time right from the start.

Song Tan, however, had thought about it for a long time the night before and remained calm: "We'll plant rice in the two lowest fields for our own consumption."

Those two fields added up to three or four mu. With current rice yields, that was enough for the family to eat, with some left over to give to friends and relatives.

Song Tan didn't consider planting any more than that; rice farming was hard work, so she wouldn't overdo it.

She could also try raising fish in the rice paddies.

"I'll plant Chinese milk vetch in the other fields first to enrich the soil, and then I'll plant vegetables once it gets warmer."

Song Sancheng didn't object to this: "Planting vegetables is good. Vegetables are easy to sell. When the time comes, you can just ride the tricycle to the street and sell them." The costs were low, the harvest was fast, and it was easier than growing rice.

Song Tan smiled: "Yes, that's what I'm planning." Not really. How many people were there in town?

If she was going to sell, she would go to the city.

Actually, when Song Tan recalled her work last night, she had a different idea—people nowadays loved watching pastoral videos; they were stress-relieving and peaceful. But with so many rural areas out there, how could she quickly grab people's attention?

It had to be either beautiful or unique.

Her hometown, Yunqiao Village, was truly unremarkable.

Because of this, she had to put her effort into "beauty."

Chinese milk vetch had a short growth cycle, was hardy and easy to grow, and bloomed beautifully. When the time came, she would film a video, and her first big hit would rely on the sprawling fields of Chinese milk vetch to attract traffic.

Otherwise, with so many people growing crops and vegetables, when would she ever stand out as a premium producer?

...

At the end of February, there weren't many people at the agricultural supply store. When Song Tan asked for 70 jin of Chinese milk vetch seeds, the owner was quite surprised

"How much land are you planting? Five jin of raw seeds is enough for one mu, but these treated seeds require ten jin. The price is the same, 10 yuan per jin."

Raw seeds were native seeds that hadn't been processed.

Treated seeds were coated with pesticides and fungicides to improve resistance.

Song Tan thought to herself that she couldn't have spent over a hundred years cultivating spiritual plants for nothing; she still had ways to repel insects, so she made a decisive choice

"I want the raw seeds!"

In addition to the Chinese milk vetch, she needed to buy all the other seeds, such as vegetable seeds—from bok choy, which had the shortest growth cycle, to peppers, eggplants, and cucumbers that required seedling cultivation... she had to buy them all.

The seeds sold locally might not be as comprehensive as those online, but for a beginner, they had the best adaptability. By the time Song Tan finished buying everything, over a thousand yuan had been spent, and Song Sancheng’s heart was twitching.

And Song Tan was still asking!

"Do you have rice seeds? I want something with a good texture."

The owner looked around: "I do. This 'Changli Xiang' (Long-Grain Fragrant) has an incredible texture; you can't even buy it for ten yuan a jin. The only thing is the yield is low, only about 800 to 1,000 jin per mu."

Song Tan couldn't help but sigh—technology is productivity!

In the cultivation world, those spiritual grains without hybrid optimization only yielded 500 or 600 jin per mu, even after she exhausted her spiritual energy.

"How much is it?"

The owner didn't hesitate: "These seeds are expensive, 80 yuan per jin, and you need two jin per mu."

Eight jin of seeds for four mu of land—how expensive could it be? Thinking of fragrant, pure rice, Song Tan’s mouth began to water

"I'll take it!"

...

Two thousand yuan had been spent on seeds alone. Song Sancheng took a puff of his cigarette and said earnestly

"Tantan, buy things slowly, there's no rush. Tilling the land will be expensive later, you need to have plenty of money ready."

The tractor needed different plows for different depths, and if they bought them, they would have to be purchased separately. They were renting, so they didn't have that worry.

But their fields hadn't been plowed for years; they would have to hire people to clear the weeds and wild trees, which would cost at least 150 yuan per person per day. For seven fields, it would take about ten people to finish in a day—that was another 2,000 yuan gone.

If they didn't hire people, it would delay their schedule and affect their planting.

Then they would have to burn the fields before they could plow. After turning and drying the soil for two days, they could plant.

Even with machine work, the fields here could only be deep-plowed at a rate of about five mu per day. Fifteen mu would take three days, costing 1,500 yuan.

There were still fertilizers and pesticides later... Every time Song Sancheng thought about the money being spent, he felt his daughter was spending way too much!

"If you plant so many vegetables, don't you need to build a greenhouse for the seedlings? Didn't you say you were going to hire people to dig up the mountain? What are you planning to do on the mountain?"

When he put it that way, Song Tan felt a bit numb too.

Before they had even started, ten thousand yuan had already been earmarked.

Song Tan made a prompt decision: "Dad, let's not dig up the mountain for now. I plan to grow black fungus and white fungus on the mountain. I'll just use the oak trees on our mountain to inoculate the spawn, so we won't need to clear anything."

They had many oak trees locally, also known as "mali" trees. This wood was sturdy and burned for a long time; it was what Song Tan’s family used for their fireplace.

Of course, it was also excellent material for growing black and white fungus.

It was just that nowadays, everyone used pre-made spawn bags, and this traditional method hadn't been seen for many years. Consequently, the price of tree-grown fungi had risen.

Song Tan vaguely remembered that when she was a child, her family had grown black and white fungus exactly like that.

In the end, every household grew them, but the promised buyers didn't show up, and they could only dry them and store them at home, eating them for several years.

Song Sancheng was stunned.

—Growing black and white fungus?

Wouldn't they have to cut down trees and process the logs? They would have to cut down logs of the right thickness, drill holes in them one by one, and then pack in the spawn...

Because it took up space and had a low yield, it had been slowly phased out by spawn bags. But what Tantan said made sense; nowadays, people just wanted pure, natural, and pollution-free products. Spawn bags, regardless of whether they were actually polluted or not, just lacked the flavor of those grown on trees.

Song Sancheng sighed.

But then he thought—forget it, there were plenty of oak trees anyway, crowded all over the hills, so cutting some down was fine.

It was much better than spending money outside.

Spend it, spend it! Once the money was gone, he wouldn't have to worry about it!

He said sullenly: "I'll go ask about the spawn."

Seeing her father like this, Song Tan felt a bit guilty herself—because she had also bought a computer and several accessories online last night to ensure efficient editing later, which cost 8,000 yuan.

But, the money was already spent.

Song Tan struck while the iron was hot: "Dad, clean up the pigsty by the door. Let's raise three or four pigs this year."

If the vegetables were good, the meat had to keep up!

Song Sancheng almost jumped up: "You have so much work, do you want to exhaust me and your mom to death!"

Thinking about how expensive pork was now, he was actually quite tempted, so his expression softened

"We can't build a pigsty at our door now. The village says it affects the aesthetics; even the firewood sheds have to be tidied up."

...

...

...

[Regarding cutting down trees: There are many hills in the countryside, and every household has them. The unspoken rule is that if you cut them, you must replant them, so there is no need to worry about them being cleared out.]

[Regarding growing fungi in the forest: There is scientific guidance for this, so it's stable. The log-grown white fungus we eat now is grown this way; it's just that in this setting, there are no specific "duanmu" (logs), so using local trees is the same.]

[Regarding plant pictures: I didn't include them as Easter eggs because I was afraid you'd find it troublesome. If you have pictures later, feel free to post them in the chapter comments. Those interested can click to see them, and those who aren't don't have to; it won't affect your reading.]

[If you have any other questions, feel free to ask in the comments section. I will provide explanations like this for anything I can answer. During the free period, I'll put them in the chapters; later on, I'll try to put them in the author's notes so they don't take up word count.]

(End of chapter)