Chapter 666 Grain Rain
After the rice seeds have been soaked for two full days, the water can be filtered and sprinkled on the rice banks.
In previous years, it would have taken Zhang An’s family a whole day to plant so many rice seeds.
But this year there is no need, because Zhang An’s aunts not only come to help when plowing the fields, but also when planting rice seeds.
In the village, sowing rice and raising seedlings are mostly done by women because it is a delicate job.
So Wang Fang and his sisters-in-law only took half a day to finish all the work of raising the seedlings.
It takes about ten days and a half for these rice seeds to grow into seedlings that can be transplanted for the first time.
During this period, what farmers need to do is to copy the rice fields where they have been moved.
There are actually some differences between a rice field and a main field. In an average farmer's home, they plant and harvest twice a year, and the time is allocated appropriately.
But the rice fields are different. Because the seedlings need to be transplanted in advance to prepare for subsequent transplanting in the main field, farmers do not plant crops such as winter rapeseed in the rice fields every winter. It is mostly used as a vegetable plot for several months.
In this way, when spring needs to be transplanted in April or May, the vegetables in the rice field will be finished and there will be no waste.
Zhang An’s family used to have a rice field, but it disappeared later.
Because when their paddy fields were exchanged a few years ago, both their main fields and rice fields were given to others.
But for their family, it doesn’t matter whether there is a rice field or not.
Because their family has sown a lot of rice seeds every year over the years, the rice field that needs to be transplanted cannot be too small.
Even if the two-cent-sized rice field they used to have is still there, it is not enough, so they can only use regular rice fields instead.
But now, after their family exchanged farmland with other families, all the acres of land are now at their doorstep.
Even if part of it is used as a rice field for transplanting seedlings for the first time, it will be much better than the old rice field before.
After all, the fields are now at the doorstep, and irrigation, farming, and travel are much more convenient than before.
Although all their fields have been used to grow garlic and it is not yet time to harvest the garlic, this is not a problem at all.
Because last winter, before the Chinese New Year, their family had already pulled out nearly an acre of garlic seedlings for Ding Yi to take over and sell.
In this way, not only did we get the highest price for garlic seedlings, but we also made preparations for transplanting the seedlings in spring this year.
So, now there is an acre of vacant land in front of their house that can be used.
However, although the field was freed up, he did not put water in it and plow it without thinking.
Zhang An is not a very hard-working person, and he doesn’t want to get busy now.
Because there are still ten days and a half before the seedlings grow. This period of time is not long, but it is not short either.
If he puts water into the field now and plows the rice field in advance, he will have to put water in it frequently for so many days.
Once the paddy field is cultivated with water, it must always be maintained with water.
If not, if the water in the field is allowed to dry up, even if it does not dry up enough to cause cracks, the paddy field will no longer retain water for a long time.
For farmers, whether paddy fields can retain water is a very critical issue.
Because in a field that retains water, as long as it is not an extremely dry weather, if a field is filled with water, it can be left alone for ten days and a half.
On the contrary, if the paddy field does not contain water, then you will definitely have to run towards the field every two days.
Although watering paddy fields does not sound like a very difficult task, only those who have planted fields know that it is not an easy task.
Because there are not just one or two people who go out to release water every day, but many people together.
There is only so much water in the ditch. Once more people release water, they will inevitably compete with each other for water.
Every year, there are not a few disputes over water.
And this is the situation when society is getting better now. If it were placed more than ten years ago, there would have been many fights due to water leakage.
Even in serious cases, it can lead to group fights between villages.
Although this kind of thing has disappeared in recent years, Zhang An still remembers it clearly in his mind.
That's it, under good weather conditions, there is water in the river. Although there are many people releasing the water, as long as you are willing to spend time, you can release it.
But if God doesn’t show mercy and the sun shines brightly every day without rain, there will be no water in the ditches and there are many dry paddy fields, then that will be the most helpless time.
So releasing water is actually not an easy task. Take Changqing Village as an example. Although it is right on the edge of a river and is not a place that is short of water, Zhang An often sees people in the village working late at night. Still in the fields.
After the rice seeds were sown, the aunts of Zhang An’s family also went back to pick up this year’s rice seeds.
But every morning, without Wang Fang needing to speak, they would still come over to sprinkle water on Zhang An’s rice bank and lift off the film to dissipate heat.
In this way, time passes day by day, and the Grain Rain solar term is coming soon.
Although summer is the rainy season, there are actually two days when the water really rises.
One is Guyu and the other is Dragon Boat Festival.
When Grain Rain arrives, it will start to rain. Although it is not much, it is more than the previous spring rain, which was as expensive as oil.
When it comes to the Dragon Boat Festival, God is no longer making trouble. From time to time, there will be a downpour. Normally, such days will last about a month.
So old people often say that in a year, rain starts on the fifth day of May and ends on the sixth day of June.
However, what really makes the rainy season come is not the intensity of the rain during this period, because no matter how heavy the rain is, it will end.
Their real function is to collect rainwater to the ground, thus triggering water sources hidden underground.
Once these mountain springs are triggered, even if it doesn't rain for a long time, they will continue to flow out until the dry season in winter.
Farmers plant rice in summer for this reason.
The arrival of Grain Rain means that it is the season of sowing.
Because the crops in the field have not been harvested yet, this sowing refers to rice seedlings. As for corn and other crops, they have to wait until after the summer harvest.
When Zhang An woke up in the morning, it was raining lightly in the sky, not too heavy, but not too small either. A shallow layer of rain had already accumulated in the empty field of Zhang An's house.
After breakfast, Zhang An put on his raincoat and went to the upper reaches of the river to drain the river water into the fields.
After so many days, the rice seeds sown by their family have grown into seedlings nearly one foot tall.
In two or three days, it will be time to transplant, so Zhang An can no longer be lazy and must plow out the rice fields quickly.
Although the seedlings on the seedling bank are already alive, there is no need to water them every day. It is okay to transplant them later.
But Zhang An doesn’t plan to wait any longer, because the bigger the seedlings are, the better they will be transplanted.
On the contrary, now is the best time for transplanting for the first time. If it is later, it will not be conducive to their establishment of roots.
When Zhang An put the water over, Zhang Jianguo had already dug a ridge in the field with a hoe. Because this field is very large, most of it is planted with garlic.
Although garlic is not as afraid of water as ginger, the harvest time is still more than half a month away, so they must not be allowed to get flooded.
When the fields were flooded, Zhang An went home and took out Dahei, then went to the fields with the rake
This time he did not bring Taxue and Xiaohei because they There is only a small acre of land, and Dahei, the head of the family, is enough.
"Xiao An, take this and put it on our horse to prevent it from catching a cold."
As soon as Zhang An led the horse to leave, Wang Fang took a large plastic Boo came to the door.
In Wang Fang's eyes, Dahei is the most precious animal in the family.
The rain in this season is still very cold, and she is worried that her horse will get sick because of the rain.
That’s why I took out such a large plastic sheet and asked Zhang An to put it on Dahei to act as a raincoat.
“Okay, I understand, I’ll put it on after setting up the plow in the field.”
In fact, Zhang An knew in his heart that this little rain was not a big deal to Dahei. What.
But he knew that if he didn't agree to his mother's request, he might be nagging him for a long time, so he still obeyed.
"You should put it on now, otherwise it won't get wet. Just wait until the plow is set up in the field and untie it."
But Wang Fang didn't Let Zhang An go. In her opinion, it was just a matter of draping a plastic sheet on the horse and tying a knot. It was not that troublesome. Why wait until the fields to do it.
At this moment, Wang Fang had the intention of doing it by herself unless Zhang An put a plastic sheet over Dahei.
So in order to prevent his mother from coming out of the yard in the rain again, Zhang An chose to obey his orders.
When they came to the field, they had just set up the plow, and Dahei couldn't wait to pull the plow and start moving, and it slowly turned into a trot.
It doesn't matter if it runs away, but there is so much water in the field, and because of its four restless hooves, the water droplets splashed by it.
Not only was its own legs and body covered in mud, but even Zhang An, who was following behind, was not spared.
Although he had a raincoat to protect him from getting all over his body, there was nothing covering his face, and he was immediately kicked in the face by Dahei's hind hooves.
"You beast, if you are restless, don't blame me for whipping you."
Zhang An freed his hand, wiped the mud on his face, and said viciously .
He didn’t know that this was Dahei taking the opportunity to have fun.
Sure enough, when Zhang An shouted, the big black horse that was still trotting immediately slowed down and plowed the fields in an orderly manner.
In this family, what it fears most is Zhang An.
Because it knows that its owner will definitely take care of it if he says he wants to take care of it.
When he first came to this home, his temper was much more explosive than now.
But after being beaten several times by Zhang An, it was immediately surrendered, and it still had some psychological shadow.
Moreover, what it fears in its heart is not only that it will receive a beating, but what it fears most is that its master, Zhang An, will cut off its space spring.
You must know how powerless it feels to just watch when other neighbors in the same circle are enjoying the delicious space spring water.
After Dahei settled down, farming became a lot easier.
Zhang An can use his strength to adjust the plow opening so that the soil plowed up will be deeper each time.
If you want paddy fields to retain water better, they need to be plowed a little deeper.
In this way, when the soil foams into silt, it can effectively prevent the penetration of field water, thus achieving the effect of water retention.
Of course, you can’t plow too deeply.
Because this is only the first time of transplanting, the seedlings are only about one stick high. The paddy field is plowed too deep, and the end of the seedlings cannot be seen when they are inserted.
"Hey, Zhang An, your family is already plowing the rice fields."
When Zhang An was directing Dahei to plow the fields, Zhang Jianwen shouted from the edge of the field.
Although everyone has to plow the rice fields after Guyu, other families usually do it a few days later.
Because their rice seeds have just been sown not long ago, there is no need to be in such a hurry.
“It’s raining, so I’ll plan ahead beforehand. My rice seedlings will be ready for transplanting in the next two days. If we wait any longer, it will be too late.”
Zhang An was shaking. Holding the reins, he signaled Dahei to turn around, while talking to Zhang Jianwen.
“Your family rushes so early every year. Not long after my seedlings sprouted on the bank, yours already has several leaves.”
Zhang An’s seedlings are scattered on the bank. Although there is a rice film covering the road under the road, Zhang Jianwen can still see the general situation inside as long as he passes by.
“Hey, if you plant it earlier, you can take it back earlier.”
In the past, everyone in the village would sow rice seeds a few days before Grain Rain.
But since Zhang An's family switched to blood rice, they have started raising seedlings a little earlier. Basically, they start raising seedlings just after the Qingming Festival every year.
This is because blood rice is essentially a late-maturing variety, and its growth period is longer than other rice varieties.
Even after passing the space screening and soaking in space spring water, it was not too early.
So planting early is equivalent to shortening the harvest time.
In addition, the autumn sun is worse every day.
The sooner you plant it, the sooner it can be harvested, and the sooner it can be dried and stored in the warehouse.
And in the past, every family in the village would dry their rice on the drying ground. If you took the rice back one day earlier, you would be able to occupy a space before others. If you harvested late, you would have to wait for others to dry it. Only then can it be your turn.
The one-acre field is not very big, so it is very easy for Dahei. He has plowed it back and forth twice in the morning.
When he came back from dinner in the afternoon, Zhang An once again led Dahei to continue plowing, trying to smash the plowed mud.
Zhang Jianguo was not idle either. He brought a pumping board from home and pumped the field ridges to prevent field water from leaking through the field ridges.
Although plowed paddy fields can be transplanted directly, if conditions permit, it is best to leave them for two days.
Two days later, Zhang An led Dahei to plow again, and their family began to transplant rice.
This year their field is very lively, because there are so many people planting rice seedlings, and Zhang An’s uncles and aunts all came here. It feels like there is almost no room for people to stand in the field.
(End of this chapter)