boyutpedia Chapter 109 Composting
Chapter 109 Composting
The three of them, grandfather, grandmother, and grandson, went to the market and happened to find some fresh fish that had just been brought up from the reservoir.
The fish lay on the ground, some as long as a forearm, others a meter long, which made Hua Antao's eyes light up.
"Grandpa, Pear, Uncle Hua just helped us. Let's buy a big fish to thank them."
And there's also Grandpa, Auntie, Uncle Village Chief, one for each family?
"to make!"
They live far from water, so it's rare to come across such large, fresh fish. They absolutely had to buy some to take home and eat.
After buying the fish, I went to the pork stall and bought a few pounds of pork. I also saw some pork bones next to it and bought a few of them.
Suddenly, a fragrant aroma wafted over.
Hua Lichu grabbed Hua Yuansheng's arm: "Grandpa, roast duck!"
Just a hundred meters ahead, in a transparent steamer, hung a dozen or so rosy-colored ducks with special hooks.
On this special day, the three generations of the family wanted to celebrate.
Seeing Hua Lichu's mouth watering, Hua Yuansheng waved his hand and said, "Buy it!"
After a shopping spree, the three generations of the family delivered the fish to Hua Zhigang's house and then drove the oxcart back to the village.
From afar, we could see Hua Yuanqing craning his neck to look in our direction.
"How did it go? Was it done?"
Hua Yuansheng nodded: "It's done. Come on up, let's go home together."
"okay!"
As soon as he got into the car, Hua Yuanqing sniffed and followed the smell.
Oh wow, there are four big fish on the oxcart!
Hearing that it was bought at the city's vegetable market, Hua Yuanqing exclaimed happily, "What great luck!"
It had been a long time since he last ate fish. Just thinking about the delicious taste of the fish made Hua Yuanqing swallow hard.
When they got home, everyone who saw the big fish exclaimed in surprise.
Hua Yuansheng invited everyone to his house for lunch, and then, carrying fish and his two granddaughters, went to deliver the fish to Hua Anyan's house.
After returning home, the family busied themselves preparing lunch.
Those with good cooking skills are busy in the kitchen.
As soon as Hua Antao and her sister entered the kitchen, they were chased out by Yan Moli and Hua Heqiu:
"Go away, little kid, go out and play. If you really can't stay still, help me peel the garlic."
Hua Antao brought a bag of garlic to the main room. Hua Yuanqing, who was sitting and smoking welding fumes, put away his pipe and came over to help.
Hua Antao was peeling garlic when she noticed that Hua Yuanqing was frowning and looked worried. She asked curiously, "Grandpa, what's wrong?"
"Sigh, winter wheat is about to be planted, but fertilizer is hard to get. I've gone several times, but I haven't been able to get any."
"If we use only manure, we don't have that much manure. If the soil isn't fertile, how can the seedlings grow well?" Hua Yuanqing complained.
He then slapped his forehead and laughed, "Look at me, why am I telling you this?"
Upon hearing this, Hua Yuansheng frowned: "The fields are lacking fertilizer? We can't buy fertilizer? What are we going to do?"
What do farmers fear most? A year of hard work yielding little reward.
"Isn't that what I'm worrying about right here..."
A thought flashed through Hua Antao's mind quickly, and she tentatively asked:
"Grandpa, I know a way to compost."
However, I only read about it in a book; I haven't tried it myself, so I can't guarantee its effectiveness.
"Do you know a composting recipe? Peach, the land is a big deal, are you sure?" Hua Yuansheng asked anxiously.
Hua Yuanqing nudged his younger brother: "What's the rush?"
Turning to Hua Antao, he asked, "Taozi, tell me about that method?"
Hua Antao said, "It's actually just feces plus slaked lime."
It's a very simple chemical principle: when lime powder comes into contact with water, it produces slaked lime, which can kill bacteria in feces.
Meanwhile, dig a pit and heat the compostable materials such as manure. Once heated and concentrated, add slaked lime in a certain proportion.
Hua Yuanqing didn't understand the terms "gray" and "bacteria," but he understood the prescription: it was just adding some water to the feces.
Taozi is a scholar, so if she speaks so eloquently, she must be right.
He slapped his thigh and said, "Tell me how to do it, and I'll take care of it!"
"Don't worry, even if it doesn't work, even if it ruins the crops, I won't blame you."
That's what he said, but he felt that adding manure to water could never damage the seedlings; at most, it would have no effect.
Since we don't have any fertilizer, we might as well try the recipe Peach suggested.
Hua Yuansheng looked at Hua Yuanqing and said, "Let's try my family's 10 mu of land."
He owned 10 mu of paddy fields, which he leased to Hua Yuanqing because he was going to the city to accompany his child to school.
No rent is required; just give him 3% of the harvest.
If the recipe for peaches damaged the seedlings in their own fields, the losses for Hua Yuanqing's family would be within a manageable range.
Hua Yuanqing refused, angrily saying, "Do you not trust Taozi or me? What is without risk? If you're going to do it, just do it all."
He still had a lot of surplus grain at home, about 10 to 15 mu of winter wheat, which he could afford to gamble on!
It's a good thing that children are willing to use their brains. If adults are afraid of this and that, wouldn't that hurt the child's feelings?
At this point, Hua Yuanqing lost interest in sitting there peeling garlic and pulled Hua Antao and Hua Anshan to the outhouse.
Hua Lichu gave her older sister a thumbs up: "Go for it!"
It's kind of funny when you think about it.
At that time, outhouses were basically built in the courtyard.
Even if it's not in the yard, it's right next to the house.
In short, we must ensure that no one can steal the manure from the house.
Yes, someone is stealing manure!
There's no other way; most people these days make a living by farming.
If too many crops are planted in the fields, how can there not be a lack of fertilizer?
What to do if there is a lack of fertilizer? The dumbest way is to pour manure into it.
But what if some families have a lot of land but few people, and they don't have enough manure for their own use?
What else can we do? Steal from other people's houses!
Therefore, in order to prevent their excrement from being stolen, every household would subconsciously build their outhouse in the yard.
It may stink a little, but it's better than having your feces stolen.
Upon arriving at the backyard, Hua Antao said, "We need to dig a hole first, and then start making fertilizer."
Not just human excrement, but also pig, chicken, duck, and goose excrement.
There was also hay, leaves from the mountain, and black soil from beneath the leaves—anything that could decompose… uh, anything that could be absorbed by the soil, we put it all in.
Hua Anshan, holding a hoe, looked at his uncle's manure pit: "Why don't you just dump it into the pit? Or, why don't you come to my house?"
If you dig one less hole, you can start composting sooner.
Of course, fermentation produces gas, and if it comes into contact with a small flame when it's hot, it will explode.
But Hua Yuanqing and his son definitely wouldn't understand what she was saying: "The latrine is too close to the kitchen, and the children often come here. If it comes into contact with an open flame, it will explode."
Upon hearing that there might be an explosion, Hua Anshan quickly shut up.
Hua Yuanqing said irritably, "Just dig the pit when I tell you to, why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Hua Yuanqing didn't let Hua Antao do anything; he and his son started digging, huffing and puffing.
After digging the pit, he thought about how he would need to pour water into it and boil it, so he took something and smashed the pit walls hard, afraid that they wouldn't be sturdy enough and would sink.
With only one day left of the holiday, Hua Antao had to return to school after lunch.
After confirming that Hua Anshan could read, Hua Antao wrote down the detailed steps on a piece of paper and gave it to him.
Tell him to follow the steps.
Hua and Qiu also asked for one.
So, in the following days, the villagers saw Hua Yuanqing's family, from the fifty- or sixty-year-old Hua Yuanqing to the seven- or eight-year-old toddlers, running up the mountain whenever they had free time.
Gathering leaves is out of the question, since those things can start a fire.
But why don't they even leave the mud under the tree?
Hua An Yan was the first to notice this, and upon asking, he learned that it was Hua An Tao who taught him the composting method.
After thinking about it for a moment, he joined the composting team.
Not only Hua Anyan, but also more than a dozen families who made money selling jelly with Hua Lichu during the summer vacation followed suit.
Seeing that he had to compete with others even for mud, Hua Yuanqing was at a loss.
He even went to the city to ask Hua Antao if the villagers would charge for the recipe.
"I won't accept them, but I have to make it clear to them that I won't take responsibility if it's ineffective or has side effects."
Also, the proportions I wrote down for you are approximate estimates.
Tell them to be careful; it's better to be a little diluted than too concentrated, or it will burn the seedlings.