I relied on a system to prolong my life in ancient times.

Chapter 57 Planting Potatoes

As time slowly passed, February arrived, and the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year gradually faded away.

Spring has quietly arrived. As temperatures gradually rise, the earth sheds the chill of winter and welcomes a warm and pleasant season.

At this time, the villagers got busy and began their annual spring plowing.

The Xiao family was no exception; the whole family devoted themselves to working in the fields, with only Xiao Siyue staying at home.

That day, Xiao Siyue sat alone in her room, quietly reading books and practicing calligraphy.

Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the table and her focused face. Suddenly, she realized that only a few days remained until the imperial examination, and a wave of worry and longing for her father washed over her.

Xiao Siyue put down her pen and looked out the window, as if she could see the distant scenery.

She knew that her father must be preparing for the exam at this moment, but she believed that Xiao Qinian would definitely achieve good results, especially with Grandpa Shen's guidance.

He had originally planned to go to the capital with Xiao Qinian to see the sights, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.

The main reason is that she is still young, and her family is worried about her going. Also, she has a lot of things to do.

Her father passed away on the eighth day of the first lunar month, and she was busy making soy sauce those two days.

What should we do next?

potato

Yes, the potatoes are still in the cellar.

When they returned from the prefectural city, Xiao Qinian told his grandfather that he had bought some fresh potato seeds from a merchant from out of town and planned to try planting them.

Grandpa thought it was worth a try, so he put it in the cellar.

Xiao Siyue plans to start planting potatoes after the Qingming Festival.

After the potatoes are planted, we will plant chili peppers. We had already discussed this with my family and reserved the land for it.

The chili peppers had already started to be planted a few days ago. Fearing that the seedlings would freeze to death, Grandpa Xiao even built a straw shed in their backyard. They can be transplanted in a little over a month.

Xiao Siyue plans to plant it in the lower-grade fields of the Xiao family. The yield may be slightly lower, but not too much, mainly because the seeds are produced by the system and are of good quality. After two years, it will be transplanted to better fields.

We don't have enough potato seeds, so we estimate we can only plant about half an acre. We'll plant them in fertile fields for a higher yield, and then other villagers can plant them next year.

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After the Qingming Festival, Xiao Siyue thought about mentioning it to her grandfather and started planting potatoes. Although she had already mentioned it before, she was afraid that Grandpa Xiao would forget.

“Grandpa, the potato seeds we brought back from the city can be planted now,” Xiao Siyue said to Grandpa Xiao, who was in the workshop. After the New Year, the toy workshop started operating normally again, and Grandpa Xiao would often come over to visit.

"Yes, your father said before he left that it's indeed time to plant it. Let's go back now." Old Master Xiao also remembered what Xiao Qinian had told him before he left.

After the two returned, Grandpa Xiao took the potatoes out of the cellar and poured them into the yard.

"Yue'er, your father said that potatoes should be cut into chunks before planting." Grandpa Xiao held a potato, somewhat at a loss. How big should the chunks be? His son hadn't said.

"Grandpa, just cut them directly, make sure every piece has a sprout." The potatoes have been in the cellar for a long time and have already sprouted. Moreover, the potatoes produced by the system are not only large, but each one also has many sprouts, so we can cut more seeds.

Grandpa Xiao called on his wife and the others to chop together, and they finished chopping 100 jin of seeds in less than 15 minutes.

"Grandpa, mixing wood ash into the seeds will improve the yield," Xiao Siyue said. Wood ash can disinfect potatoes to prevent rotting and also promote seedling growth.

“Okay,” Old Master Xiao replied.

After mixing in all the wood ash, the group loaded it into baskets and headed towards the Xiao family's field.

They ran into the village chief before they even reached the fields.

"Dayong, where are you going?" the village chief asked, puzzled. She remembered that the Xiao family's land had already been planted.

Grandpa Xiao put down his basket and said, "Qinian got some fresh seeds from the prefectural city a while ago, and we plan to plant them and give it a try."

The village chief, intrigued, looked into the basket and said, "This is it."

"Yes, they say it's called potato."

The village chief took one and looked at it; it was all cut into small pieces.

“These have all been cut into pieces; one potato will be cut into about ten pieces,” said Grandpa Xiao.

Upon hearing this, the village chief thought to himself, "If that's the case, how big must a single potato be? I wonder what the yield would be."

"Do you know how much these potatoes are produced? And how should they be eaten?" The village chief asked, still thinking about it.

"As for how to eat it, we've never tried it either. It's all for the purpose of breeding. But they say it can be boiled or steamed, and it's filling too." Old Master Xiao himself didn't know either; it was Xiao Qinian who told him. Xiao Siyue was quietly doing the work.

"Really?" The village chief was surprised. Wouldn't that mean they could have another type of food in the future?

"It's true. As for the yield, they say it's 3000 jin per mu, but we've never planted it before. We'll only know after the harvest in the second half of the year." When Grandpa Xiao first heard about the yield, he was shocked and couldn't wait to plant it.

The village chief was startled, but he didn't believe it. He thought the person selling the seeds was probably exaggerating. However, he figured the yield shouldn't be too low, so he decided to go and see for himself. If it was true, then the villagers wouldn't go hungry anymore.

“Come on, come on, I’ll go with you,” the village chief said, pulling Old Master Xiao toward the field.

"Slow down," Old Master Xiao said speechlessly; he was still carrying potatoes on his back.

The land that was reserved had already been cultivated, and now it can be planted directly.

“Grandpa, just plant one patch every other step.” Xiao Siyue said, taking a step that was about forty centimeters long.

They then divided the work: one dug the hole, one placed the seed, and one covered it with soil. The planting was completed in half an hour.

"That's good," Grandpa Xiao said, asking Xiao Siyue, who was standing next to him, after he finished planting.

"Alright, Grandpa, when the potato seedlings grow, just pull out the weeds, and then you can train the vines after they grow taller." Potatoes have a high survival rate and are easy to grow, but the vines will grow wildly, and if you don't train them, the potatoes won't grow big.

"Okay, that's good. I'll come over and visit when I have some free time."

After another half month, the Xiao family began transplanting chili seedlings. Because the chili seedlings had a high survival rate, the Xiao family planted a total of five acres of land before they finished planting all the chili seedlings. During this time, they ran into the village chief, and Grandpa Xiao gave the village chief a few chili seedlings to plant in his vegetable garden.

Fortunately, it rained lightly the day after they planted the plants, so they didn't have to water them anymore. Before that, Xiao Siyue was worried about how to water them, as five acres of land is a huge project.

But now things are much better, saving them a lot of trouble.