I am a Primitive Man
Chapter 317 – Fermented Compost
The departure of Shu Pi did not affect the inherent life of the Green Sparrow Tribe.
In fact, with Shu Pi as a negative example, the people of the Green Sparrow Tribe became even more supportive and appreciative of the tribe.
After harvesting the rapeseed, there was one more round to go, but Han Cheng was not in a hurry to have someone turn over the rapeseed field after harvesting.
Many rapeseed seeds fell to the ground this year, and their dormancy period is very short. By now, some small rapeseed plants have already emerged from the ground.
These newly emerged rapeseed plants are challenging to flower and fruit, but they are still suitable for cooking.
The new house in the courtyard has had its foundation laid, and the stone walls have risen more than a meter above the ground.
From now on, the rammed earth construction method will be used to build the walls.
Just as everyone was eager to level the earth’s walls, they were stopped by the Divine Child.
Under Han Cheng’s guidance, everyone began to carry soil in from outside, dumping it into the already outlined rooms.
This layer of soil was very necessary to elevate the terrain in the rooms, making them less susceptible to moisture.
The millet is growing well, with lush green seedlings, but the grass in the field is a bit too much.
At this time, without hoes, let alone pesticides, all that can be done is to pull by hand or squat in the field with a bone shovel or small stone shovel tied to a wooden handle.
The bone and stone shovels should not be too broad, as they could easily damage the seedlings.
Not to mention that the Green Sparrow Tribe doesn’t have hoes. At this time, even if there were hoes, they wouldn’t be of much use.
It’s not that hoes are useless, but the planting method of millet in the Green Sparrow Tribe is not conducive to weeding with hoes.
Except for a very small part of the millet planted in furrows, the rest is sown.
The seedlings are scattered, and the hoes are too big. At this time, weeding with hands or small bone shovels is more convenient and safe than using hoes.
Not using furrows for all the planting is also because using a bone shovel to open furrows on the cultivated land and then sowing seeds by hand along the furrows is too troublesome.
So, except for the very beginning, the rest is all sown.
It’s convenient to plant this way but troublesome to manage.
Oxcarts and hoes, these two things also need to be brought out as soon as possible.
At this time, it’s okay to plant less land in the Green Sparrow Tribe. It’s busy, but if planting continues like this, some farmland will become fallow when the area for cultivation increases significantly next year.
Thinking about this, Han Cheng wrote down two things on the pottery board.
These two things need to be addressed as soon as possible, at least so that the planting of millet next year does not get delayed.
The grass pulled from the fields was not wasted. It was piled up in heaps among the seedlings, and after a day’s work, someone would collect these weeds back.
Some clean and good grass is used to feed rabbits and chickens, while the rest is piled up in a large pit near the tribe and the fields.
This pit was dug out when soil was excavated for building houses, and it has not yet been fully formed.
The weeds are piled up at the north end of the pit, while the south end still provides soil for the people of the tribe.
Shaman once asked Han Cheng about this matter. In his opinion, it would be great to use these dried weeds to light a fire. Now, they are all piled up in the pit, which is somewhat wasteful.
Fermented fertilizer?
The shaman pondered the new term he learned from the Divine Child.
With so much grass, what’s the difference between burning it and then spreading it on the ground and soaking it in water to make fertilizer? This seems even more troublesome.
With Han Cheng, a transmigrator, in the tribe, the starting point for farming in the Green Sparrow Tribe is very high.
Instead of starting from slash-and-burn agriculture and gradually gaining experience through years of trial and error to achieve meticulous farming, they aim to achieve as much as possible with limited conditions.
Many people in the Green Sparrow Tribe, including Shaman, have never seen what crops look like without fertilization. Therefore, they are somewhat skeptical of Han Cheng’s assertion of the importance of crop fertilization.
It’s not that they don’t trust Han Cheng; otherwise, they would all follow his instructions. It’s a common problem for most people to believe what they see and doubt what they hear.
After thinking it over, Shaman came to find Han Cheng and expressed his thoughts.
His idea is simple: He wants to leave a piece of land without fertilization until next year’s planting season and compare it with the surrounding crops.
Understanding Shaman’s meaning, Han Cheng secretly smiled and readily agreed to Shaman’s idea.
As a person from a later era, Han Cheng knows best whether land needs fertilization.
Without fertilizers and superior varieties, the astonishing yields of later generations would be impossible to achieve.
Leaving a piece of land for comparison is a good idea. This can help Shaman and others understand the importance of fertilizing the land more deeply and improve their future planting.
Whether Han Cheng agrees to leave some land for comparison or not doesn’t matter much because by next year, the land in the Green Sparrow Tribe will experience explosive growth, and it will be unrealistic to cultivate every piece of land meticulously.
The accumulated fertilizer can only cover a part of the land.
One thing that Shu Pi, who was exiled, did not say wrong is that the Second Senior Brother now loves to take naps.
Sometimes, he can even doze off while talking to people.
Once it gets dark, he lies down on the bed and falls asleep, not waking up much throughout the night, and his spouse doesn’t touch him much either.
Sometimes, when his spouse can’t help but listen to the primitive tunes coming from next door, the Second Senior Brother sits at the head of the heated bed, leaning against it without moving, letting his spouse do as they please.
Not only that, the food isn’t as tasty as before.
The Second Senior Brother has always loved to nap, and this matter didn’t attract much attention from the others.
Han Cheng was busy figuring out how to get the hoes.
Getting hoes is vital, as they can be used to weed the fields and cultivate new land.
Compared to bone shovels, hoes have more significant advantages in land cultivation.
He noticed something about the Second Senior Brother’s situation but didn’t pay much attention to it.
They say one gets drowsy in spring, lethargic in autumn, naps in summer, and sleepy in winter. Who doesn’t experience fatigue and loss of appetite from time to time?
This situation persisted almost a month before Han Cheng realized something was amiss.
After such a long time, the Second Senior Brother not only didn’t get enough naps but also became increasingly lethargic, looking somewhat dizzy and unable to wake up.
And the most important thing is that he looks much thinner, with a yellowish complexion and little blood color.
Even his favorite slingshot didn’t arouse much interest in him anymore.