sbdcsierra Chapter 113 Taking Salt Again
Chapter 113 Taking Salt Again
Several orcs, wielding hoes, earnestly imitated Lin Baiyan's methods of cultivating the land.
It took them three days to turn over just these dozen or so acres of land, but that was already quite fast, thanks to the fact that the beastmen were much stronger than humans. Even a sub-beastman could match the strength of an adult male on Earth.
After the field ridges were reinforced, they began digging planting ditches and then sprinkling a little bit of wood ash into them. Wood ash is a natural potassium fertilizer, which can be considered a nutritional supplement in this orc continent where fertilizer is scarce.
Lin Baiyan took a bamboo watering can and watered each soil cell to keep it moist.
Lin Baiyan first demonstrated for them, placing the sprouted potatoes one by one into the planting furrow at intervals of about thirty centimeters, and then covering them with about ten centimeters of soil using a rake.
Potatoes have a high yield and are easy to grow. More importantly, they can be planted two to three times a year.
Sweet potatoes are similar, but they are not grown from fruit. Instead, sweet potato vines are planted first. After the sweet potatoes sprout, the vines are planted in the ground. During this time, you can also eat a crop of tender sweet potato vines.
Two more days passed as the group worked tirelessly.
After planting all the potato and sweet potato seeds, they busied themselves watering the soil again to moisten it.
During the two days he was turning the soil, he also found some large-leaf vegetable seeds in the cave where the plants were stored, and planted them as well.
As for the seeds that were truly indistinguishable, Lin Baiyan drew a small plot of land and planted them there. Since he didn't know what would grow, the gaps between each seed were quite large.
Without fertilizer, Lin Baiyan went to the old chicken coop of the Rainbow Phoenix Chicken and dug out a lot of manure mixed with the crushed eggshells from before, which at least provided some fertilizer.
The toilets are already under construction. They will be built on both sides of the village, which will also serve as a source of fertilizer.
If they can find rice, they might be able to make rice husk charcoal. Rice husk charcoal is breathable and porous, making it a natural potassium fertilizer that can also repel and prevent insects.
He recalled that, in his childhood, besides manure and wood ash fertilizer, the most commonly used fertilizer in his home was rice husk charcoal.
After watering all the land, Lin Baiyan straightened up and rubbed his back. Looking at the large expanse of neatly tended land in front of him, he couldn't help but feel better.
They don't have enough manpower or seeds right now, so they can only plant a small plot of land. He looked at the empty land with regret, feeling a strong urge to plant.
If only we could plant them all!
Lin Baiyan's inner nature, like a field gene, was awakened all at once.
Fortunately, if this planting is successful, the vast grasslands on the eastern plains will become their farming area.
Lin Baiyan imagined a future where they would never have to worry about food again, and her heart filled with even greater anticipation.
Planting the seeds doesn't mean the job is done; someone has to keep an eye on it all the time, and they have to pull weeds and catch insects from time to time.
The adults had many things to do, and the cubs could play anywhere, so the little cubs were given an extra task: to pick up insects next to the farmland and feed them to the Rainbow Phoenix Chickens. It was a win-win situation!
Of course, since the plants were located quite far away, the cubs couldn't really go there on their own. Lin Baiyan led a few beastmen to build a small house next to the planting area and assigned a half-grown male beastman cub to watch over it.
Lin Baiyan looked at the male orc Xiang Lei in front of him, whose face still had a bit of a childish look. His beast form was an elephant, of course, he was still a baby elephant at the moment.
He earnestly instructed the elephant in front of him, "Normally there's nothing much to do, except call us to water the soil after it dries, and then keep an eye on things to make sure the animals don't damage the farmland."
"Let me know if it sprouts."
Xiang Lei listened intently to Lin Baiyan's instructions, "So, will I be living here from now on?"
Lin Baiyan shook his head. How could that be? Xiang Lei is still a half-grown cub.
Besides, there's nothing to cover on this plain; if a wild animal came, it would have nowhere to run.
"You can bring the little cubs here to catch bugs during the day, and then go back to the tribe at night."
Xiang Lei nodded seriously. This was the first task the priest had given him, and he was determined to complete it well so that he could join the hunting team as soon as possible!
After explaining these matters, Lin Baiyan returned to the tribe. He had just entered his cave and hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath when the dog spirit barged in headfirst. "Priest, we're out of salt."
Lin Baiyan sat up abruptly on the small bamboo bed. "It's all gone so quickly?"
He remembered that they had just brought back a lot of salt before winter.
The dog spirit nodded. "It should be enough for about five days, which is why I came to tell you in advance."
All the male beastmen in the tribe had gone out hunting, so they couldn't collect salt. Lin Baiyan sat on the bamboo bed for a while, then went out and found Tiger Hill.
Hu Qiu was working hard in the residential area when Lin Baiyan called out to him from outside the foundation. Hearing this, he threw the soil outside with a shovel, then braced himself with one hand on the ground and jumped out with all his might.
He said he wiped the sweat from his face, but his hands weren't clean either, and wiping them made him look even more disheveled.
"What's wrong, Priest?"
Lin Baiyan: "The dog spirit just came over and told me that the tribe is out of salt, so we may have to go to the beach again."
After hearing this, Huqiu smacked his forehead. He realized that even the most meticulous plans can have flaws. He had forgotten that the tribe had been eating salt for a long time. He said with some difficulty, "But we don't have many male orcs left in the tribe."
If they all went out, the tribe wouldn't feel at ease leaving the male orcs stationed there.
Lin Baiyan nodded. "So what I mean is that Pig Mountain will come with us. I'll take a few sub-beastmen with me."
“Zhu Shan has been to the seaside, and now we have a handcart, so he can pull the handcart and take us there.”
“I’ll bring Rat Moon, Sheep Leaf, and Fox Shadow. I’m familiar with the salt-making process, so I don’t need that many people.”
Huqiu was still a little worried and asked hesitantly, "Will this work?"
It's still somewhat dangerous for just one male orc and four sub-orcs to go out like this.
Lin Baiyan waved his hand, "Didn't you find a route closer to the sea before? It only takes a day to reach the sea, and there's nothing dangerous about it."
"Our tribe's salt reserves are really not enough. By the time Lang Cang and the others return, it will be a long time coming."