Page 564

Upon Shi Wen this, Shi Wen gently stroked the horse's belly.

The horse snorted, and the muscles in its belly twitched slightly.

Clearly, for a horse of that size, carrying a calf is still a difficult experience.

The horses are not yet due to give birth, but the results show that they are in good health and the foals inside are also healthy.

They require almost no Shi Wen care; they simply need to wait for the gestation period to end before giving birth.

Shi Wen hadn't seen Sikewell for a long time, and after checking the horses, Shi Wen invited him into his home for tea.

Shi Wen: "How's your leg lately? Has it fully healed?"

Sikewell turned his leg over to show Shi Wen: "It's almost healed. Now, as long as it's not windy or rainy, I don't feel anything."

Shi Wen, "That's wonderful! I was worried your leg injury wasn't healing well."

Sikewell smiled. "I'm in good health. How about you? How have you been lately? I heard you wanted to join forces in cattle and horse farming, is that going well?"

Shi Wen, "Everything is going smoothly. The contract has already been signed, and we're just waiting to finish the preparations so we can start raising them."

They were chatting in the living room when Zhang Deyuan arrived with a hoe on his back.

Zhang Deyuan hadn't been here for a while, Shi Wen a little surprised. "Brother Zhang, are you working around here?"

"Yes, there's a bunch of Jerusalem artichokes over there, next to your back hill. My wife called me over to dig some up." Zhang Deyuan put his hoe down in the corridor and walked in. "I was going to go straight there, but I suddenly got thirsty when I got to your side, so I came to ask for a glass of water."

Shi Wen smiled and poured him milk tea, saying, "Drink as much as you like. We have plenty of tea here, nothing else."

Zhang Deyuan gulped down a large cup of salty milk tea, then poured himself another. "I've had so many milk teas, but yours is still the best."

Sikewell laughed from the side, "You're not thirsty, you're just craving something, aren't you?"

Zhang Deyuan rubbed his stomach. "If you put it that way, it seems so."

Shi Wen asked curiously, "What is Jerusalem artichoke? Is it a spice?"

He'd been here for so long and had never even heard of Jerusalem artichokes.

Zhang Deyuan shook his head. "A kind of wild vegetable?"

Sikewell replied, "Pretty much, it can be used to make soup."

Zhang Deyuan: "My family uses it as a side dish. We marinate it with some chili and soy sauce, and have a plate of it with our porridge in the morning. It tastes pretty good."

Sikewell: "That's true, I also like to eat Jerusalem artichokes. Speaking of which, they're quite good for feeding pigs; they grow fast, produce a lot of fruit, and are quite nutritious."

When Zhang Deyuan first mentioned Jerusalem artichokes, Shi Wen only casually inquired about them.

Now that he hears it can be used to feed pigs, Shi Wen is actually starting to get interested.

Most of his piglets are now old enough to graze, and he has more than 200 pigs, both adult and young. Although his mountain is quite large and there is plenty of food on it, wild food alone is not enough to feed so many piglets.

He's been thinking about what to plant on the mountain lately, but he hasn't been able to come up with anything yet.

It's really difficult to grow a plant that is disease- and insect-resistant, high-yielding, and requires little care.

Shi Wen took out his phone. "Wait a minute, let me look up this Jerusalem artichoke."

Zhang Deyuan sipped his tea. "You continue the investigation, I'm going to rest a bit more."

Shi Wen quickly found out the specific details about Jerusalem artichokes.

Jerusalem artichoke, also known as sunchoke, is a plant that tastes somewhat like taro. It grows quickly, has a high yield, and its roots, stems, and leaves are all rich in starch.

Local herders grow it as green fodder.

Jerusalem artichokes haven't been widely adopted simply because there aren't many pig farmers, and ruminants like cattle and sheep can't eat too much starch as they're prone to bloat.

In fact, this plant is very easy to grow and has such a strong vitality that people can grow it once and eat it for a lifetime.

After searching for a while, Shi Wen also checked the papers on the academic paper website and confirmed that there was not much risk in planting Jerusalem artichokes - his pigs were quite voracious, and this edible plant was unlikely to proliferate on their hillside and harm other plants.

Shi Wen said to Zhang Deyuan, "Brother Zhang, where are you going to dig for Jerusalem artichokes? I'll go with you."

Zhang Deyuan: "Sure, we can keep each other company."

Shi Wen turned to Sikewell and asked, "Dr. Sikewell, are you going or not?"

Sikewell waved his hands repeatedly. "I'm not going. My leg isn't fully healed yet, and I don't want to climb mountains."

Shi Wen laughed and said, "Then the two of us will go."

After everyone had another round of tea, they packed up and left.

Zhang Deyuan rode over on a motorcycle, Shi Wen, for convenience, also rode a motorcycle like him.

The two rode their motorcycles one after the other into the neighboring valley.

They soon arrived at their destination.

It's not autumn yet, but the vegetation in the valley is lush and green.

Zhang Deyuan said, "We should have waited until autumn or winter when the Jerusalem artichoke branches were dry to dig them up, as they would be easier to harvest then. But my wife wanted to eat them, so I came early."

Shi Wen followed behind him, carrying a hoe, and asked, "Was this place farmed before?"

Zhang Deyuan turned around and glanced at him. "You have good eyesight."

Shi Wen smiled and said, "Plowed land is different from unplowed land; you can tell the difference with just a glance."

Zhang Deyuan: "Yes, someone used to grow Jerusalem artichokes here, but that family later immigrated. It's because someone used to grow them that Jerusalem artichokes have continued to grow here. That's the one over there."

Jerusalem artichokes look like the common wild chrysanthemums found by the roadside, except they are much taller.

It's their blooming season now, and they're covered in tiny yellow flowers, which look quite pretty.

Zhang Deyuan casually grabbed a Jerusalem artichoke plant and gathered its branches together. "Dig around as you like, the Jerusalem artichokes underneath should have sprouted."

Shi Wen nodded, then found a Jerusalem artichoke and dug it up with a hoe.

The soil here had been cultivated before, making it fertile and loose, with virtually no stones underground.