Chapter 139

They chatted as they drove to the orchard.

Thanks to the country's infrastructure, driving there wasn't too difficult; they arrived at the orchard in just over an hour.

The orchard has been renovated, and a large wooden gate has been installed outside the fence.

Qing Mengzhu didn't come to see the renovation, but now that she sees it, she can't help but complain, "How can such a simple fence be paired with such a heavy wooden door? Is it a latrine with gold trim?!"

Zhao Hexi blinked innocently. "You mean, we use whatever we have on hand. It just so happened that when we were renovating, a worker was building a house, and he wanted to sell the door of his old house. I saw it was only 150 yuan a door, so I bought it."

Qing Mengzhu: "That's huge! Outsiders who don't know there's an orchard here will probably come over to see what's going on once they see this gate."

Zhao Hexi: "It's alright, our surveillance cameras cover the entire park, no one should be able to steal anything. Come on in, let's talk inside."

They opened the large wooden door and went inside.

This orchard, covering more than 80 acres, has three types of fruit trees: mulberry, orange, and blueberry. Blueberry trees are the most numerous and the youngest.

Mulberries and oranges should bear fruit this year, but blueberries won't bear fruit until next year at the earliest, and only some of them will bear fruit next year. If we want them to all bear fruit, we'll have to wait at least three to five years.

Spring has arrived, and the weeds in the orchard have grown quite a bit.

The altitude here is higher, so the weeds are more tender, lush green, and very saturated, making it look very refreshing.

Qing Mengzhu immediately remarked, "This grass is growing so well; it's a shame not to cut it down to feed the cattle."

Zhao Hexi immediately said, "There are tools in the storage room. Do you need to cut it? If so, I'll go get the tools."

The orchards here need to be tended to during the fruiting season, so each orchard is equipped with a small hut, and their orchards also have huts.

During the off-season, the small huts in the orchard are used as storage rooms, filled with all sorts of tools.

Only when the fruit ripens will people come to live there to guard it and prevent it from being stolen.

Qing Mengzhu had only meant it casually, but stepping onto the thick, soft grass, he couldn't help himself. "Let's cut some, cut two bundles to feed the cows."

Zhao Hexi glanced at him. "Your cow is worth the price."

Qing Mengzhu: "... Anyway, if I don't cut it, I'll just cut it."

Before cutting the grass, they went to check on the mulberry trees.

When I bought it, I bought a two-year-old seedling. This is the third year, and it has reached the age to bear fruit.

The mulberry tree was somewhat weakened after being transplanted; it didn't produce many mulberry flowers, but it did grow a lot of leaves.

Zhao Hexi looked at the long mulberry blossoms. "There don't seem to be many bees. Without bees for pollination, will it affect the mulberry yield?"

Qing Mengzhu: "No, they are wind-pollinated flowers. The wind is quite strong here, so there shouldn't be any problem."

Qing Mengzhu gestured and said, "Moreover, the pollination process of mulberry male flowers is quite peculiar. At first, they are folded up, but when the conditions are met, they will suddenly straighten up with a 'snap,' shooting out the pollen at a speed that can even reach the speed of sound."

Zhao Hexi: "If that's so amazing, then wouldn't they be able to pollinate efficiently without needing much external assistance?"

Qing Mengzhu: "That's right, external forces have little impact on them. Even without bees or other insects, there's no need to worry about their pollination."

Qing Mengzhu examined the mulberry tree and said, "There are quite a lot of mulberry leaves."

Zhao Hexi: "You're right, it's spring, so of course it will grow leaves."

Qing Mengzhu: "Even if they're growing leaves, they're growing way too many. We planted these mulberry trees mainly to harvest mulberries; having too many leaves is pointless, and we don't raise silkworms."

Zhao Hexi: "Then what should we do? How about raising some silkworms?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Forget it, it's too much work, we can't handle it. Let's just pick some mulberry leaves."

Zhao Hexi's eyes widened. "Why are you picking them? To compost them?"

Qing Mengzhu thought for a moment and said, "I'll take it back for the cows to eat."

Zhao Hexi was skeptical. "Would cows eat that? Aren't silkworms the only ones that eat mulberry leaves?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Probably. Mulberry leaves taste good, and they're high in crude protein and amino acids, making them a decent forage."

Zhao Hexi helped him pluck leaves. "I think I've figured it out. Right now, you're most concerned about the cows. You want to feed them grass and mulberry leaves at the same time."

Qing Mengzhu: "The main problem is that too many mulberry leaves will deplete the tree's nutrients, resulting in slightly lower quality mulberries."

They went to the storeroom, got some bags, and picked two large bags of mulberry leaves.

It was getting late, so Qing Mengzhu stopped cutting the grass and said directly, "I'll take the mulberry leaves back first and see if the cows will eat them. If they will, I'll arrange for someone to come and pick the mulberry leaves in the next couple of days. We can cut the grass later."

Zhao Hexi, carrying a heavy load of mulberry leaves, said, "We probably can't eat them all even if we cut them. And these mulberry leaves are really heavy, though, and they look so fresh."

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, at least the mulberry leaves were grown with so much fertilizer."

They stuffed the mulberry leaves into the trunk and then drove around to Jingnan Town to eat spicy hot pot.

This spicy hot pot dish includes lotus root slices, corn, and potatoes, and it tastes especially delicious. Qing Mengzhu also liked it. When she packed it up, she added an extra portion of spare ribs and an extra portion of shrimp. Her Dharma Protector will also have their dinner here; they just need to boil it in water for a little while before feeding it to them.

Ming Chunxi saw the spicy hot pot he had brought back and accepted it well, only asking, "Why did you pick so many mulberry leaves?"

Qing Mengzhu, "The mulberry leaves are growing too lushly. I'm afraid they'll consume the tree's nutrients, so I just picked some. We'll see if the cattle eat them when they come back later; if they do, then we'll give them to them."

They have a lot of old, fallen vegetable leaves in their fields, and sometimes they pick them, but that's mainly to supplement the vegetables for the geese, and rarely for the cows.

The leafy greens have a high water content, which makes them difficult for cows to digest and can easily cause diarrhea.

Mulberry leaves, a food with low water content and high fiber, are perfect for cattle.

After Ming Chunxi finished dinner, the two of them went to the backyard to feed the cows.

Actually, the cow has been eating grass on the mountain all day and is quite full, but it still hasn't digested it.

Qing Mengzhu and Ming Chunxi took mulberry leaves to feed them. At first, they were a little reluctant to open their mouths, but after sniffing the leaves several times and smelling their fresh scent, they finally opened their mouths and slowly began to chew.

Once they started chewing, they couldn't stop. Their mouths were constantly moving; after finishing one batch of mulberry leaves, they would want another.

Towards the end, Qing Mengzhu became a little worried that they would overeat, and dared not give them any more mulberry leaves.

He didn't want to lead a herd of cows to the vet late at night; that would be too strange.

After confirming that his cows would eat mulberry leaves, Qing Mengzhu sent WeChat to Zhao Hexi, asking him to arrange for someone to pick mulberry leaves.

Only half of the mulberry leaves should be left on a mulberry tree; the rest can be picked and fed to cattle. If there are too many fresh mulberry leaves, they can be dried in the sun or oven and used as dry feed.

Springtime brings abundant rainfall, making it difficult to drive cattle up the mountain during rainy seasons. This provides a good opportunity to feed them mulberry leaves.

Author's Note:

See you tomorrow!

Chapter 139

Zhao Hexi quickly arranged for people to pick the mulberry leaves.

There were bags of mulberry leaves piled up in the yard, more than a dozen bags in total, almost filling the entire yard of Qing Mengzhu's house.

Qing Mengzhu hadn't noticed it before, but now with so many mulberry leaves piled together, the whole courtyard smells of mulberry leaves, and it actually smells quite nice.

Tan Wenlei and the others who brought the mulberry leaves also expressed their regret. "These mulberry leaves are too tender; they'd be fine for humans to eat directly, but are we just going to feed them all to the cattle?"

Qing Mengzhu had never eaten mulberry leaves before. "Mulberry leaves can be eaten as a vegetable?"

Tan Wenlei: "Why not? There used to be vendors selling mulberry leaves on the street, but fewer people are raising silkworms anymore, so you don't see them much anymore."

Feng Ningxiang was also very interested in this topic. "My family used to buy mulberry leaves often. My mother said that mulberry leaves are good for people's health. When my daughter was in high school, my mother would often buy mulberry leaves to make soup for her."