"I'm just giving you an example, it doesn't necessarily involve raising chickens.
For example, you can raise pigs. The country has always encouraged pig raising. If you open a pig farm and raise two to three hundred pigs, you can easily earn a gross income of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a year."
"It's easy to say, raising chickens and pigs is free, right?"
"Da, don't tell me that you are not blessed. The state has a fund to assist farmers, and we ordinary people can apply for interest-free agricultural production loans.
With your status, it shouldn’t be a problem to borrow hundreds of thousands, right?”
"What if this doesn't work out? Wouldn't it be a drag on both of you?"
Ordinary people are so practical. The first thing that comes to their mind when they get an interest-free and indefinite loan is what to do if they can't pay it back.
"Actually, raising chickens and pigs are just examples for you.
Haven't you noticed? Chinese cabbage can be sold for eight cents a pound."
"I saw that there are still dozens of Chinese cabbages at home. I want to keep them for eating and cannot sell them."
"Da, I mean, Chinese cabbage can be sold for eight cents. If I have persimmons, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, beans and other vegetables now, and they sell for fifty cents a pound, would anyone want them?"
"I should...maybe I want it!"
"There must be people buying them. In summer, these vegetables can be sold for less than ten cents. In winter, these vegetables are rare and there is no place to buy them if you have money." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"So what if it's just one dollar a pound? Can you still make vegetables?"
"I can't change it, but I can grow it!
In ancient times, there was a kind of greenhouse, where you could grow persimmons, eggplants, cucumbers and other summer vegetables in winter. These vegetables were specially supplied to dignitaries.
The ancients could grow vegetables in winter, why can’t we?”
"Really?"
"Of course it can. In this way, when we get home later, we can test it and you will know."
"How to experiment?"
"You'll know when the time comes."
Zhang Junping made a special detour to the commune and bought some plastic sheeting and spinach and cabbage seeds.
When he got home, he would inevitably be complained by his mother, who accused him of spending money recklessly.
"Mom, isn't it almost the Chinese New Year? I just bought some New Year's goods."
"I just bought some New Year's goods? A pig's head, half a sheep, and so many fish. If you are not casual, are you planning to move the morning market?
Lao Zhang, the boss is still young and doesn’t know how to live. Don’t you know how to stop me?” After training Zhang Junping, he pointed his gun at Zhang Yingyao.
Zhang Yingyao was shot innocently, but he had no way to refute, so he could only go out depressedly and go to the brigade headquarters.
Mother continued to sort out the things Zhang Junping bought.
“When you buy mutton, you just buy mutton. Why do you buy so many bones?
Also, why did you buy so much millet? You can’t use so much during confinement!" When she found out the fifty kilograms of millet Zhang Junping bought, her mother was so angry that she wanted to beat Zhang Junping.
"Mom, I plan to take those millets to Beijing."
"You don't need to buy it when you take it to Beijing! I have millet at home. I'll just find some for you in the village later." Mother stamped her feet angrily.
Looking for some means buying some in the village.
Here in Yingqiu, people in the village buy and sell things. Generally, they don't need to buy things, they just use some.
For example, I'm looking for some eggs and some white flour.
"Mom, this is not ordinary millet, this is the volcano millet from Qiaoshan Commune.
In the past, this was a tribute! It was specially given to the emperor and ladies in the palace."
"How can Qiaoshan's millet be better than the millet grown at home? It's not all millet." Mother muttered and said nothing more.
Zhang Junping found an iron prong and a shovel and started working in the yard.
"Brother, what are you doing?" The second and third children ran over curiously and asked.
"You two come over and help me dig the hole. It doesn't have to be too deep, just a shovel deep. Just dig according to the line I spread."
In winter, the soil was frozen hard, and the soil in the yard was even firmer. Zhang Junping started to sweat after digging for a while, and he just happened to catch two strong men.
He handed the prongs and shovels to the second and third sons, then turned around and went to the storage room to find two broken wooden boards.
He ran out again and came back with some wheat straw.
Mix wheat straw into the excavated soil, pour water, and start mixing the mud.
By the time Zhang Junping had reconciled the mud, the holes for the second and third holes were basically dug.
The hole Zhang Junping wants to dig is not big, only six square meters.
It is three meters long, two meters wide and one meter high.
It's not that Zhang Junping didn't want to dig a bigger hole, but there was quite a bit of space in the yard, so digging a six-square-meter hole was already the limit.
No matter how old it is, it will affect your life.
Zhang Junping erected the wooden board to use as a template, fixed it with wooden pegs on both sides, and then called to the second and third sons, "Fill it in with the mud I made."
The second and third children didn't know what Zhang Junping was going to do, but they still worked hard. They hadn't played in the mud for a long time.
Think of it as reliving a childhood game.
The three brothers worked hard for more than an hour and built a simple scaled-down greenhouse.
Zhang Junping ran outside the courtyard wall again and brought a shovelful of fermented manure.
Spread it into the newly built greenhouse, then turn over the ground in the greenhouse with a plow, and mix the fermented manure and soil evenly.
Then we found branches, put them on the earth wall of the greenhouse, and then covered them with plastic sheets.
"Brother, what did you do?"
"Hothouse!"
"Warming shed? What is it for? Brother, do you want to plant flowers?"
"Grow whatever flowers you want. I'll plant the vegetables. You just wait, and you'll have fresh spinach to eat in half a month at most."
The reason why Zhang Junping grows spinach and Chinese cabbage is because spinach grows quickly. It takes about five days to germinate and can be eaten in about seven to ten days.
Of course, it is only edible about ten days after germination, but it does not mean that it is harvest time.
The best time to harvest spinach is about a month.
Zhang Junping built a mini greenhouse just to prove to his father the feasibility of growing vegetables in winter.
That’s why I chose spinach, a vegetable with a short growth cycle.
"Boss, why do you think of growing vegetables?"
Zhang Junping's actions had already caught his mother's attention, but he didn't spend any money and was just messing around in the yard, so he didn't stop them, but instead watched them working with a smile.
The mother is also reliving the fun her sons had playing in the mud when they were children.
Now that I heard that Zhang Junping wanted to grow vegetables, I immediately became interested.
"I am also doing an experiment to prove to me that we can grow vegetables in winter."
"That's great. If you can grow vegetables, you won't have to worry about having no vegetables to eat in the winter." Mother smiled.
Zhang Junping took a bowl, soaked the seeds in warm water, and placed it on the fire box.
Seeds should be soaked in warm water for twenty-four hours to ensure the germination rate.
After finishing the work, I saw my mother entering the kitchen and preparing to cook.
Zhang Junping stopped his mother and said, "Mom, I'll come over at noon today and you can try my craftsmanship."
"Hey, can the boss cook?" Mother smiled.
"That's necessary, just wait and eat the ready-made ones!
Second child, go and call your grandparents, they will come over for dinner."