Before this, preparations had already been made to reclaim more farmland; the plan for 4 mu of rice paddies was based on a calculation for 50 people.
Reclaiming new land, and preparing for a rainy day, must be done in advance.
The total population has now reached 52 people, and perhaps some new people will be added in the future.
Moreover, land is also needed to plant other crops now.
What's more, what was planted before was hybrid rice, which, although high-yielding, cannot be used for seeds.
Even if many high-yielding hybrid rice seeds were purchased before and stored for more than three years through scientific storage methods in a low-temperature, dry environment, it still couldn't put one completely at ease.
Now that the apocalypse has broken out, it's no longer possible to buy hybrid rice, and everything must be prepared, so now it's also time to start planting conventional rice that can self-seed.
Previously, he had also discussed with his grandfather and others about reclaiming terraced fields at the foot of the mountain.
Between the ridges, sections of terraced fields were reclaimed.
It's April.
It's the season for planting early rice.
In the base, in the paddy fields.
Li Yu also went down to the field, bent down, and transplanted seedlings.
Recently, Li Yu has been in a good mood, with a peaceful state of mind.
While transplanting seedlings, he wore headphones, listening to songs he had downloaded long ago.
Under the scorching sun, Li Yu was in the paddy field, listening to the Mandarin version of Beyond's "Farmer":
Don't look at others building tall buildings overnight,
Don't ask heaven who it favors more,
With my sincere heart and two hands,
I exchange for a peaceful and comfortable life.
Everyone has a sky above their head,
Everyone has a field in their heart,
Whether it's a bountiful harvest or a lean year,
Ask your feelings, don't look at money.
Life may be very bitter; facing life, everyone is like a warrior.
Constantly striving for their goals and dreams, perhaps they tried but got no results.
Perhaps they didn't try hard enough, but only they know.
Act without contention; when you don't know what to do,
Just do it. Sometimes, as you do it, you'll see the path you want to take.
Some people say:
In this limited life, one must see endless scenery.
Therefore, one must always be on the road.
In the apocalypse, no one knows what will happen the next day, and no one knows what accidents will occur.
However, the field in one's heart must be planted by oneself.
Just like the paddy field where Li Yu stands at this moment.
Diligently transplanting seedlings, irrigating water, applying pesticides, using these two hands.
Quietly waiting for the autumn harvest season.
Planting the field in one's heart well, being worthy of oneself.
The 4 mu of paddy fields were planted very quickly; with many people, it was all planted in less than a day.
The setting sun dyed the evening clouds crimson, and the clouds looked like they were on fire, so magnificent and colorful, with layers of fiery clouds distinct, their color gradually fading from west to east.
The stunning scenery in the sky made Li Yu look up and admire it. The setting sun stretched Li Yu's shadow long. Li Yu slowly lowered his head, looking at the flat paddy field in front of him, his eyes filled with pleasing greenery.
The joy in his heart was indescribable.
He enjoys this peaceful and beautiful life very much.
After the plains' paddy fields are fully planted, they need to seize the season and quickly plant peanuts, corn, sweet potatoes, and other crops.
April is a good planting season. In April, one can plant Chinese cabbage, white radish, carrots, sword beans, potatoes, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, jicama, cucumbers, melons, mid-to-late maturing gourds, yams, alpine eggplants, alpine peppers, spring water celery, jicama, chives, green onions, bamboo leaf vegetables, garland chrysanthemum, red cabbage, and more.
However, the reclamation of terraced fields is not yet complete, so in the base, besides those still going out to search for supplies and guarding the base, the remaining people are divided into two groups: some are responsible for planting vegetables and other crops, and the other part is reclaiming land on the mountain.
Today was not Li Yu's shift, so Li Yu put on his old clothes and went over early in the morning.
The south has many hills, unlike the plains in the north, so large-scale planting operations are often not possible.
Many lands in the south are scattered in small plots, making it difficult to use large machinery for planting like in the north.
But Li Yu also has a solution: two of those workers know how to operate excavators, so when reclaiming land, they don't need to use manual labor with hoes.
The terrain in the mountain forest is difficult to navigate, but small excavators are convenient and flexible. With the assistance of two excavators, the speed of reclamation increased several times.
After the excavators dug down the mountain soil to form flat ground, Uncle Lai and his grandfather directly drove tractors behind them to crush the hard soil and also clear stones from it.
With the help of machinery, in less than an hour, 3 mu of land were reclaimed on the left side of that mountain. Originally, using a tractor to reclaim land on flat ground might be faster, but in this mountain, even with the help of excavators, the speed was still much slower.
But it was still much faster than manual labor.
3 mu was the figure Li Yu decided on after careful consideration; although not large, it is sufficient for now. While terraced fields reclaimed in the mountains can also grow plants, reclaiming too large an area would also damage the water and soil balance of the mountain forest.
Furthermore, after the apocalypse, heavy rains occasionally occur, so the reclaimed area should not be too large to avoid landslides.
3 mu is not very large, relative to these two mountains, it's less than one percent of the area.
If the base needs to be expanded later, towards the forest outside the wall, the wall will also need to be extended outwards. At that time, it would be better to reclaim land in the plain behind, so, for now, the terraced fields here don't need to be reclaimed over too large an area.
Once the terraced fields were reclaimed, in the afternoon, a waterway was introduced from the mountain pond to irrigate the land here.
The mountain pond is not very deep, presenting a U-shape, getting deeper towards the center, but shallower towards the shore.
At its deepest point, this mountain pond is almost 20 meters deep.
Of these three mu of land, 1 mu is prepared for planting corn, 1 mu for sweet potatoes, and the last mu for potatoes.
Southerners mainly eat rice, but occasionally they also eat other coarse grains, and sometimes some noodles.
Some places also plant barley and wheat; many white wines are actually made from barley as raw material, and many light-aroma white wines use barley as raw material.
Sauce-aroma white wines use sorghum, glutinous rice sorghum, as raw materials more often.
In Li Yu's base, some wheat was also planted, but it was all winter wheat planted before, and not much was planted, just a small patch.
Turning the soil, sowing seeds, watering, watering thoroughly.
In the afternoon, Li Yu and his grandfather finished planting these three mu of land.
Time always passes quickly. At the foot of this mountain, though not high, it is higher than the plain below.
Spring is not hot, and in the air, carried by the breeze, the fragrance of fruit tree blossoms drifted over.
The wind blew Li Yu's hair. He looked up, his waist a little sore, but for some reason, looking at the bright sunlight, he always felt it was so beautiful.
Recently, he has been in a very good mood.
This period has also been the most stable and comfortable time since his rebirth.
Although he has to get up every day to farm, reclaim wasteland, and occasionally, when it's his turn, he also has to go out to search for supplies and so on.
But for some reason, his mood has become increasingly peaceful recently.