Chapter 171: What to Plant?

Chapter 171: Chapter 171: What to Plant?

The Hu Family had little land, so their farm work was finished in just a few days. They planned to rest for two more days before setting up their stall again, while Ji Huan still hadn’t revealed what she intended to do with her three acres of wasteland.

Widow Xie couldn’t sit still any longer and went to find Ji Huan again.

Coincidentally, just as she stepped through the door, Ping’an arrived right after her.

After seeing Ping’an off, Ji Huan turned to Widow Xie excitedly. "Aunt Xie, the things I was waiting for have arrived. I’m afraid I’ll really have to trouble you and Liangzi now."

Widow Xie, of course, had no objections. She went home to get Hu Liang and his brother, and the group of them hauled all the necessary tools and equipment straight to Nanshan.

The three acres of wasteland Ji Lianbai had cleared were all at the bottom of a slope, with the edge of the field right next to the level ground.

Ji Huan breathed a sigh of relief. ’If it had been cleared halfway up the mountain,’ she thought, ’forget planting and harvesting—just getting here would be a pain.’

The cart stopped at the edge of the field. Hu Liang looked at the large bag she was lifting off and asked, "Are these the seeds you had someone buy for you? What in the world are they? You’ve been so secretive about it."

This time, Ji Huan didn’t keep him in suspense. "They’re all spice seeds."

She had asked Xin Ziqi for help long before the new year. Since Yide Hall sold them, it meant he had his own supply channels.

In truth, she and Xin Ziqi hadn’t known each other well back then, but he hadn’t refused. He had asked a friend to purchase them for her, and they had only just been delivered today.

That’s right—she planned to plant all three acres of wasteland with spices!

Widow Xie’s voice shot up in surprise. "What did you say? You’re going to plant all three acres with the stuff for making hot and spicy soup?"

Ji Huan suppressed a laugh and corrected her. "Aunt Xie, this stuff isn’t just for making hot and spicy soup. It has many other uses."

"What other uses? If you ask me, you should plant something proper..."

Ji Huan knew that if she didn’t explain it clearly, Widow Xie would never be at ease with her planting these "improper" things.

"Once these seeds in my hand are planted and they mature, their leaves, roots, stems, and the seeds and fruits they produce are what we call spices."

"These spices can be used for flavoring. They can impart pungent, fragrant, numbing, spicy, bitter, or sweet aromas to food. Different spices have distinct smells, unique flavors, and vastly different functions."

"Some can remove the natural unpleasant odors of ingredients, while others can enhance a food’s fragrance or add color. Some even have antibacterial properties and can stimulate the appetite."

"It’s that amazing?" Hu Liang’s face was full of astonishment.

"And that’s not all. These spices can be used individually or in combination. The hot and spicy soup mix is an example of a combination of many spices, and you’ve all seen its effect."

"In fact, that’s a relatively simple one. Other, more complex spice blends can have even more amazing results. And they come in many forms—they can be made into powders or mixed into a brine."

After several months of honing his skills at the market stall, Hu Liang’s business instincts had sharpened considerably.

"You’re thinking of... selling spices?" he asked tentatively.

Ji Huan nodded, then shook her head.

"Doctor Xin from Yide Hall once spent some time in the Southern regions. He told me that spices are already quite common as seasonings there, but they are mostly used individually."

"But here in the north, spices are still mostly regarded as Chinese medicinal herbs and aren’t widely used in the food industry. I heard a few places in Yeyang County have started using them, but they also use them individually."

Hu Liang’s eyes lit up. "So you don’t plan to sell individual spices, but to grind and process them to sell as spice blends?"

"Exactly. The profit margin for just selling raw materials is low. By processing the raw materials into a finished product before selling, the added value increases significantly, which naturally raises the profit margin."

Most importantly, anyone can grow the raw materials. Once they’re mature, they can be harvested and sold at the market without any processing at all.

There’s nothing distinctive about it, and no technical difficulty.

But a well-made, blended, finished product is different.

She had her own exclusive secret recipes—some were family heirlooms, and others were famous formulas from a later era that had stood the test of time and the market.

Even if spices became widespread in the northern food industry one day, she wouldn’t be afraid of the swarm of copycats that would follow.

Hu Liang understood completely.

’No wonder Ji Huan has been so calm and unhurried. So she’s been thinking this far ahead.’

’I wonder when she started planning all this. Could it have been from the very first time she asked me to buy spices?’

While the two of them were deep in their enthusiastic discussion, Widow Xie hadn’t quite understood everything. She only knew that Ji Huan was planning to grow these things to sell.

"Making money is good, of course, but no one around here has ever grown this stuff. What if it doesn’t grow... won’t the seeds be wasted? And you’ll have missed a whole season of crops..."

Ji Huan said helplessly, "Aunt Xie, you know what this land is like. After Ji Lian... after my father cleared it, the Ji Family tried planting crops, didn’t they? They must have tried several different ones over the years. In the end, even someone as frugal as Ms. Kang didn’t want the land anymore, and it’s been left fallow for so many years. Do you really think I could make flowers bloom here just by planting it?"

Widow Xie knew she had a point, but she immediately thought of something else.

"Didn’t you say that river mud is fertile? You spread it all over the field. It should be at least a little better than in previous years."

Last year, when they were making dehydrated vegetables, Hu Liang had finished with the purchasing work and had nothing to do at home. So, Widow Xie had sent him and Hu Dacheng over to help Ji Huan clear up the three acres of wasteland.

They had pulled all the weeds and plowed the field before they even told Ji Huan.

Widow Xie’s original intention was to have her try planting some winter wheat. Although it was a bit late in the season, she thought it might just work.

Ji Huan had disagreed at the time.

However, since the land was already prepared, she couldn’t let it go to waste. As it happened, people in the village were clearing mud from several ditches and fishponds.

So, Ji Huan asked Hu Liang for help. He carried loads of river mud, spread it out on a remote, unfrequented path to dry, and then broke it into pieces.

The crushed river mud was divided into two parts. One part was spread on the field to nourish it through the winter, and the remaining part was spread a few days ago.

Truthfully, Ji Huan wasn’t entirely sure if it would work; she had only heard about it from others.

’Poor soil is usually caused by a lack of organic matter, meaning it can’t retain water or nutrients, or it’s clay-like and not loose enough. As long as you add a large amount of organic fertilizer, you can slowly improve the soil and make it suitable for cultivation.’

’If there’s no commercial organic fertilizer, you can use straw and cow or sheep manure and ferment it yourself.’

’And if those fertilizer sources are insufficient, weeds, leaves, and chopped straw can also be used. While the effect isn’t huge, it has the advantage of being simple and feasible.’

’River and ditch mud is the same.’

’In any case, there are no chemical fertilizers or anything like that in this era. It’s better than nothing.’

Besides, she had long ago observed the geology around Nanshan. While it wasn’t very suitable for crops like wheat and rice, it was perfect for growing spices.

"Even if the river mud is useful, it only increases fertility. At best, it improves the soil’s condition, but it can’t change the underlying geology."

Widow Xie didn’t quite understand, but Hu Liang vaguely got the point.

"Last year, after spreading the river mud, you also had us bury the cut weeds and the leaves raked from the paths in the plowed furrows. Was that also to fertilize and improve the soil?"

Ji Huan nodded.

’Aside from these methods, crop rotation could also be used.’

’But that method is more troublesome and takes time, so it wasn’t part of my considerations.’

Widow Xie couldn’t win the argument with Ji Huan; instead, she was left a bit dazed by everything Ji Huan had said.

What else could be done? Time to plant!