Chapter 675: Chapter 447: Cultivation
No matter what Xiaomi thought, and regardless of whether the older brother came to gather information, the potatoes were gradually retrieved thanks to Jiang Wei’s arrangements.
And they were not few indeed.
Thanks to Jiang Wei’s reminder and the constant emphasis from Jiang Yu later on, everyone knew that these potatoes shouldn’t be eaten raw or even half-cooked.
But once cooked thoroughly, there was no problem at all.
With everyone’s efforts, large and small potatoes filled more than ten baskets, approximately over a thousand pounds.
Even the smallest, thumb-sized lumps were all picked up without wasting a single one.
Ling’er, feeling bored, flew out to have a look and eventually told Xiaomi that these people hadn’t retrieved all the potatoes they planted.
Especially those placed far away by Ling’er, the people didn’t even manage to get there by horseback.
It was only then that Xiaomi realized they had unknowingly planted so many potatoes.
Though not all were retrieved, it was better this way. Once promoted, everyone could also see them on nearby mountains, proving that it was indeed an inadvertent discovery by Jiang Wei.
Without Xiaomi needing to do much, Jiang Wei directly sorted all the potatoes into four categories according to size.
The largest were bigger than the fist of an adult man, though the least in quantity, filling only one basket.
The smallest were thumb-sized and didn’t even have sprouting eyes; these were also limited, filling about one bucket.
Then there were those the size of a woman’s fist, the most abundant, given the unfavorable season, with no special growth even with Spiritual Spring water.
There were also those slightly smaller than an egg, comprising four baskets.
Once the seedling shelter in the yard was ready, Jiang Wei took out a few potatoes from each of these size categories to begin seedling cultivation.
After showing no results outside for several days, he finally placed them beside the stove.
Xiaomi secretly sprinkled a bit of Spiritual Spring water on a few large ones, and they quickly sprouted.
Jiang Wei decisively abandoned a few smaller ones and prepared to plant the larger ones directly.
Just as he took a few large potatoes to the seedling shelter, Xiaomi approached: "Little Wei, there are so many sprouting spots on these."
Jiang Wei nodded: "Indeed, each small eye is a place where a sprout can grow."
Xiaomi pretended to be surprised: "Oh, really? Then wouldn’t one potato grow a whole cluster of seedlings?"
Jiang Wei recalled: "It doesn’t seem to."
"Ah? Really? Look at all these tender shoots, if they all grew, there’d be many potato seedlings."
Xiaomi pointed to one with at least five or six sprout eyes, suggesting that if they grew, there wouldn’t just be five or six potato seedlings?
Jiang Wei frowned slightly: "But when I discovered them, they were all growing individually, one by one."
Xiaomi lamented: "Does that mean among all these tender sprouts, only one can mature and produce potatoes?"
Jiang Wei looked at the large potato in his hand, weighing about a pound, enough for one adult’s meal.
If he used such a large potato as a seed, and the resulting potatoes were just a bit more than this, the yield wouldn’t be high.
Thinking of this, Jiang Wei looked at the tender shoots and commented: "If these tender shoots could be separated, and all sprouted, then there could be five or six potato seedlings."
Xiaomi’s eyes lit up: "Then let’s separate them, it’s just one of many."
With action in mind, Jiang Wei immediately took one to the kitchen, found a vegetable knife, and carefully separated the tender shoots, trying to make each potato piece below the shoot large enough.
These sprouts grow directly on the potato, primarily absorbing nutrients from the potato before rooting in the soil.
Separating one potato, planting five whole potatoes, the small seedling shelter still had a small empty space.
Next, whenever there was sunlight, Jiang Wei would uncover the thatch outside to let the seedlings bask in the sun.
The potatoes initially placed beside the stove, except for the smallest ones, gradually sprouted and Jiang Wei planted them all.
Having confirmed that the smallest potatoes couldn’t be eaten, Jiang Wei had his parents give them out to others.
Since they were so small and likened to sweet potatoes, they decided to try steaming rice with them, first testing it at their own home, grabbing a small handful like sweet potatoes, and surprisingly, it turned out well.
The remaining ones were tightly shared with other villagers, and all that was left was given to the forbidden army, considering they were the ones who dug them up, deserving the most credit.
Steamed with rice, they were sticky and fragrant, very delicious.
Initially, only a few had tasted potatoes; now nearly everyone had tried them, raising even more anticipation.
But everyone knew the remaining potatoes were to be kept as seeds, so even if tempted, nobody mentioned eating them.
However, unable to resist, every few days, someone would send some larger potatoes to Jiang’s family, but not the particularly small ones.
Enquiring with Commander Yang revealed that squads of soldiers applied every day to search far-off mountains.
Of course, not every trip yielded results, but occasionally, they got lucky and found some.
The smallest ones were kept for themselves to eat, and the larger ones were sent to Jiang’s family.
Upon hearing this, Xiaomi felt awkward, regretting not planting more on the surrounding mountains with her brother back then.
But thinking about this now was useless, so she secretly sprinkled some Spiritual Spring water on the potato chunks.
To ensure everyone knew potato chunks could bear fruit as long as there were sprout eyes, she watered those cut potato seedlings intermittently, visibly growing better than others.
Later, when Jiang Wei discovered, he directly dug up a few potato clusters that had grown and, with a knife, divided them into small chunks.
Fortunately, Xiaomi spotted this at home and watered them together subsequently.
During these activities, Wei Ziang visited once; Aunt specifically saved some small potatoes for him to taste, and he repeatedly praised the little brother.
Whether it was the first time having potatoes or whether they planted them on the mountains with Xiaomi.
Just from Xiaomi’s account, the fact that Jiang Wei could test them himself to determine their edibility or how to eat without poisoning, was impressive.
Wei Ziang could only stay home for two days each time, but nearing the New Year, he got a half-month holiday, bringing joy to not only him but the whole household.
This time, Wei Ziang returned with not only two yaks and two goats but also unique gifts for each family member.