Chapter 57: Spring Plowing

It was hard enough waiting for the weather to warm up, but then a late spring cold snap hit, and the green grass that had just sprouted was frozen senseless by a snowfall. Fortunately, the flowers hadn't bloomed yet; otherwise, this snow would have wiped out this year's wild fruit harvest, which would have been a fatal blow to this Wasteland.

Pheasants fluttered about everywhere, pecking at the newly grown tender grass and the insects reviving in the soil. Gray-yellow wild rabbits, whose fur was almost the same color as the earth, also came out to search for food.

The animals had finished their winter food stores, and the Baifeng Tribe's supplies were running low as well. Following the minimum standard, they would hit rock bottom in a month at most. It was fortunate that the Beef contained enough fat; otherwise, just eating wild vegetables and Grass Seed, many people would likely have starved to death this winter.

The Soldiers who had trained throughout the winter possessed the finest Weapons of this era. Now that the weather was warming up, there were no wars for them to fight, but they could go hunt some pheasants and rabbits to supplement their meals; the Strong Bows were not practiced in vain.

Although the snow was thick, it melted very quickly; it fell in the morning and was gone by the afternoon. Baifeng had been looking forward to this precipitation. As the saying goes, spring rain is as precious as oil, and spring snow at the right time is just as important.

Most of the Grass Seed exchanged last year had been kept by Baifeng instead of eaten; this was for use as grain seeds. First, the Grass Seed was placed in saltwater; the shriveled seeds floated on top, and after scooping them out, the ones that remained at the bottom of the water were the plump Grass Seed.

In later ages, there was no need for such trouble. For one, there were specialized grain seeds for sale, and for another, there was almost no shriveled grain in later ages; even the shriveled ones were better than the plumpest ones now. It would still take several generations of cultivation before they would be significantly different from the wild ones.

Now is the time suitable for planting grain and wheat. Spread the piled manure evenly on the ground, then plow the land open, turning it soft, and the fertilizer will also be turned under.

The entire tribe only had three Iron Plowshares and no livestock. Baifeng had long ago made the plow frame according to the shape of the Curved Plow from his memory. When plowing, it could only be opened by two people using a carrying pole.

Others could only use stone or wooden digging sticks they had crafted themselves, but because they could not turn the soil deep enough, they mostly used mattocks, which could turn the soil very deep. Land being used for cultivation for the first time must be plowed deeply.

Although the speed was slow, time would not wait. The so-called "seizing the moisture" meant plowing and sowing immediately after it had rained and while the soil was still moist, so that there could be a good harvest.

It was a pity that the tools were truly not handy. The entire Baifeng Tribe mobilized three hundred people to work hard for a day, and they only finished plowing and sowing about fifty mu of land. However, this amount of land was enough to plant some grain and wheat. For the other hundred-plus mu, they would have to wait another half a month or a month for the weather to get warmer to sow buckwheat and Sorghum.

Hemp, the most scarce thing for the Baifeng Tribe, did not have many growth requirements. Dig a long trench, throw in some fertilizer and seeds, and it would grow vigorously. The unused seeds could be scattered casually on the ground outside the tribe, and surely most of them would still grow.

It was not just grain; Baifeng also had a five-mu vegetable garden, which was also plowed and turned during this period of soil moisture. He planted the native cabbage he had collected separately. They were pitifully small, and he did not know how many generations it would take for them to become large cabbages.

Radishes, that is, white radishes, had roots that were abnormally large, some even larger than a basketball. However, they were pungent and spicy when eaten. No one in this era dared to eat them. Baifeng also discovered them by accident; the overly swollen roots lacked crispness and were instead soft and spongy like bread, dry, and even hollow.

Baifeng knew this thing was edible, and with such a large yield, he believed that as long as they tried more, the tribespeople would eventually get used to it.

Wild yams were plentiful in the mountains, but because the tools were too poor before, they were hard to dig, so they hadn't dug up many. Moreover, they were slimy and no one liked to eat them. Wild ones could also be turned into crops; after all, with such high starch content, they were truly good things.

Aside from edamame, which Baifeng was familiar with, the okra and mallow that the tribespeople strongly requested to plant were things Baifeng really couldn't compliment. He couldn't stand things that were like snot. Mallow was even more outrageous; in later ages, Baifeng only thought of it as an ornamental plant and had even planted it as a flower, but he never expected that it was actually the famous mallow.

Baifeng did not want to fall behind and planted a large patch of chives and Wild Onion. Although there were many wild ones, since they had the land, they could plant them on a large scale.

Although a lot was planted, he didn't know how much would grow. The tribe's main source of vegetables was actually Bitter Lettuce, shepherd's purse, and bamboo shoots—wild vegetables found everywhere. The planted vegetables were only because Baifeng thought they had potential for cultivation.

Ever since the spring snow, the entire tribe had come alive. All work seemed to have started in an instant. The main city wall was already three meters high. Baifeng's expectation was that after it reached four meters, he would no longer increase the height but increase the thickness. However, the tribe's main labor force had to go out to hunt and gather, and there weren't many people left to continue building the wall. This last meter would likely not be finished until the end of the year.

The surface of the Dahu had thawed, the water pipes were back to normal, and fishing work could begin. Before, they were afraid of fierce beasts that the tribespeople couldn't handle, but now everyone had a Strong Bow and sharp weapons. Not only were they not panicked at all, but Baifeng also had no major worries; no matter how high one's kung fu is, one is still afraid of a kitchen knife.

The greatest overlord of this Wasteland was the tiger. The only ones that could survive in the northwest were the South China Tiger, which had a small body size, and the tribespeople could fully handle them if there were enough people, unlike the Siberian tiger, whose mere physique could scare the wits out of a crowd.

Baifeng watched with peace of mind as dozens of them, men and women, pulled three large carts toward the Dahu. In the carts were their fishing tools. The tribespeople who had specialized in fishing all winter had been using their fishing experience to create various fishing devices. Baifeng was very happy about this because they knew how to summarize experience and think about improvements; this was a very important step in human development.

It was a pity that the tribe had almost no hemp rope; otherwise, he could have had them weave fishing nets. If that were the case, fishing in that resource-exploding Dahu would be no different from scooping rice out of a pot.

Not only Fish Traps, but Baifeng also used feathers to make simple Lures for them. How much they could catch would depend entirely on their own skills.

The Bamboo Rafts were all left by the Dahu and not brought back to the tribe; after all, it was impossible for monkeys or wolves to take advantage of the lack of people to paddle the Bamboo Rafts on the lake.

Their Bamboo Rafts were also being made more and more exaggerated. Someone had made a giant Bamboo Raft in the winter that could hold several people running on it, and after listening to Baifeng's suggestion, they added a small bamboo shed so they could hide if it rained, and it could also block the sun in the summer.

It was just that the technology wasn't there yet; otherwise, wooden boats would be much better than Bamboo Rafts. Baifeng didn't know how to make them, and they knew even less.

Baifeng was still worried about whether this giant Bamboo Raft would sink, but fortunately, it was very capable, sitting steadily on the lake surface, and there was no sign of overloading even when several people got on.

Now, more than a dozen Bamboo Rafts drifted on the Dahu every day, using whistles as signals to communicate with each other. On the road back and forth, the women pulled and pushed the carts, while the male Soldiers carried Knives or drew bows, guarding vigilantly.

Sometimes what they were pulling in the carts was not just the fish catch, but also the beasts that had intended to waylay them.