Chapter 95: High-Efficiency Composting Bacterial Powder

Xia Qing really enjoyed the process of cleaning out cotton's ears; the small buds and tender leaves she plucked off, she didn't throw away either, but put them in a bag, and once sun-dried they could serve as fire manure—that is, plant ash—to fertilize the next crop.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Xia Qing's mind. She pressed the walkie-talkie. "Brother Qi, are you there?"

Lords Four, Five, Six, and Ten were all used to keeping their walkie-talkies on except when sleeping. So as soon as Xia Qing called, Qi Fu responded, "I'm here. What's up, Xia Qing?"

Xia Qing asked, "Brother Qi, I remember you once said you can't compost directly because there are microorganisms and insect eggs on the leaves that even normal fermentation temperatures can't kill, and using high-efficiency pesticides easily triggers plant blight-evolution. But now our crops are all covered with insect-proof netting, so moths can't get in, and there shouldn't be any insect eggs on the crop leaves. Can we use them for composting?"

Xia Qing had truly stumped Qi Fu. "I really haven't thought about that. Logically, it should work, right?"

Shi Zhong spoke up. "Even if our insect netting can keep out insects, it can't keep out microorganisms. I remember the broadcast said harmful bacteria have a greater impact than harmful insects."

It had indeed been said. The little spark of excitement in Xia Qing's heart was doused by Shi Zhong.

The channel fell quiet for a while, then a calm female voice spoke up. "Plants isolated by insect netting from blight-evolved pests, if they show no signs of disease, can be used for composting and fermentation. However, the crops in your territories were only covered after the second blight-rain, so you can't guarantee there are no heat-resistant insect eggs on the plants."

Luo Pei had said Li Si was skilled in cultivation techniques, so her words carried considerable credibility. Xia Qing hurriedly took notes.

Qi Fu consulted Li Si. "Sister Si, the vegetables in my territory were covered with insect netting not long after being transplanted in early March. Can they be used for composting?"

"Yes." Li Si answered very professionally. "Herbaceous-stem vegetables can be composted and fermented directly. Woody-stem blight-evolved eggplant vines should be burned to make fire manure."

Xia Qing noted it on her phone and continued asking, "Sister Si, are peanut vines herbaceous or woody stems?"

Li Si's voice was cool, but she was still patient. "Peanuts are herbaceous stems and can be composted. How long do you think composting takes?"

Qi Fu answered honestly. "Before the catastrophe, my family farmed. Autumn and winter composting should take four months; spring and summer temperatures are higher, so two or three months. After the catastrophe, I haven't done it, so I don't know how many months it takes now."

Li Si replied calmly, "The hardness of blight-evolved plant stems, the composting bacterial powder used, and temperature and humidity control conditions all affect composting duration. Based on the types of blight-evolved vegetables in your territories, if you don't add composting bacterial powder and use the pre-catastrophe traditional composting method, vegetable stems and leaves need at least seven months to fully decompose."

Zhao Ze hurriedly followed up. "Sister Si really knows a lot. You've worked at a core department of the Safe Zone planting center, haven't you?"

The businessman Kuang Qingwei also asked, "Sister Si knows the trade so well—you must know where to get composting bacterial powder and temperature/humidity control equipment, right?"

Li Si, in Territory Nine, pushed her glasses up with her palm. "You can make the equipment yourselves. I do have high-efficiency composting bacterial powder and can trade with you. One bag of powder mixed with a hundred kilograms of water can ferment five cubic meters of stem-and-leaf fertilizer. You can trade me green-light vegetables—two jin of vegetables for one bag of powder."

Hearing Li Si say to trade with green-light vegetables, Xia Qing's heart skipped a beat.

High-efficiency bacterial powder that can compost and composting methods were good things you could only stumble upon, not seek out. Qi Fu hurriedly asked, "Sister Si, can Territory Five trade you two bags for green-light eggplant?"

Li Si refused. "I don't lack the vegetable varieties you brought out from the Safe Zone. Do you have anything else?"

Hearing that Li Si didn't want the vegetable varieties distributed by the Safe Zone, Xia Qing became even more suspicious of her motives. She wanted the native green-light vegetables from each territory—was she trying to test the blight-element content?

Qi Fu hurriedly answered, "I have green-light alfalfa and green-light perilla. Together I can make up four jin."

"Alright." Li Si agreed.

Kuang Qingwei hurriedly followed up. "Sister Si, I'm Kuang Qingwei from Territory Six. My territory has green-light malva. Can I trade for one bag?"

"Alright."

Zhao Ze followed up too. "My Territory Four also has malva."

"Malva has already been traded. Do you have anything else?"

Tang Heng jumped in before Zhao Ze could speak, offering trade terms. "Sister Si, Territory Two has green-light wild chrysanthemum greens. Can I trade for one bag?"

"Alright."

Zhao Ze wailed. "Besides what they've mentioned, I only have wild green-light fiddlehead fern I dried in spring. Can I trade that?"

Li Si's voice was ice-cold. "No. I don't like dried vegetables."

Was it because she didn't like dried vegetables, or because dried vegetables made it hard to accurately measure blight-element content? While Xia Qing was pondering this, she heard Li Si—who had just completed a trade with Shi Zhong for wild water celery—call her name. "Xia Qing of Territory Three, aren't you planning to trade?"

Xia Qing pressed the button and answered regretfully, "Sister Si, of course I want to trade, but I only have a few green-light perilla plants, and they've been nibbled by sheep. I really can't offer them."

Li Si, who had already traded Qi Fu for green-light perilla, asked coldly, "Don't you have green-light spinach?"

Xia Qing answered truthfully, "My green-light spinach went to seed during the blight-rain and I pulled them out. I don't have any now."

Li Si didn't give up. "Seeds work too. Two hundred spinach seeds for one bag of powder. Once green-light vegetables enter maturity, even if they encounter blight-rain, not all of them will blight-evolve. Your seeds are still usable."

Xia Qing explained, "Sister Si, my spinach matured during the blight-rain and was drenched and soaked by the water. So I can't guarantee they're still green-light, and besides, I can't produce two hundred seeds."

Li Si questioned, "Weren't there over a dozen spinach plants? How can you not even have two hundred seeds?"

Xia Qing haggled. "I did have over a dozen spinach plants, but only eight went to seed. Of the seeds I collected, I've already traded some away, and I plan to keep the rest for my own seed stock, so I can't produce two hundred. Besides, you trade one bag of powder for two jin of green-light vegetables. At the public price, green-light vegetables are 50 points per jin, so two jin is 100 points. Green-light vegetable seeds are 20 points each. At that price, it should be five green-light seeds per bag of powder."

"I see." From Li Si's tone, she really didn't seem to know the prices of vegetables and seeds. "Then five seeds per bag."

"Thank you, Sister Si. I'll trade for two bags of powder." Xia Qing had plenty of compostable vegetables in her planting area, but she didn't want anyone to know, so she chose to trade the same amount as Qi Fu.

Hu Zifeng spoke up. "Sister Si, can Territory One trade six bags of powder for fresh green-light bamboo shoots?"

"Alright." Li Si replied coldly.

The languid Zhang San came online. "Hu Zifeng, did you go into the mountains to dig bamboo shoots?"

Hu Zifeng answered respectfully, "We went into the mountains today to clear dangerous blight-evolved creatures and found three more green-light bamboo shoots had grown. Shall I bring the two intact ones over to you in a bit?"

"Good." Zhang San replied lazily, then asked Li Si, "Li Si, you don't lack seeds. What do you want Territory Three's spinach seeds for?"