Qiu Xiao took two artichokes to the kitchen to cook, and in the back garden here, Gu Yunji continued to introduce the novel crop of potatoes to Xu Shuhua: "The most different feature of artichoke from wheat and rice is its high yield, do you know how much it can produce in one acre?" ”

Xu Shuhua rarely saw Gu Yunji so interested, and he was happy to cooperate with him: "How much?" ”

Gu Yunji silently stretched out a finger.

"A hundred pounds?"

"A thousand pounds!" Gu Yunji's eyes lit up, and his face turned red with excitement, "And this is the most conservative estimate, if the land is more fertile, and then select and breed good seeds, maybe it can reach a yield of two or three thousand catties per mu, and even four or five thousand catties is not impossible!" ”

"So many?! Really? ”

"Of course it's true! Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to great lengths to bring someone back from the coast. ”

Xu Shuhua guessed from Gu Yunji's attitude that there must be something special about the artichoke, otherwise it would not have caused him to be so excited, but when she heard this number, she was still taken aback, she never expected that there would be such a high yield per mu.

After the initial shock, Xu Shuhua pondered: "If you grow rice or wheat, even if it is a high-quality fertile field, the yield of one mu will be three or four hundred catties at most. And this artichoke can reach a yield of 1,000 catties per mu, which is more than two or three times that of rice and wheat. ”

Gu Yunji nodded vigorously and said excitedly: "That's right!" Artichoke likes cold and cool, and it is best to plant it in soft sandy soil, which does not require too much water, and is suitable for promoting planting in our southwest mountainous areas. Moreover, it has a short growth cycle, from sowing to harvesting, it takes only two or three months, and it can be sown in spring and autumn of the year. ”

"After harvesting, put it in a cool and ventilated place, under normal circumstances, it is no problem to store it for more than half a month, if it is stored in the cellar, it will not be bad all year round!"

Xu Shuhua muttered: "It is high-yielding, easy to plant, and has a long storage cycle...... In this way, isn't this artichoke without shortcomings? Is there really such a perfect food crop in the world? ”

Gu Yunji said: "It's not that there are no shortcomings at all, artichoke eats too much heartburn, it's not easy to digest, and it can never become a real staple food, at most it is a supplementary substitute for rice and pasta." For people like us who don't have to worry about food and clothing, naturally we don't eat every day, which is equivalent to adding a dish to the table. ”

"But for the poor families who are struggling on the line of life and death, having artichoke can save them from starvation, and this is the greatest merit."

In the case of not having enough to eat, any heartburn and indigestion are empty, and filling the stomach is real. If there is a famine year, the victims can even eat the bark and grass roots, the paste pasted on the door frame can be scraped off, and the verdant food can be eaten within a hundred miles.

As he was talking, Qiu Xiao brought the boiled artichoke over and asked Gu Yunji: "My lord, do you think this is okay?" ”

There are still holes poked by chopsticks on the two artichokes, and they are completely cooked at a glance, Gu Yunji nodded: "Well, that's fine." ”

The artichoke was cooked, Gu Yunji couldn't wait to share it with Xu Shuhua, he picked up a small piece with chopsticks, blew it carefully, and then carefully fed it to Xu Shuhua's mouth: "Taste?" ”

In the end, Xu Shuhua was hesitant to hear about something he had never heard of, but looking at Gu Yunji's eyes full of expectation, he couldn't bear to refuse after all, and opened his mouth to eat the artichoke he fed.

"How?"

Xu Shuhua savored it and said, "Hmm...... Very strange taste, soft and waxy, no special smell, the taste is relatively bland, but not unpalatable. ”

Seeing this, Gu Yunji also picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, and instantly smiled: "Well-that's the taste!" It's just boiled in plain water, without any seasoning, and the taste is definitely bland. If we have the opportunity to try other ways to eat it in the future, you might like it. ”

"But we can't eat too much now, I'll leave one for Xi'er to taste, and I'll keep the rest as seeds."

Xu Shuhua was puzzled: "Is there only so much in total?" Even if the artichoke is highly productive, if you rely on a little bit of cultivation like this, I am afraid that it will be promoted to the entire Xuzhou Prefecture in the Year of the Monkey? ”

Gu Yunji said: "That's not it, you can buy a large number of them with the Franco merchants in the future, and you don't have to worry about the seeds." It's just that no one has ever planted artichoke, so I have to at least experiment to confirm that there is no problem before I can promote it to the entire Xuzhou capital. ”

Xu Shuhua's eyes flashed with surprise: "No one has ever planted it?" So, you were the first person to grow artichoke in the entire Great Xia? ”

Gu Yunji said with a smile: "The whole Great Xia is a bit exaggerated, after all, the artichoke is likely to have been introduced to some areas, but the scope is relatively narrow, we don't know." But to put it mildly, I was the first person in the entire Xuzhou Mansion to grow artichokes, which should be no problem. ”

"These two boxes of potatoes are about one hundred and fifty or sixty catties, and if they are all planted, they will need at least half an acre of land, and tomorrow I will go to the prefect and Tongzhi to ask for land. But in order to facilitate observation, I plan to plant a little in our back garden first, and it just so happens that it is the sowing season, so I simply come back to plant artichokes in the field. ”

Xu Shuhua smiled: "So you can't wait to come back to farm halfway through your duty?" ”

Gu Yunji was a little embarrassed: "After all, it is a high-yield crop with a yield of 1,000 catties per mu, if it is successfully planted, it can bring earth-shaking changes to Xuzhou Mansion, and the mood is more eager." ”

Xu Shuhua looked at him with interest: "The vast majority of people have never even seen artichokes, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to promote it when the time comes." If nothing else, do you know how to grow it? ”

Gu Yunji confidently straightened his chest: "Of course I know!" I dare say that there is no one in the whole of Great Xia who knows artichoke better than me now. ”

"You see, the first thing to do when planting artichokes is to choose this kind of germinated one, cut it into small pieces, and make sure that each piece has a budding eye. Then the cut surface is covered with plant ash, the buds are placed in the soil with the eyes facing up, and finally covered with soil and watered......"

As he spoke, Gu Yunji demonstrated it to Xu Shuhua, and carefully planted the artichoke into the soil one by one according to the steps just now, looking very serious.

After a while, Gu Yunji was so absorbed that he even forgot to speak. Xu Shuhua didn't bother silently, silently waved his subordinates away, and looked at him quietly on the side.

The spring sun is just right, warm enough, but not too scorching. Xu Shuhua looked at Gu Yunji, who was concentrating on planting artichokes, his movements were so skillful, as if he had done it thousands of times, not at all like an inexperienced freshman.

Looking at it, Xu Shuhua's eyes were empty, and his thoughts gradually drifted away, not knowing what he was thinking

Her mind retracted, and suddenly, she spoke softly: "Yunji, are you also growing artichokes like this in your original world?" ”

(End of chapter)