Her Cultivation Diary-Chapter 168 - . Choosing Watermelon Seedlings_1
Chapter 168: 168. Choosing Watermelon Seedlings_1
Chapter 168: 168. Choosing Watermelon Seedlings_1
Old Jiang soaked his feet, making the three of them feel warm all over, but hotter still were the hearts of Song Youde and Song Sancheng.
It was simply because two new tricycles were right there in the yard, making it very hard for them not to be excited!
Even Old Li didn’t leave, but sat on the side eagerly waiting.
Only Seventh Uncle, who was getting ready to cook dinner, snorted coldly:
“You can’t pick leftover buns from a dog’s kennel! It’s not even dark yet, it’d be better to do some more work, but instead you have to show off your new tricycles.”
Being close relatives, everyone was used to Seventh Uncle’s personality.
Song Youde’s beard curled:
“What do you know? This is a sign of respect my granddaughter gave me! Besides, there hasn’t been much work lately…”
“Heh!”
Seventh Uncle also sneered coldly, “Just last night I heard you talking about interplanting watermelons in the Peach Forest, where are the watermelon seedlings?”
“And you said you’re going to plant Golden Sakura around the edges, where are they?”
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“You also mentioned planting some loofahs and pumpkins in the corners, have they been planted?”
“Didn’t you say you were going to pick white fungus today? Where is it?”
He had prepared rock sugar, lily, and dried lotus seeds, having waited all day without seeing a single piece of white fungus!
At these words, even Song Sancheng felt a bit defiant: “Uncle, there’s farm work to be done every day; can’t we take a break for once? Right, sweetheart?”
What could Song Tan say?
On one side was a prideful chef, and on the other, her father and grandfather.
She simply got back into the car:
“So, Brother Yanping, you watch them practice driving, don’t let them go over any bumps. I’ll go to town again to check on those watermelon seedlings, I just heard the courier say someone was selling them this morning.”
Zhang Yanping immediately shouted, “Don’t look in town! I know a place that sells seedlings, watermelons grafted on pumpkin roots, including Kirin melons and seedless varieties, all big and sweet!”
“No need, no need.”
Song Tan started the car, too: “I just like the old-fashioned striped watermelons, the kind we grow ourselves, not picky about these things.”
It’s not that grafted varieties are bad, they certainly have their advantages in terms of nutrient delivery and growth, but the thing is, her Spiritual Energy was weak, and her agricultural experience was all with heirloom varieties; it was better to be conservative for now.
Zhang Yanping knew even less about farming than she did!
Now, merely pretending to understand, he nodded his head, “I’ve also found out about the Golden Sakura, they might be able to send them in a couple of days, no rush.”
Song Tan wasn’t in a hurry at all.
Having a rotation period for planting was quite nice; this way, the blossoming could be continuous, allowing the bees to have a fuller meal.
She really did want to take a look at the watermelon seedlings.
Enterprising families began sowing early melons in March, and she, starting in early April, wanted to catch the early market, which meant she needed to choose mature seedlings from others.
Fortunately, not far from town, in recent years, a large area of farmland had been covered with greenhouses and converted into seedling nurseries; now, picking up some common seedlings had become quite straightforward.
It was just after two in the afternoon, by the time she had picked out the seedlings and returned, her father and grandfather would probably be nearly done practicing with the tricycle.
Just in time for everyone to take advantage of the cooler sun to go up the hill and plant the watermelon seedlings.
The land had already been tilled when planting the peach trees, now all that was needed was to dig holes for planting; after all, with Spiritual Energy, extensive management was simple.
Driving from home to the town, it was much closer than to the city center. In just over twenty minutes, the car had already arrived at the greenhouse prearranged for the meeting.
The weather was just right today, and several greenhouses had rolled up their plastic film, allowing the plants to ventilate and get sunlight.
Upon entering the greenhouse, one was greeted by a sea of lush greenery, which was truly a delightful sight.
“So you’re the one looking to buy watermelon seedlings?”
The dark-skinned uncle who entered was taken aback when he saw Song Tan, and he couldn’t help but peek behind her before finally assuring himself that this fair-skinned, beautiful girl was indeed the one who intended to farm.
Song Tan nodded:
“Yes, I’m from Yunqiao Village. This year, our family took on an orchard, and we want to intercrop some watermelons in it.”
“Oh, oh,” the owner came back to his senses, “I know Yunqiao Village. You want to intercrop in the orchard? Then the amount of seedlings you’ll need for an acre will be much fewer than usual. Go ahead and pick some, come on, take a look at the seedlings first.”
The owner, familiar with his business, led her to the next greenhouse, “We’re all folks from the same area, I won’t cheat you. If you have any problems, just come to me, I might run, but my greenhouse won’t. If you grow them well, you’ll come back next year.”
Song Tan nodded.
She understood the owner’s intention, which was to assure her to buy with a verbal guarantee.
People here may choose to cheat others, but most of the time, anyone looking to do long-term local business cares about their reputation.
“Why do these seedlings look a bit weak?”
Reputation aside, practical matters come first, and Song Tan did not hesitate to ask questions.
The owner was honest, “These are early-maturing seedlings. They produce smaller melons that you can sell by the end of May or early June.”
“Don’t judge them by their slender appearance, that’s just how they are, not an issue with the cultivation. Try planting them, and keep only one vine per plant; you can be sure the melons will be sweet. I’m not deceiving you.”
“Normally, for seedlings like these, you can plant a thousand per acre. But if you’re intercropping, then eight hundred would do, it’s up to you.”
“However, if you want to plant them even sparser, you can’t choose these small seedlings. You’ll need a different variety, ones that are stronger.”
He turned right along the path into another greenhouse, “Look, these mid-season ones will mature about a month later than the ones we saw before, but you can keep two vines on one of these, and it will produce two or three melons without a problem.”
“If you’re intercropping with fruit trees, three to five hundred plants per acre should be enough, not more. Its vines are robust and take up space.”
“There’s even better stock, but honestly, young lady, not many people buy these seedlings now.”
Why is that?
They grow watermelons too big.
“Nowadays a household has only three or four members, and big melons can’t be finished in one go, hard to fit into the fridge. Smaller watermelons tend to sell better than the big ones.”
This was true, and Song Tan was also disinclined to choose these large melons. They were indeed too huge, each one as large as a big winter melon.
In supermarkets, only a slice of winter melon is purchased for cooking, so you can imagine how many people it would take to consume such a large watermelon?
In her family’s current large household, they might be able to consume it, but selling such large melons outside was really inconvenient.
Without hesitation, she turned around, “Are the melons from your smallest seedlings a bit smaller too?”
“Right,” the owner spoke truthfully.
“If you want to sell early-season melons, choose the smaller seedlings. I’m not deceiving you. Just look at how expensive watermelons are when they first hit the market! Big ones don’t sell well, they have to be small like this.”
“When the weather gets a bit hotter, then you can sell these slightly later-maturing varieties, which are larger and cheaper, making them less painful to eat.”
He was sharing his own experience, and Song Tan listened attentively.
Just look, even watermelon seedling sellers need to understand the market well nowadays. Truly, you learn something new every day.
