SFS Chapter 112 Farming
Chapter 112 Farming
In the warm spring of March, when all things revive and prey come out, Lang Cang didn't know what month it was, but he had learned a lot while hunting with his father.
The signs of animal activity in the forest are becoming increasingly clear, making it the perfect time for hunting.
In Lin Baiyan's mental calendar, it was already the end of February.
Although he was already prepared, he still felt lingering fear when he thought about how Lang Cang had led the hunting team to an exceptionally tragic end last time.
He pursed his lips. "When are you leaving?"
Wolf Cang said in a deep voice, "We'll set off tomorrow. I've already had Leopard Road and the others patrol thoroughly these past few days, and I'll also leave enough manpower in the tribe..."
Lin Baiyan listened silently to Lang Cang's words and nodded, "No problem, I'll have Hu Qing bring you some dried meat and sweet potato."
"I've also ground the hemostatic herbs into powder, you can use them directly."
Just as Lang Cang was about to refuse, Lin Baiyan interjected, "Before, it was because the tribe didn't have enough food, but now we have stored grain."
Although Uncle Rabbit Forest always seemed worried about running out of food, in reality, they had wild cattle and later wolf meat, so the tribe still had reserves.
Lang Cang couldn't argue with him, so he had no choice but to nod.
The two split up; Lang Cang went to select the male beastmen to take with them, while Lin Baiyan led the sub-beastmen to prepare their luggage overnight.
Lin Baiyan stuffed the animal skin bag with grains, ground seasonings, herbs... he wished he could put in everything he could think of.
The next morning, Lang Cang left behind six male orcs led by Hu Qiu and Zhu Shan.
The hunting party couldn't be too small, and there weren't many male orcs to begin with. This spring, several male orcs who were about to come of age refused to stay in the tribe and all shouted that they wanted to join the hunting party. So Wolf Cang added them to the hunting party, which freed up some manpower.
Wolf Cang left two male orcs who were too old to continue with Tiger Hill.
There are currently twenty-four male orcs out hunting together, while six male orcs remain in the tribe.
A tribe cannot exist without male orcs; otherwise, patrolling and scouting will be a real hassle.
Of course, Wolf Cloud wasn't included. There was nothing he could do; even if he were taller, he was only eleven years old. He could only look on with envy at the few male orcs who had been chosen for the hunting team.
Early the next morning, Lang Cang led the male beastmen away from the tribe and began the first hunt of the spring.
After Lang Cang led the male beastmen away, Lin Baiyan quickly reorganized the manpower in various parts of the tribe.
There weren't many people in the tribe, so they simply ate from the same pot as before. Tiger Green, Dog Spirit, and a half-grown kitten named Cat Feather were in charge of cooking.
This was no easy task; they had to prepare food for forty or fifty orcs in the tribe. Even though most of them were sub-orcs, the workload was still considerable.
The construction of houses cannot be stopped. Three sub-beastmen were assigned to help build houses in Tiger Hill. Fortunately, Lu Xiao had been following up on the previous house-building work, and there were also several male beastmen from Tiger Hill, making it much easier for the sub-beastmen to take over.
Previously, the brick kiln had been firing bricks day and night, producing a large quantity that piled up to the point where it looked enough to build another seven or eight houses. So, they stopped firing bricks for the time being.
Of the remaining ten orcs, half went to gather resources, and the other half…
Everyone should go farm with him!
Five sub-orcs, plus the dwarf Cheng who had previously joined the male orcs in making mud bricks, and two other dwarf orcs.
There were eight orcs in total, plus himself, making nine.
Lin Baiyan was already itching to start his planting project.
After he had made his plans again, he turned around and went into the room in the cave where the plants were stored. He buried himself in the soil for a while and found all the seeds he had left behind.
Then he went back to his cave, looked at the chicks by the window, and saw that they had drunk some water and eaten some sweet potatoes. But he knew he would be very busy and wouldn't have time to take care of the chicks. He was also afraid that the chicks he had finally gotten would die.
Lin Baiyan looked at the chicks pecking at the sweet potato puree, thought for a moment, and then went outside to find Lang Yu and Mao Xia.
He bent down and looked at the two little chicks. "Priest brother has been busy these past few days and hasn't been able to take care of the chicks. Could you two please come to my cave to check on them from time to time?"
"Give them some water and some food. When the charcoal goes out, add another one."
"If you take good care of them, the priest will cook you something delicious!"
Cat Xia and Wolf Rain listened attentively to Lin Baiyan's words. Cat Xia very sensibly shook her head, "No food, Wolf Rain and I will definitely take good care of the chicks."
Wolf Rain added from the side, "The adults all have things to do, and we should help too. We don't want the priest's food."
Lin Baiyan smiled slightly and gently patted the heads of the two little cubs one by one. "It's alright, Priest Brother has food."
That's settled then.
Having arranged a place for the chicks, Lin Baiyan confidently began his farming plan.
He led a few sub-beastmen, picked up the farm tools he had previously asked the carpenters to make—wooden sleds, stone adzes, and the like—and the group headed east toward the plains.
Lin Baiyan had finalized the location of the planting area early on. That plain was full of fertile black soil, so the grains that could be grown there were naturally excellent.
Moreover, the plains to the east are close to the great river, which will save them a lot of effort in drawing water for irrigation in the future.
However, there is a lot of preparation work to be done before planting.
First, remove the weeds and stones from the flat ground, then turn the soil over to make it looser and more breathable.
Lin Baiyan carried a rake, first turning over the soil, then breaking up the large clods, and finally pushing the soil aside. He then leveled the land by removing the stubborn clods. This is the basic process of rakening.
Grass roots and pebbles in the soil are all obstacles to seed development and should be removed.
After turning over all the soil in a plot of land, Lin Baiyan spread a thin layer of dry grass on it, lit a torch on the grass, and the flames gradually grew larger with the wind, sweeping across the entire ground.
This is to burn away all the insects, insect eggs, grass seeds, and grass roots on the surface of the soil; otherwise, these insects and grass seeds will compete with the crops for nutrients.
There are no pesticides or fertilizers here to begin with, so we don't want everything we grow to end up being their food.
The fire scorched the soil as Lin Baiyan and his companions cleared another plot of land. This year, he hadn't kept many seeds; Lin Baiyan roughly estimated that it would be enough to plant eight acres of potatoes and five acres of sweet potatoes.
He also scattered some strange seeds he had collected earlier into the soil, leaving it to chance what would grow.
After burning away all the insect eggs in the soil, the group dug out and reinforced the field ridges. With the ridges, the water in the field would not easily flow away.