I've been transported to the orc continent.

Chapter 109 Planting Cassava

After tidying up her own land, Bai Ling began selecting seeds as the weather wasn't warm enough for planting yet.

Selecting seeds is not difficult; you can pick them by hand or with a winnowing basket or sieve. Bai Ling then realized that she didn't have a suitable winnowing basket or sieve on hand. Fortunately, neither of these things is difficult to make; her father and father-in-law could do it.

Borrowing suitable branches from their tribesmen, Feng, Cang, and Lin began weaving winnowing baskets. They were all skillful beastmen, and as long as Bai Ling simply described what a winnowing basket looked like, they could make it.

As Lin wove, she said, "Isn't this just a basket with one side missing? It's not difficult to make, but what's the use of it?"

He shook the unfinished winnowing basket: "Ling, what's the point of this? It can't hold much."

Bai Ling: "Uncle, this has many uses. For example, soybeans, some are good and some are bad. How do you pick out the bad soybeans? Picking them out one by one is too troublesome. If you have a winnowing basket, you can put the soybeans on the basket, and then hold the basket with both hands and shake it back and forth. The bad soybeans will be shaken to the top, which makes it very convenient to pick out the bad beans."

The winnowing basket has more uses than just these. After a good harvest, it can be used to put the grain into baskets or bags. It can also be used to store other things. In short, if you are farming, the winnowing basket is an indispensable tool.

Lin replied, "That's not bad. I'll make up a few more, Ling, you'll need them in the future."

*

As the weather gradually warmed up, some plants began to show green leaves, and small buds appeared on the cassava branches. Bai Ling began to lead the beastmen to plant cassava.

Cassava has a high yield, is resistant to waterlogging and drought, is easy to grow, and is not too demanding in terms of soil requirements, making it the top choice for planting now.

Bai Ling led the beast to collect cassava stems: "For stems used for propagation, try to choose new ones, that is, ones that just grew last year."

Bai Ling used a machete to cut off a stem about the thickness of a finger and showed it to the orc next to him: "A good propagation stem should be free of insects and have no off-color spots."

Dozens of orcs surrounded Bai Ling, passing the stem around in their hands. Bai Ling then bent down and cut off a second stem.

After explaining the selection method to the beastmen again, Bai Ling let them choose the stems for reproduction themselves.

Because there were too many people, Bai Ling divided the beastmen into many groups. Bai Ling didn't mind and explained to each group several times.

After the beastmen had collected the cassava stems, Bai Ling examined each stem in their hands to make sure there were no problems, and then let them cut a bundle of stems themselves.

The cassava stems that have been cut down need to be processed again, removing the bottom and top parts, leaving only the middle part.

*

"When planting, you need to cut the cassava into sections, each section about the length of your palm," Bai Ling said, placing her palm on the cassava to measure its length, and then cutting off a section about the length of her palm.

Bai Ling placed the cut section on the ground, then placed several cassava stalks next to it. With a few quick swings of her machete, she chopped the cassava stalks into sections.

"The cut cassava needs to be soaked in water overnight so it will sprout better." Bai Ling had already dug a pit and filled it with water. "Just soak it in like this."

This step didn't require much skill, and the orcs learned it very quickly. With so many people working together, they soon cut all the cassava stems they brought back.

The beastmen were tall, but not clumsy. They carefully and slowly placed the cut cassava into the puddle, afraid that the cassava might break even a little bit.

*

The cassava that had been soaked in water overnight looked a little greener on the outside, but the tiny buds didn't change much and remained pitifully small.

Planting cassava is also very simple. Apart from paying attention to whether the buds are facing upwards or downwards, there are no other requirements.

"When planting cassava, the first thing to pay attention to is the spacing between plants and the spacing between plants. The spacing is the distance between each row of cassava plants, and the spacing between plants is the distance between two adjacent cassava plants." Bai Ling demonstrated to the beastmen, "When planting cassava, the spacing between plants is about an arm's length, and the spacing between plants is about half an arm's length."

Bai Ling used a hoe to dig a row of holes in the prepared land, then returned to put cassava stems into the holes.

"The most important thing when planting cassava is to make sure you can see the direction in which the buds are growing," Bai Ling pointed to the tiny buds. "You can see that the buds are all growing upwards, so you must make sure the buds are facing upwards."

Bai Ling waved the cassava in front of the orc: "The buds are facing upwards now, so this is correct."

He turned the cassava over: "Now the buds are facing down, which is wrong."

After saying that, Bai Ling put the cassava stem into the hole she had dug, and stretched out her index finger to touch the cassava stem: "Put the cassava in a little, about the length of the second finger."

Next comes burying it in the soil, which is self-explanatory.

After covering the cassava with soil, Bai Ling stretched out her foot and gently stepped on the soil covering the cassava. At this point, a cassava plant was successfully planted.

Bai Ling demonstrated it several more times, especially emphasizing the importance of paying attention to the buds, which she explained repeatedly.

Because the beastmen were divided into groups, Bai Ling would explain to the first group, then to the second, and so on...

For the entire morning, Bai Ling explained, corrected, and answered the questions raised by the beastmen. By the end of the day, his voice was a little hoarse.

Feng brought over a ceramic jar and handed it to Bai Ling; "Ling, have some water."

Bai Ling took the earthenware pot and took a sip. He found that the water tasted a little sweet. He drank several large sips in a row, and the dryness in his throat improved a lot.

"Father, did you put maltose in it?" Bai Ling asked. "It's sweet."

Feng nodded: "Yes, your throat was a little sore yesterday. In the tribe, children with sore throats drink sweet worm water. Maltose is also sweet. I thought I'd put some of that in the water to make your throat feel better."

Bai Ling smiled and said, "Thank you, Father. I'll go back to work now."

*

Planting cassava doesn't require much skill; you just need to pay attention to the buds. The orcs planted in pairs, with the one in front digging the holes and the one behind planting the cassava. At first, everyone planted it relatively slowly, but they quickly became more skilled.

However, the beastmen didn't plant very quickly; they were all very careful, afraid of planting the wrong thing.

This is a serious matter concerning your stomach; making a mistake could cause serious problems.