Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 894 - 876. Saga Snow Rabbit, True Red Meiling

Chapter 894: 876. Saga Snow Rabbit, True Red Meiling

Under the blessing of money, the construction of the greenhouse really progressed quickly!

A few people from the village helped with the work, some helped with tilling the soil and preparing the fertilizer, everyone was busy bustling about.

However, for those building the greenhouse, speed was a matter of course.

After all, other greenhouses began construction in September, and some even earlier in July or August. But Lao Song’s family, oh no, they waited until the temperature started to drop before they got going... If they don’t rush the work, who will?

Even more anxious than greenhouse construction was Professor Song.

During this period, he was all over the place looking for seedlings, from fruits to vegetables. He also needed to carefully select varieties according to the conditions, and considering that this autumn there were quite a few fake seed companies causing harm to farmers within the industry...

He absolutely had to be extra cautious!

After all, you can’t tell fake seeds apart right after planting; it’s not until harvest time that you can notice. By then, if the timing is off, it’s the hard work of the farmers that’s been wasted for a whole year.

For those in agriculture, this is what they fear most!

There’s also the opportunity secured for Song Tan this time. There has never been a precedent of small farms squeezing in, so of course, even more care is required.

Regrettably, time is still a bit late. Take the strawberries mentioned by Song Tan, for instance. Normal strawberry growers have already started planting and setting up greenhouses in August or September...

Now it is already November!

Planting from seeds is out of the question - for a novice, planting from seeds wasn’t expected anyway, but luckily he knows many bases where getting some nutrient pots is still not a problem.

That’s why, after carefully selecting two rather distinctive strawberry varieties and asking former students to help pack and ship them, he finally felt settled down.

By the time the strawberry seedlings are delivered and successfully planted, they will probably start to grow runners soon, to some extent compensating for the lost time.

He urged three times a day, to the point where Song Tan got anxious and couldn’t wait for Brother Xiaozhang to deliver the seedlings. She went to pick them up by car as soon as they arrived.

At this moment, Professor Song was still instructing Song Tan:

"I sent you two types of seedlings, both varieties originally from the island country - but don’t get any ideas, it’s really because we still have quite a gap in independent breeds."

"Then again, our country has a vast territory and abundant resources. What grows well to the south of the Huai River might not suit the north. You also have to pay attention to regional differences; some well-reputed local varieties on the market may not be suitable."

He sent voice messages, and Song Tan silently listened, taking it to heart one by one - Professor Song didn’t actually need to give so many instructions. Whatever he ordered, she would follow, after all, in matters of expertise, one listens to the experts, right? She never rebels against professionals in these matters.

That’s not foolish!

One by one, the voice messages continued to play—

"The larger seedlings in one box are white strawberries, with white flesh and red seeds, very pretty. When ripe, they have a hint of pink showing through the white, called Saga Snow Rabbit. It can also be called Angel No. 7, Shangxue, and the like."

"I chose this one for you primarily because it has larger fruits, with an average weight of over 35 grams, and also because its winter fruits are relatively firm, making them suitable for transport and storage."

This Song Tan understood.

Strawberries are precious, once picked they can’t be stored or kept; a slight bump and they turn soft and rotten... If it weren’t for this characteristic, she would have started preparing to grow strawberries long ago.

However, the most important thing about fruit is that it’s delicious, right?

Take the Saga Snow Rabbit arranged by Professor Song for instance; he describes them as very fragrant and sweet with a unique scent, even a bit reminiscent of peaches and apples...

Song Tan: ...Can’t strawberries just simply have the taste of strawberries?

But it’s uncertain, the taste of fruit has a lot to do with the planting environment, in any case, delicious, durable, and transportable is sufficient.

After all, she now has some capability; however, when it comes to transport and storage, she always feels like she’s at a significant loss.

"Half of the batch is True Red Meiling, the fruits of this variety aren’t that big, but the sugar content is really high, reaching above 14. Plus, they’re firm and the blackish-red color is quite distinctive, both varieties belong to the more expensive strawberries."

"Tantan, I think planting these at your place will be more appealing in the early stages."

What he implied was pretty subtle, but the real meaning Song Tan discerned was—essentially, good varieties that are relatively uncommon could attract more attention from the judges, so as not to be underestimated from the start.

The reason for saying ’from the start’ is... Song Tan thought that if her strawberries didn’t get noticed, she would just crush a strawberry at the venue; the juice and the fragrance would be so overpowering it was hard to believe no one would take notice...

Of course, this plot of playing the fool to catch the wise only existed in her imagination, because she still had no idea how the judging would actually go.

Now, as she drove, she mulled over things:

When she left, the greenhouse had begun to be covered with a roof and a thermal insulation layer, or maybe she could wait to spread things out a bit more when she got the seedlings back, by which time the ground should be leveled as well.

Then, she would first lay down silver-black plastic mulch to prevent pests and promote growth, followed by planting the seedlings.

For two plots of strawberries, if she does pot planting, she could only plant up to a thousand plants, at most not exceeding twelve hundred...

That’s enough for family consumption and to enter in the competition!

Ah, Qiaoqiao and Xixi’s longed-for strawberries, they don’t even know how happy they will be! Once she brings the crates back, she must let Qiaoqiao plant a couple of them with her own hands!

All the way, she dreamed up all sorts of beautiful thoughts.

But when she got to town, Song Tan stared at the two tall and sturdy crates, at that moment she was just numb.

Professor Song didn’t mention that the crates would be this big!

But thinking about it, it made sense, as Professor Song had arranged for 600 seedlings of each variety as a safeguard against loss, a total of 1200, and they weren’t the small tray seedlings, so of course, they had to be packed into two large crates.

No wonder Brother Xiaozhang called to ask if the delivery was urgent, if not, he’d slowly transport them tomorrow... These things couldn’t possibly fit in his van!

Song Tan walked around the crates and opened them to check, discovering that each crate was divided into five layers top to bottom, designed to prevent collision and pressure with space in between, each packed tightly in special flower partition boxes.

Just by the looks of them, you’d think she had been sent two double-door fridges.

Honestly, the cost of the seedlings and the freight alone are enough to deter the average farmer.

Now with two crates side by side, after a moment of silence, Song Tan had no choice but to lift them into the pickup one by one—

Pickups are great! So practical! Next time she buys a vehicle, it’ll be another pickup!

And next, she will have to come back successively to get the chili seedlings, Shanghai-Nanjing edamame seedlings, as well as cucumbers and tomatoes...

Yikes!

It’s going to be a few busy days again!

...

Meanwhile, in distant River City, upon hearing about the family’s busy greenhouse construction over the phone, Boss Chang nearly burst into tears!

"I just knew it!" he murmured:

"Effort pays off for those who try, as long as you pay enough, a greenhouse will be built eventually..."

With his grand delusions, Boss Chang started gleefully researching the New Year’s Eve dinner and the VIP gift boxes!

After all, they now had a greenhouse, wouldn’t they have all kinds of vegetables and fruits for the New Year? His big gift box also had to be made with a bit more heart and presence, right?