1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 348 Uncle Gui's Cucumbers Are Extraordinary

"Uncle Gui, grafted cucumber seedlings are more resistant to adverse conditions and are less affected by low temperatures. I estimate they can be harvested for at least another half month."

"Even half a month is better than nothing. I really want to thank you this time."

Uncle Gui initially chose grafted seedlings from the seedling farm because there weren't many options available.

If the seedlings you bred yourself get diseased, forcing them to grow will likely result in even worse outcomes, and switching to other crops won't yield high profits either.

Ultimately, on Wang Yongxiang's repeated recommendation, they chose the free seedlings from the Rumor Center.

The planting process was filled with anxiety, and I would often encounter ridicule from my neighbors. I only felt relieved when the flowers and fruits started to bloom.

On the day of harvest, when I received the money, I realized that many of the previous claims were just rumors.

The seedlings from the nursery not only bear fruit, but also have a higher yield than ordinary seedlings!
At the current price and yield, if we harvest cucumbers for another half month, we can not only recover the initial investment but also make a profit.

This was like a timely rain after a long drought for families who had been somewhat desperate about this year's harvest.

"Yongxiang, Mr. Chen, please come to my house and have a seat. We'll have dinner here later!"

"No, Uncle Gui." Chen Jiazhi patted the bicycle seat. "We need to hurry to the next place to see how the grafted eggplant seedlings are doing. Eggplants aren't as cold-resistant as cucumbers."

"Wait a minute, there are some free-range eggs at home, you can take them back and eat them." Uncle Gui said to the woman next to him, "Guixiang, hurry home and get the eggs."

"No, no, you two keep it for yourselves~"

Chen Jiazhi gave him a wink, and Wang Yongxiang and Xue Jun followed him on their bicycles, while Uncle Gui and his wife called out from behind.

After riding for a while, Chen Jiazhi slowed down and joked, "This feeling isn't bad, Yongxiang. You used to take a lot of eggs from your fellow villagers, didn't you?"

Wang Yongxiang used to be a science and technology assistant in a township, specializing in promoting various practical technologies to farmers and helping them increase production and income.

He gave a wry smile. "Nengyu is one of the best towns in the county. The places I went to were much poorer. Many families were barely able to support themselves. How could I dare to take someone else's eggs?"

But it was indeed a long-lost feeling; it had been a long time since I had received genuine gratitude from someone.

That might be what a sense of accomplishment is.

Wang Yongxiang felt very comfortable being able to earn a decent salary while also helping farmers.

...

Nengyu's vegetable field was flat and open. When Chen Jiazhi and his group arrived at Uncle Gui's vegetable field, they caused quite a commotion. Several farmers working nearby also noticed them. As soon as the group left, they all came over to join in the fun.

"Da Gui, what are those people here for?"

"It seems to be the group from Yuanma Seedling Farm. They've been here before. Da Gui's cucumbers are grown using other people's seedlings, and they're growing quite well."

"Hey, we've harvested quite a few cucumbers today, probably two or three hundred pounds. Looks like these seedlings can bear fruit."

"Da Gui, how many kilograms of cucumbers can you sell in a day?"

Uncle Gui remained silent, already squatting in the field with his wife, busy with their work, letting the neighbors gossip as he spoke, only occasionally interjecting with a word or two.

He discovered the problem with the seedlings a long time ago and tried to buy seedlings from his neighbors, but they all said they would wait until they had finished planting their own before giving them to him.

He waited for several days but received nothing. Some people even took the seedlings to town to sell but refused to sell them to him. No wonder he was in a bad mood.

Those who had come to join the fun dispersed, having found themselves bored, but Uncle Gui's attitude also aroused dissatisfaction among a few people.

"What's so great about him? Cucumbers are already out of season and will be taken off the shelves in a few days. He's only been selling vegetables for a few days, and he probably hasn't even recouped his costs yet."

"Hey, you can't stop others from treasuring you!"

"I'll come back in a few days and see how many melons have grown..."

The people walked further and further away, but their conversation was still quite loud. Uncle Gui and his wife heard it, and after they buried themselves in their work for a while, their conversation finally came out.

"Da Gui, is it really possible to harvest cucumbers for another two weeks?"

"I don't know either." Uncle Gui touched the cucumber vines. "But the cucumbers are still growing new leaves, and they are also flowering and bearing fruit. They should be able to last for half a month."

"If it really takes half a month, you should make a trip there and deliver the eggs to their house."

"Okay, now we can prepare the eggs."

"it is good."

……

It took Chen Jiazhi most of the day to visit several farmers who had planted grafted seedlings.

The situation is mixed; the farmers who grew eggplants were slightly unlucky, as the eggplant roots were affected by the low temperatures at night.

However, it is a grafted seedling after all, and the rootstock used is also Yunnan water eggplant, which has strong resistance to adverse conditions, but its cold resistance is not outstanding.

It is still much stronger than seedlings used by ordinary farmers when dealing with low nighttime temperatures.

The reproductive period is naturally longer.

For farmers, the harvest period may not be long enough, resulting in low yields and profits, or even losses. But for Yunling Farm, it also proves the excellence of the grafted seedlings.

Secondly, there are green peppers, but the number of seedlings supplied to external parties is small, so the impact can be ignored.

The best performers were cucumbers and tomatoes, both of which were able to temporarily cope with nighttime temperatures below 12°C.

Overall, it's not bad.

Chen Jiazhi can accept this result; all that remains is to continue to face the test.

As December slowly approaches, the temperature in Yuanmou stabilizes between 10℃ and 27℃, with a long-term diurnal temperature range of 17℃. This temperature difference allows vegetables to accumulate a rich variety of flavor compounds, resulting in tomatoes that taste increasingly better.

However, the nighttime low temperature approaching 10°C also posed a great challenge to the open-air vegetables.

Li Mingkun happily picked a few bright red tomatoes and went to the bok choy seed production area.

"Come on, have some tomatoes, they're delicious."

"Hey, Lao Li, why are you being so generous today?" Peng Qian smiled and accepted the gift. "Tomatoes have gone up in price, and you're still willing to eat them."

Ji Song joked, "The workers probably missed picking them last time, and they were already ripe when they picked this time, making them inconvenient to transport. That's why they brought them to us to eat. Normally, if we picked just two, they would have given us a few words of criticism."

Chen Jiazhi also got up and took a few steps, took the tomato, wiped it, and took a bite. The juice burst in his mouth instantly, and the rich taste assaulted his taste buds.

Ripe tomatoes like these are really delicious.

Li Mingkun curled his lip and said, "Don't talk about me, even with your vegetables, if you want to pick a few bunches to take home for hot pot, you're all protective of your own, aren't you?"

"This is used for seed production."

"Can't we eat the seeds we produce? Besides, you said the quarantine wasn't enough, so it's perfect to eat them!"

Chen Jiazhi and the others finished the tomatoes, still wanting more. They also felt that Li Mingkun's words made some sense. "Xiang Bin is in Yuanmou today. We can pick some vegetables tonight and ask him to come over and try them out. Let's see if he's willing to buy them."

With such a large temperature difference between day and night, the vegetables will naturally taste great.

However, due to transportation limitations, it is still difficult to sell these vegetables throughout Yunnan.

However, through selling vegetables for this period of time, Chen Jiazhi felt that it was not entirely impossible to sell them. It takes about 20 hours to travel from Chengdu to Chengdu via the Chengdu-Kunming Railway.

Including loading, unloading, and wholesale, it can reach the tables of major hotels within 36 hours.

This level of efficiency is more than sufficient.

Although Chengdu does not yet have a strong consumer habit for Cantonese dishes such as bok choy and kale, hotels are more accepting of Cantonese cuisine and it is easier to cultivate this habit.

In addition, there are also bok choy, romaine lettuce, lettuce, Shanghai bok choy, and other leafy greens that are also widely accepted in Chengdu.

So this is also a sales channel, and the sales volume in winter is not small, as there is a shortage of fresh vegetables in Chengdu during the winter.

Li Mingkun also figured out his thoughts, "It has to be you, Boss Chen, you have so many tricks up your sleeve when it comes to eating. I'm thinking about eating, and you're thinking about selling."

Chen Jiazhi gave him an unfriendly look. "What bad intentions could a vegetable farmer have if he wanted to sell vegetables?"

"Yeah, the boss is the most simple-minded," Li Mingkun joked, then added, "So, if we slaughter another sheep tonight, you'll foot the bill, boss?"

Chen Jiazhi waved his hand and said, "Okay, it'll be from the company's account. We've made some money recently, so let's treat you guys."

In recent days, the daily income of Yunling Farm has exceeded 10,000 yuan, so slaughtering the first sheep is just a piece of cake.

"It should have been done a long time ago," Li Mingkun said smugly. "Vegetable prices will go up again in a few days!"

“A price increase is certainly good,” Chen Jiazhi said. “But we shouldn’t forget to promote seedlings. Our original goal was to build a seedling nursery, not to grow vegetables.”

"What's wrong with growing vegetables? You're the one who just called yourself a vegetable farmer."

"Alright, go ahead and do your thing."

Under the climate of Yuanmou, the seed-producing Chinese cabbage grows very quickly, changing every few days, and some have already begun to bolt and flower.

However, the culinary tradition in the southwest region is to stir-fry rapeseed with dried chili peppers, and the rapeseed that is about to bloom also tastes excellent when stir-fried, and is very refreshing.

The taste is quite suitable now.

Peng Qian also strongly agreed with the trial planting, because since it is not a hybrid, the propagation of Chinese cabbage is not difficult, and the most crucial point is isolation.

To ensure seed purity, the planting of spring rapeseed and cruciferous crops must be prohibited within a certain radius.

Yunling Farm has many varieties of vegetables for seed production, and the isolation range is 300-500 meters, while the optimal range is more than 1 kilometer, which does pose a risk.

This awkward situation arose from insufficient prior experience, inadequate communication, and the fact that Li Mingkun's seed production fields were concentrated together instead of being separated.

The best approach now is to make a choice; cutting back and selling off a portion is one of the best options.

In the evening, after enjoying the mutton, several plates of vegetables were served, and Xiang Bin, a businessman from Chengdu, was extremely satisfied with the meal.

"These vegetables are delicious!"

"The people of Chengdu need it!"

In this way, Yunling Farm has added more green vegetable products to its sales.

Since the start of the cooperation, not only Xiang Bin, but also Jiang Hui, a businessman from Xi'an, has praised Yunling Agriculture highly.

In addition to its superior grading and packaging of vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, and eggplants, Yunling Farm's supply volume advantage is becoming increasingly apparent.

Local open-field eggplant and cucumber production has declined significantly, but Yunling Farm has managed to maintain its yield.

This is the result even before the advantages of greenhouses have been fully realized.

The further you go, the more obvious the advantages become, and the more money you make.

Coincidentally, in Uncle Gui's vegetable field in Nengyu Town, cucumbers are still being harvested normally, yielding two to three hundred catties of cucumbers every day without fail. As prices have risen, his daily income has also increased to two hundred yuan.

Meanwhile, the cucumber vines of the surrounding farmers were already wilting and dying.

Now everyone knows that Uncle Gui's cucumbers are special.

(End of this chapter)