It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

Song Zhi was helping her aunt make dumplings in the kitchen. During this time, the children would peek into the kitchen from time to time to see if Song Zhi had finished.

When Song Cheng peeked out again, Yang caught him and asked, "What are you doing peeking out here? I've seen you hanging around in front of me all morning."

"Have you finished spinning the yarn and have nothing to do? If you don't, come and help me light the fire."

Song Cheng, who was caught red-handed, was still thinking about the apricot jam his sister mentioned and had no intention of making a fire.

He whined and said, "Mom, I'm helping my sister wash the apricots. Is she done washing the apricots? What should we do next?"

Song Zhi thought for a moment and said, "There are two empty pottery jars in my sister's room. They are placed next to the door as soon as you enter. Please help me clean them. My sister will need them later."

Song Cheng nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice, and said to her mother seriously: "Mom, I have work to do."

After that, he ran away in a hurry.

Seeing her youngest son unable to be controlled after he had something delicious to eat, Madam Yang scolded him with a smile: “This clever ghost…” But her tone was full of doting.

After her son ran away, Yang said to Song Zhi, "Azhi, leave the rest to me. You can take them and get busy."

Song Zhi took a look and saw that only a few pieces of face were left, so she did not refuse.

She placed the buns in the steamer and patted the flour in her hand. "Then I'll go take a look first. If auntie needs anything, just let me know!"

After saying that, he picked up a wooden basin and a knife and left the kitchen.

At this time, the children were squatting on the ground with their buttocks sticking out, working hard to clean the pottery jars.

Song Zhi did not go forward to help, but walked straight to the wooden basin and started peeling apricots.

The peeled apricots were placed in a clean wooden basin. As for the apricot peels, Song Zhi did not throw them away. She planned to try making her own enzyme fertilizer using the apricot peels.

The first time Song Zhi made sauce, she only prepared about five or six pounds of apricots.

She first cut the peeled apricots into four, then sprinkled some cane sugar on them and pickled them.

A few children squatted aside and watched, and they couldn't help swallowing when they saw their sister sprinkled candy.

The children saw Song Zhi cover the pickled apricots with a clean linen cloth and then put them back into the house to sit.

"Sister, is it ready now?" Song Cheng asked, tilting his little head.

Song Zhi led them outside the house. "It's early. We need to pickle it for two or three hours, and then add malt sugar and boil it in the afternoon."

When they heard that malt sugar was also needed, the little ones' eyes lit up and they said expectantly, "With so much sugar, it must be delicious."

The children followed Song Zhi back to the yard and saw their elder sister putting the rotten apricots and apricot peels into a freshly washed ceramic jar.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

They thought that the sister wanted the clay pot to store apricot jam, so why was it used to store apricot peels?

Song Zhi's hands kept working, placing the rotten apricots and apricot peels in two pottery jars, while explaining to the others, "Sister, are you making nutrients?"

"Nutrients, what are nutrients?" the four asked seriously.

Song Zhi explained to them, "If you eat apricots, will it fill your stomach?"

"The vegetables grown in the fields and the crops planted in the fields need nutrients to thrive. Well, fertilizers."

"We can bury these peels in the fields where crops grow. When they decompose into mud, they can nourish the surrounding crops. The crops will grow quickly by eating these peels."

"But there are so few peels. If we only bury them in one spot, only that patch of crops will benefit. My sister changed her mind and soaked the peels in water..."

Before Song Zhi finished speaking, the older Song An excitedly raised his hand and said, "I know, I know. If the peels dissolve in water, we can use the water to fertilize the fields, right?"

That's what she meant. Song Zhi smiled and nodded. "Xiao An is really smart. He gets it right away."

Because of her sister's praise, Song An's chest straightened up and her eyes sparkled.

At this time, Song Huan on the side raised a question, "Sister, this pot is so small, and the amount of water it can soak in is limited. Isn't the amount of vegetables it can irrigate also limited?"

Song Zhi praised Song Huan with certainty, "Not bad, Huanhuan can think now."

Song Huan's face flushed with joy because of Song Zhi's praise, and his eyes were full of joy.

After encouraging her younger sister, Song Zhi continued to explain to the children:

"The peels are so nutritious when they turn into water. If you eat three or four apricots, your sister won't let you eat them anymore."

"So much fruit peel turns into water, and all the nutrients are in the water, so when watering the crops, you can only take a little and have to add a lot of water. So even though these are just two small jars of water, they are more than enough to irrigate our vegetable garden."

In modern times, Song Zhi and her grandmother lived in the mountains and made this kind of fruit enzyme fertilizer.

The exchange rate for watering flowers and vegetables is generally one to three to five hundred.

The exchange ratio varies depending on the vegetables grown under different conditions.

For example, since newly grown seedlings are too delicate, the ratio of water exchange needs to be increased appropriately.

If it is in the growth period and the demand for water and fertilizer is high, you can add less water accordingly.

Just be sure to add water, otherwise the seedlings will easily be burned to death.

When Wu walked in, she happened to hear the conversation between the sisters.

She did not doubt her granddaughter's statement. After all, rotten vegetables and leaves can be used as fertilizer for the fields, so rotten fruits can definitely be used as fertilizer for the fields as well.

She said happily, "If it's really as you said, and the land in your yard is barren, then we can use this water to grow vegetables and see how it works."

Song Zhi nodded. "Grandma, the land in my yard is already barren. I'm afraid the seedlings that grow out of it won't be good. I've thought about it and decided to start by improving the soil fertility."

"After I finish my work at home tomorrow, I want to start composting. It just so happens that my family sent me a lot of apricots. I'll go to the mountains to find some fallen leaves and mix them with the apricot peels to make fertilizer. I can sprinkle some on our crops later."

"After the new house is completed, Grandma, I want you to ask Grandma Zhao to buy thirty or forty chickens. That way, the children at home can all have eggs to eat, and the chicken manure they save will also be very good farm fertilizer."

Seeing that her granddaughter had thought it through, Mrs. Wu felt relieved and agreed immediately.

Here, Song Zhi packed up the bad fruits, and Yang came out to wash the corn.

Seeing this, Song Zhi hurriedly said, "Auntie, please don't pour out the rice washing water. It's perfect for soaking fruit peels for me."

Yang walked forward curiously and handed the basin to Song Zhi. "What is this for?"

There was no need for Song Zhi to explain. The children who had listened to the whole process repeated what Song Zhi had said to Yang in vivid detail.

Yang was also quite curious when she heard this. "Can the water made from the peel really be used to water the vegetables?"

Song Zhi chuckled and said, "We'll know when we give it a try. It won't cost anything anyway!"

Yang thought so and thought it would just take some effort, so she let them tinker with it.

Because gas would be produced during fermentation, each ceramic jar was not filled to the brim. Song Zhi only filled most of it with rice washing water.

Then the mouth of the pottery jar was turned upside down with a large bowl, and some water was poured around the bowl to isolate the air.

In such weather, it will take half a month to ferment.