In the soilless cultivation workshop and the corn planting area, in addition to setting aside necessary passages and equipment footprints, the remaining area of about 400 square meters is filled with densely packed corn plants.
Thanks to the high-tech growing environment and the seeds that have been cultivated above the earth and are more suitable for low-gravity environments, the corn grown here will hardly be troubled by diseases and insect pests.
They are undoubtedly healthy. This can be seen from the huge corn cob.
Time passed bit by bit, and finally it was time to harvest.
Zhao Changxing saw that the petri dish on the planting rack automatically began to move to one side under the guidance of the crawler tracks. The rotary harvester, which has long been sharpened, cuts off the corn plants directly from the roots. The plants were gathered up and transported to another place. The soil used to fix the root system and the remaining nutrient solution below fell directly to the bottom, where they were collected and began to receive further processing.
The relevant equipment will crush all the soil that has a tendency to agglomerate and has a large amount of corn roots inside, making it soft again, which is equivalent to turning the ground over again. The culture solution will be recycled and its internal nutrient ratio will be readjusted to prepare for a new round of planting.
The previously collected corn plants will be separated from the corn fruits under the action of the harvester. The corn kernels are separated, and the remaining plants and corn cobs are crushed directly and further processed to be used as livestock feed.
Dozens of caterpillar tracks were running at the same time, and the machine for cutting corn plants was roaring continuously. In just ten minutes, everything was processed. What finally appeared in front of Zhao Changxing were more than 100 kilograms of yellow corn seeds, and more than 200 kilograms of corn stalk chips with a delicate fragrance.
In fact, strictly speaking, if it is to be used as livestock feed, corn stalks that have already produced fruits and have "aged" are not suitable. The most suitable way to use it as feed is to crush the corn stalks directly before the corn is mature. But for the current Zhao Changxing, he is obviously not so wealthy.
There is no other way. Let’s aggrieve the livestock first. Even if the feed is not suitable and some meat is lost, there is nothing we can do.
Perhaps when the corn planting area increases in the future, Zhao Changxing will plant thousands of square meters of green storage corn, without harvesting corn seeds, and use them exclusively as feed. By then, I believe the livestock will be happy to grow more meat.
The corn stalk chips were automatically transported to the garbage recycling and processing center for further processing to be used as feed. About 140 kilograms of corn seeds were placed in a large basket and transported to the warehouse area for proper storage.
Next it’s time for a new phase of planting.
Corn in the early growth stage obviously requires different environments than corn in the harvest stage. So the automatic temperature control equipment started operating, gradually raising the temperature in the corn planting area, and making some adjustments to the humidity and lighting. This made Zhao Changxing feel a little hot.
On Earth, it is usually summer when corn is grown. Now, what is simulated here is the summer environment.
After the crushing and other adjustments, the substrate appears again on the planting frame along the crawler tracks. The nutrient solution also slowly flowed out, covering the petri dish. The automatic planting equipment passed over the track, spilling seeds downwards, stirring the substrate, and burying them.
The entire planting process also only took ten minutes.
In a total of about half an hour, the corn planting area completed a process of replacing the old with the new.
"In one week, the wheat will be harvested, and in five days, the soybeans and rice will be harvested. Oh no, there are also peppers, which can be harvested today."
Zhao Changxing then left the corn growing area and came to the vegetable growing area.
The vegetable growing area occupies the smallest area, but has the highest yield and fastest growth rate. Almost every few days, a vegetable matures and becomes the food for people and livestock.
Among the small compartments one after another, Zhao Changxing opened one casually and saw the tender green rapeseed that had just emerged. He opened another one and saw long beans that were already about a palm long. The next one was A small eggplant the size of a child's fist.
A vigorous vitality of all things sprouting fills the entire vegetable growing area.
Finally arriving at the pepper planting area, Zhao Changxing opened the door and saw about 20 pepper plants growing on a petri dish with a total area of only about 5 square meters. This kind of petri dish has two layers, and the total number of plants is about forty.
There are many small, bright red peppers hanging on each pepper plant, just like the stars in the night sky, which makes people very fond of looking at them.
"Captain, I'm about to gain something."
The voice of artificial intelligence Xiao Xi came from the communicator.
"Take it."
Harvesting peppers is much the same process as harvesting corn, just more elaborate. After all, these peppers cannot be separated from the plants through violent means.
After careful picking, a total of about fifty kilograms of fresh peppers were harvested from forty plants. There was also a full basket in front of Zhao Changxing.
"Well, the children are too young to eat peppers. Only I like to eat this stuff, and I can't finish it all. How about planting some other vegetables here first, and then planting them when the peppers are almost gone. "
Thinking like this, Zhao Changxing casually issued an order: "Xiao Xi, don't plant any more peppers here. Adjust the environment here and plant... some alfalfa first."
Alfalfa is an excellent pasture that can be eaten by chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cattle and sheep.
Although the area here is only five square meters - after double-layer planting, it is ten square meters. Even if the alfalfa yield is large, it will not produce much at all. But it’s better than nothing, just think of it as occasionally changing the taste of livestock and poultry and increasing the variety of food.
"Okay Captain."
Xiao Xi then began to adjust the temperature, humidity, light and other values in the pepper planting area, and took alfalfa seeds and planted them in the petri dish.
A total of about fifty kilograms of fresh peppers were harvested this time, but Zhao Changxing did not intend to put them all in the storage area. No matter how advanced the storage technology is, these fresh vegetables will not last long.
"Let's dry it first. Well, the children have just finished their final exams, so it's time to make a big meal to reward them today. I should also eat something delicious, so I'll take a pound back first."
Zhao Changxing made up his mind. So I set aside one pound of the approximately fifty pounds of fresh peppers and planned to eat them tonight, and the rest were dried.
The storage time of dried chili peppers is much longer than that of fresh chili peppers, and it is not a problem to store them for several years.
After finishing the finishing work for today, Zhao Changxing began to think about the dinner menu. But after thinking about it, there were really not many ingredients available for him.
The three types of livestock, pigs, cattle and sheep, have not even completed a growth cycle yet, and there is no reserve at all in the warehouse. The only meat that can be eaten is chicken and duck.
"Stew a duck. Stew half a chicken. Stir-fry the remaining half chicken with chili pepper to make a spicy chicken nugget. For soup, make an egg and spinach soup. Just eat rice as the staple food. .No, we have to add two more vegetarian dishes to ensure the children’s nutrition is balanced. Hmm...eggplant and beans."
Having made up his mind, Zhao Changxing took the required ingredients and boarded the Falcon 1 spacecraft again, returning from Sedna to the Spark spacecraft.
"Daddy, daddy!"
Seeing Zhao Changxing return, the children swarmed forward and immediately surrounded Zhao Changxing.
"The children have performed very well during this period. The final period has just ended today, and dad decided to reward you. Let's eat duck stew tonight!"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
The children all cheered.
Among the ten children, nine were in high spirits. Only Chen Feng, the youngest of all the children, was listless and there seemed to be tears in his eyes.
Chen Feng has always been very quiet and introverted. When Zhao Changxing changed his mind, he secretly thought: "Are you being bullied again?"
"Chen Feng, why are you unhappy? Don't you like eating duck?"
Zhao Changxing walked over and asked softly.
Chen Feng finally burst into tears and threw himself into Chen Feng's arms: "Dad, Qian Yue bullied me!"
The children fell silent instantly, and Zhao Changxing lowered his face and looked at Qian Yue.
Qian Yue is quite the elder sister among the children, and almost all the children are afraid of her.
"Qian Yue, what's going on?"
"Dad, I didn't bully Chen Feng!" Qian Yue was unconvinced: "I just held his hand and he cried!"
"I don't like Qian Yue holding my hand, I want to hold Zheng Yan's hand!"
Chen Feng was still crying loudly. Qian Yueze was still unconvinced: "Zheng Yan is too fat, and her grades are not as good as mine."
Zhao Changxing felt quite dumbfounded at this moment. He has no intention of intervening in the "emotional entanglements" between the children, as long as they don't go out of bounds.
After finally pacifying the children, Zhao Changxing had time to hand over all the ingredients to the kitchen robot for processing until a smile appeared on Chen Feng's face.
An hour later, all the children washed their hands and sat down at the dining table in an orderly manner.
Stewed duck, stewed chicken, egg and spinach soup, spicy chicken nuggets, stir-fried beans, braised eggplant, rice, etc. were all on the table.
"Let's eat!"
The children cheered and started eating fiercely. Only Qian Yue was always looking at Zhao Changxing secretly.
"Qian Yue, is something wrong?"
"Dad..." Qian Yue hesitated, "I think... I want to eat that."
She pointed at the spicy chicken nuggets in front of Zhao Changxing.
"This is very spicy, do you want to eat it?"
Qian Yue nodded vigorously.
Zhao Changxing then thought about it and felt that it would be good to let the children suffer a little, so he said: "Eat it."
Qian Yue couldn't wait to pick up a piece of chicken and stuff it into his mouth. The next moment, her expression changed. Her little face turned red instantly, and tears oozed from her eyes.
"Drink water quickly. Drink water quickly."
Qian Yue drank a large glass of water, still breathing heavily.
Zhao Changxing had a smile on his face. He was about to tease her a few words, but Qian Yue shed tears and said, "It's so delicious, I want to eat it again!"
Zhao Changxing was startled, then saw Qian Yue turning to look at Chen Feng: "I dare to eat chili pepper, but Zheng Yan dares to eat it? Humph!"
