In order to facilitate transplanting later, Xiao Changyi and An Jing chose to set up the seedbed right in the middle of the two-mu plot of mountain land.
Once they had determined the location for the seedbed, they then decided on its size. An Jing roughly estimated the dimensions before instructing Xiao Changyi on how much land to set aside for the seedbed.
Having settled on the position and size of the seedbed, An Jing had Xiao Changyi spread a layer of wood ash over it.
This seedbed land was too poor, and since there were no chemical fertilizers available here, wood ash was the only option they had to make the soil a bit more fertile.
After scattering the wood ash, An Jing had Xiao Changyi pour a little water over it.
When the water had been poured, An Jing had Xiao Changyi hoe the seedbed soil, turning it over to let the wood ash penetrate deeper into the soil and to loosen it up so that, later on, it wouldn’t be too hard to make the Nutrition Bowls.
After the soil was turned, they spread a bit more wood ash, watered it a little, and finally covered the seedbed with an oilcloth.
A few days later, they removed the oilcloth, watered it again, then covered it back up with the oilcloth.
After a few more days, they uncovered the oilcloth once more, watered a bit more, and then covered it up with the oilcloth again.
On March 11th, Xiao Changyi removed the oilcloth, and An Jing checked the condition of the seedbed to ensure the soil was suitable for making Nutrition Bowls before asking Xiao Changyi to use the bowl-making tool.
The tool was forcefully pressed into the seedbed soil, and then, lifted up, pressing down on the plunger of the tool, the soil Nutrition Bowl inside was pushed out.
The Nutrition Bowl was cylindrical, resembling a modern can, similar in height, with a small hole right in the middle of the top, which was for placing the cotton seeds.
While Xiao Changyi made the Nutrition Bowls, An Jing watched from the side. If she noticed something was wrong, she would immediately tell Xiao Changyi.
Fearing that standing would tire An Jing, Xiao Changyi brought a chair to the field so that she could sit down if she got tired of standing.
Once Xiao Changyi had made the Nutrition Bowls, under An Jing’s guidance, he arranged them together in rows and then put cotton seeds into each of the small holes.
All the cotton seeds were pre-selected for their quality, placing one seed per hole.
After placing the seeds, Xiao Changyi sprinkled another layer of soil over the Nutrition Bowls, mainly to cover the seeds and help them germinate and take root more quickly.
Then, under An Jing’s guidance, Xiao Changyi inserted the bows made of bamboo slats; next, they draped the oilcloth over the bows, covering the edges of the oilcloth with soil, with all the Nutrition Bowls underneath.
The oilcloth was colored and opaque, so An Jing couldn’t see the Nutrition Bowls inside, which meant she could only look at the mini arch-tent they had made from the oilcloth.
All An Jing could do was laugh and say, "Husband, with it set up , not only can the cotton seeds germinate faster, but even if there’s heavy rain, we won’t have to worry about it breaking the seedlings."
Now they had an oilcloth arch-tent, but if it were a transparent plastic arch-tent, the effect would be even better. However, there was no transparent plastic available here, so they had to make do with oilcloth.
Xiao Changyi wasn’t a modern person, and even though An Jing had previously explained the principles of the arch-tent nursery, he still didn’t quite understand, particularly about things like photosynthesis and carbon dioxide. But understanding the principle wasn’t important—what mattered was knowing the benefits of doing so.
"Let’s go back," Xiao Changyi said abruptly.
Everything was set up, and all that was left was for the cotton seeds to grow into seedlings; there was no need to stay in the field any longer.