Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 590 - Chapter 590 590. Too many pumpkins _1

Chapter 590: 590. Too many pumpkins! _1 Chapter 590: 590. Too many pumpkins! _1 The pumpkin harvest was simply too much.

No, to be precise, it wasn’t too much by that standard.

Originally, no special area had been designated for planting pumpkins, just a dozen or so plants in front of and behind the house, and then a few more scattered in the corners and edges of the field up on the mountain.

As for the exact number, Wu Lan hadn’t counted.

After all, pumpkins are such that if you scatter some seeds in a barren land and leave them be, they’ll grow on their own.

It wasn’t like others’ large-scale cultivation where you have to pinch out the buds and top the plants–though the pinching had been done, they all went straight into the belly.

As a result, these pumpkins were too spirited for their own good, growing big, fat, and long. While others’ pumpkins reached a respectable four or five, maybe eight pounds, the smallest of hers were at least a dozen pounds each! And there were so many on just one vine.

You couldn’t finish them in a short while!

If you weren’t careful, many pumpkins would ripen and fall off their stems, then start rotting in the field. Thankfully, they were discovered in time, not too many had rotted, and they could still be salvaged after some cutting.

Even so, it was enough to cause heartache.

“Oh no! I forgot!”

Lao Song’s family was very annoyed.

Seventh Uncle was even more regretful–thinking before going fishing to pick some tender pumpkins to stir-fry, he did pick some, but only ate a few meals before getting busy and forgetting about it! Pumpkins grow at the slightest breeze; now half a month has passed, and they’ve gotten too mature! Oh dear, tender pumpkins stir-fried are so delicious, how could I forget?

So he began to rummage through the old pumpkins.

Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin rice, pumpkin stewed with meat…

They were indeed tasty, but people had become fastidious eaters, and after a few meals, they had their comments, “Seventh Uncle, please make something else…”

Seventh Uncle himself was sick of it too. As a chef, he hadn’t cooked the same ingredient meal after meal for decades! Not even Flat Peach could withstand this! But there were just too many pumpkins, and they were too big; even one weighing twenty or thirty pounds was too much for a family of a dozen to consume!

Except for the excavator guy–a newcomer, who clanged down three bowls of rice every day without complaint!

“Tantan, how about we sell the pumpkins? They really are delicious,” Wu Lan couldn’t stand to see food go to waste.

This was only possible because they lived in a remote corner with few neighbors. Otherwise, it would have been natural to give some away as friendly gestures to the people living next door.

Song Sancheng contemplated distributing some to the village–in his family, others might just be getting fussy over eating the same ingredient over and over, but for the likes of Song Sancheng and Song Youde’s generation, they used to rely on pumpkins and sweet potatoes to stave off hunger, so one or two meals were fine, but having them meal after meal was like having their stomachs on fire.

It wasn’t that pumpkins were bad; it was just that they’d had too much when they were young.

But they were stopped by Song Tan–who said that if the villagers got a taste of their delicious produce, what would they do when people came asking for more the next time something ripened?

It wasn’t that the villagers were looking for handouts; it was just that Song Tan was confident in her family’s produce–it was so tasty, one couldn’t possibly be content with just one bite, right?

For neighbors and fellow villagers, if they came asking next time, should they give or not? If they did, and kept doing it each time, how could they cope?

And if they didn’t, that would be even more inappropriate.

And to think about charging money for it, besides the question of appropriateness in the village, considering the low spending habits of the older generation left in the village, even if they drooled over it in their sleep, they might still not be willing to spend that kind of money.

It was Qiaoqiao who asked, “Since we can’t finish them all, could we steam a couple and send them to the kids? They really love cooked pumpkins, don’t they?”

There’s no need to mention other things–that head-sized pumpkin, dealing with one is definitely not a problem.

Seventh Uncle instantly became excited again, “Who says we can’t finish it? Come on, everyone, start peeling!”

He huffed, “Aren’t there quite a few rotten ones? You can take those and chop them up to feed your treasures. These good pumpkins are big and taste great, it would be a waste to feed them to the animals. Twenty years ago if I could have eaten pumpkins like these, I’d thank the heavens in my dreams.”

Actually, pumpkins keep well, and eating them after storing for a while isn’t a problem at all. But the vines in the field are not dying, in fact, they are still growing, and some pumpkins are not fully ripe yet, all hanging on the vines.

So this batch needs to be consumed quickly.

Everyone looked at the pumpkins filling half the room, and it was Yan Ran who rolled up his sleeves and took the initiative, “I’ll do it! I’m the best at peeling!”

They had only been eating pumpkin for three days, how could they be tired of it already? They weren’t!

But Professor Song and his group knew their place, so they didn’t dare to make a peep.

With Yan Ran kicking things off, Tai Xiaodong and the others grabbed peelers one by one – as for Seventh Uncle and Song Sancheng, for such large pumpkins, their kitchen knives were far more effective than any peeler.

“Tantan, bring over a big winnowing basket, don’t throw away the pumpkin peels, we’ll feed them to the pigs later.”

Seventh Uncle still felt a little regretful, “Actually, pumpkin peels can be used for cooking too…”

As soon as he said this, Song Tan immediately responded, “I’m not eating that! We’ve had it for several meals already!”

Seventh Uncle snorted, “Was I talking to you? I’m teaching Qiaoqiao here–come Qiaoqiao, today I’ll show you how to make dried pumpkin slices.”

You really have to say, Professor Song’s group was truly a bargain… ah, no, truly handy… still not right!

In any case, they were definitely hard workers!

When it came to peeling pumpkins, no words needed; they simply brought over a stool, hugged a pumpkin, and started peeling. With the whole family pitching in, a thousand pounds of pumpkins were neatly peeled in an hour.

As a result, the pile of yellow pumpkins couldn’t fit, so they spread out a tarp and placed the pumpkins on top.

But this wasn’t an easy task, either.

Repeating the same motion, Tai Xiaodong’s arms trembled when he finally let go.

Looking at Song Tan’s family–well, Wu Lan and Song Sancheng had just been chopping pumpkins with their knives kuakua so efficiently that the minute they put the pumpkins down, they acted as if nothing had happened, and even Qiaoqiao didn’t feel tired, still cheerful!

That’s outrageous.

The master and apprentices exchanged glances–weren’t they supposed to be trained in the fields? How come they seemed so useless in comparison?

Damn it, they couldn’t find any advantage at Lao Song’s family.

But Seventh Uncle was cheerful, “It’s really efficient to work with many hands… come on, let’s start slicing the pumpkins. Watch how thick I cut them, and do it just like this.”

With the long pumpkins, there was no need to split them open, just cutting them round and round was enough, although they were not as soft as one might imagine and required some effort.

When it came to the larger part, heaps of pumpkin flesh were revealed, with each pumpkin seed plump and even. Wu Lan took one look and was smitten, “These pumpkin seeds would be delicious if stir-fried!”

Seventh Uncle agreed and grabbed a stainless steel basin, “First cut, then scoop the flesh here later, just right as we haven’t stir-fried the pumpkin seeds we saved a few days ago.”

So that morning, everyone did nothing but peel pumpkins, slice pumpkins, scoop out pumpkin… and finally, they cut open a slit on the pumpkin rings and hung them on the bamboo sticks previously used for drying cowpeas.

Rows of racks hung in the courtyard, looking exceptionally satisfying.

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