Chapter 440. A Father and Some Stupid Horses: A Crash Course on Farming. (5/5)
“I mean… I’ve seen them on a field before… I just didn’t know what they were actually for. I thought they were just making the holes or little trenches for the farmers to go back and drop the seeds inside by hand and bury later on.”
“Haaaaah. Whatever. I’m sure there are kids more ignorant than yuh livin in the city. At least yuh didn’t think we harvested wheat by hand.”
I did at least know that much…
“So after that, you collect the grain and store it away in a grain bin or sell it to a grain elevator, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“How long can it be kept stored for?”
“In the case of wheat, six months under the appropriate conditions.”
“Which are?”
“As I previously mentioned, moisture is naturally one of them. The other is the grain temperature. If one or both factors are not properly managed, the risk of spoiled grain increases significantly. The safe storage range depends on the crop. The temperature to keep it stored below varies with the initial seed moisture. There’s a chart yuh can reference for each crop.”
“So the grain storage bins have fans and ventilation?”
“Yeah, that’s what keeps the grain dry in good quality while it's in storage. When the grain is too moist, it’s put into a special bin called a dryer. Warm or hot air is pushed through the grain in order to dry each seed to an appropriate moisture level.”
“I see… what about irrigation? How do you go about watering your crops?”
“That can also be a beast of a topic itself. Yuh sure yuh wanna know?”
“Yes please.”
“Alright, prepare yerself. I’m gonna blast through it quickly.”
“There are a variety of different types of irrigation techniques used to improve crop yield. They’re practiced based on the different types of soils, climates, crops, and resources. Each method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Some conserve on water, results in less waste by using water more efficiently, and saves money, while others are just outright wasteful, but less demanding on the farmer.”
“Surace, localized, sprinkler, sub, drip, center pivot, and manual. These are some of the more prominent types of irrigation you’ll hear about.”
“Surface, no irrigation pump is involved, water is distributed across the land by gravity. Flooding is very cheap but very wasteful. If yuh opt to surge flood, water is released at prearranged intervals, which reduces unwanted runoff. These are more efficient at leaching salts, which is important if salts are a problem.”
“Localized, water is applied to each plant through a network of pipes under low pressure.”
“Sprinkler, water is distributed from a central location by overhead high-pressure sprinklers or from sprinklers on a moving platform. Frequent use can result in rapid disease development.”
“Sub, water is distributed through a system of pumping stations, gates, ditches, and canals by raising the water table.”
“Huh? W-Water table?” My head was spinning trying to keep up with his rapid-fire explanations.
“A water table is an underground boundary between the soil surface and the area where groundwater saturates spaces between sediments and cracks in rock. Yuh got that, kid?” He was quick to explain, but I felt like I understood absolutely nothing.
“Y-Yeah.” It’d been quite a while since I felt so out of my element.
“Bullshit yuh got it. Just imagine a layer of groundwater, then above it is a layer of unsaturated soil, the dividing line between those two layers is the water table.”
“Oh, when you put it like that, I think I get it.”
“Then I’ll continue.”
“Drip, drops of water are delivered near the roots of the plants; it is rarely used as it requires more maintenance.”
“Center Pivot, water is distributed by a sprinkler system moving in a circular pattern.”
“Manual, is very labor-intensive and time-consuming, the water is distributed through watering cans by manual labor.”
I stared at the ceiling in a daze. I never knew there were so many methods of watering crops. The image I had in my head of using a garden hose and walking around the field spraying water on crops had been shattered. Farming was seriously complicated. There were so many things to take into consideration. It gave me a headache.
“A-Among the irrigation methods you listed… which one is typically used for wheat?”
“It really depends on the situation, but if you want to save on water, I’d recommend using sprinkler or drip. If water is not a concern and you’re lazy, go with a surface flood system or a center pivot one.”
“I see… haaaaaah.” It seemed there was much to learn, too much.
“Well, I think that about does it for this little crash course on wheat. Yuh got any more questions?”
“Uh… I think I’m good for now.” I’d honestly learned a lot from talking to him in the short time we’d spoken and I had to take the time to process it all.
“Kay…”
“...”
Now that we’d finished my lesson on wheat, an awkward silence descended upon us until Dawn’s father spoke up and broke it himself this time, “Hey, kid.”
“What?”
“I didn’t really want to pry, but... how far did you get with my daughter last night?”
“Huh? W-What do you mean by that?” Where the hell did that come from all of a sudden?
“The sweater she had on when she showed up with you and your girlfriend… was a man’s... That was yours, wasn’t it?”
“Uh… yeah, it was mine but it’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”
“Why’d she be wearing it then?”
“Well… it’s a weird story actually.”
“Try me.”
“If I said my girlfriend accidentally…” I hesitated to say it.
“Accidentally what? What’d she do?”
“Peed... on her… a little.”
“Huh? Peed?”
“Yeah… peed.”
“Pffftthahahaha! What? How the hell did that happen?”
“Well we were sitting in a tree for a few hours talking and by the time we decided to climb back down she had to go. She couldn’t climb back down without relieving herself… so I left first and returned to the tent. I didn’t see it happen, but somehow it happened while she was up in the tree and Dawn walked under and got some on her shirt.”
Dawn’s father broke down laughing, covering his face while slapping his leg.
“That’s quite the story.”
“Please don’t tell Dawn, she still doesn’t know and thinks it was a squirrel in a tree or something taking a leak.”
“Hahahaha! That’s rich. Kid, stop. You’re going to kill me here.”
“It’s been an hour and the two of yuh are still talking? How long do you plan to chat for?” Dawn’s voice suddenly echoed through the barn.
When I turned my head to the entrance, I saw Dawn and Rosa together. Their hair was still a little wet and hadn’t fully dried yet.
“What the hell, it’s already been an hour?”
“Yeah, we’ve been waiting forever for Ran to get back. We started to think you went and took him to the barn to kill him or something. I didn’t think we’d find you on your knees laughing hysterically. Seriously, we had enough time to not only shower but wash my shirt.”
“Wash… your shirt?” Dawn’s father asked hesitantly.
“Yeah.”
“You mean... the one you had on yesterday?” His lips twitched back trying to contain his laughter while he stared at his daughter.
“Yeah.”
“Is it the one you have on now?” Dawn’s father locked onto the shirt she had as his body trembled.
“Yeah, are you okay?”
“Pfft. Yeah… nothin’s wrong. I’m… absolutely… fine.”
His face turned red from holding it in as he kept his mouth covered.
“I’ve gotta see... about something now. You… can have him back. Enjoy… riding.”
Dawn’s father rose to his feet and did his best to maintain a cool composed expression when he walked past Dawn out of the barn.
When he was halfway back to the house, he broke out into hysterical laughter we could hear from where we stood beside the barn.
Dawn raised one brow and asked in uncertainty, “I don't get it, what’s so funny? What’s he laughing at? What’d you say to my dad, Ran?”
“It’s nothing… don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah, Dawn, that’s not important, let’s go horse riding already.” Rosa was quick to change the subject. She shot me a discreet glare, it seemed she’d put two and two together and figured out the joke. She was naturally unamused that her embarrassing accident had been revealed.
“Right… if you say so.”
