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Vol 01 Chapter 10: Turnips

We are currently growing turnips. Judging by the temperature, it seems to be August. The turnips are growing steadily. Turnips take about sixty days to grow big and are very easy to cultivate. In other words, they are perfect for us.

The main purpose of these turnips is not so much for eating, but rather as feed for the goats and the cow.

Now, the cultivation of turnips is going well, for the most part. The only problem we are having right now is…

「Leader! There are bugs here too!」(Ron exclaims, turning back the leaves.)

「Whoa, seriously?」(Roswald peers in.)

「This is endless…」(Soyon murmurs with a sigh.)

「Eek!」(Tetra shrieks softly.)

「……」(Gram silently crushes them underfoot)

This scene. This happens every day.

Perhaps the field being in the middle of the forest is the problem. It’s like a paradise for pests. We take care of them as we find them, but it’s endless.

And it’s disgusting.

In any case, this area is full of insects. It’s the height of summer and the mosquitoes are also in a frenzy. They are unbearably annoying.

But I have finally found a breakthrough!!

「Look at this.」

「What’s that?」

「It’s a flower called Pyrethrum, also known as insect-repelling chrysanthemum.」

This flower contains a component called pyrethroid, which has insecticidal properties. It’s a natural insecticide. Pyrethroids have nearly no effect on us mammals, so they are very safe.

By the way, it’s also an ingredient in mosquito coils.

Pyrethrum is originally from the Mediterranean coast, so I thought maybe it could be found growing around here, and I finally found some. This world sometimes has griffons flying around, but the flora is more or less the same as the one from Earth.

「I found a colony of these flowers. If we boil it down and spray it on the turnips, it should eradicate the bugs.」

「Just spraying it is enough? That’s great. I totally agree.」

Tetra said happily.

She hates insects, after all.

「Really? That sounds great. Let’s go pick some right away.」

Ron also agreed. It seemed like nobody had any objections. Not that they have any reason to.

「Then let’s go!」

We immediately headed to the flower field.

◇

At the flower field, we began picking the flowers. The scene was quite romantic, but the purpose was for insecticide.

It’s a bit surreal.

「Tetra, take these.」

I handed a bunch of chrysanthemums to Tetra.

It’s easier to collect them when both my hands are free.

「Eh! W-why so suddenly…」

For some reason, Tetra blushed.

「… Tetra-chan…」

Soyon whispered something to Tetra with an exasperated look, making Tetra’s face turn even redder.

「… Misleading…」

For some reason, I got glared at.

Why? It’s unreasonable.

「Anyway, this should be enough for now. It’d be a problem if we pick too much and the plants die.」

Ideally, I’d like to grow them in the village, but we don’t have the time for that.

It would be great if just planting them would keep the insects away.

Back in the village, we first prepared some pottery. We filled it with chrysanthemum flowers and water.

「Now we just need to boil this down.」

I added firewood and slowly boiled it down over time. After that, we just need to cool it and spray it on the turnip leaves.

「Will it really work?」

「Probably.」

I haven’t actually used it myself, so I’m not sure. But there’s no doubt it works on mosquitoes.

「By the way, why do the insects die from it? Is it a curse?」

Soyon asked.

That’s the direction she thinks in, huh…

「It’s because they are poisonous.」

When I said that, the children’s faces showed shock.

「It’s okay, it’s okay. It doesn’t affect humans. Though I don’t know if you drink a lot of it.」

The children looked relieved after my explanation.

… They must think that since I said it’s okay, it definitely is. I’m happy, but it’s complicated. I wish they would think for themselves a bit more.

「Well, let’s start spraying it then.」

And so, we successfully repelled the pests.

◇

「They’ve grown so big.」

「I’m looking forward to eating them.」

Ron was drooling. We’ve been eating mostly fruits lately, so we are craving vegetables like this.

We’re technically growing them for winter feed, but… Maybe it’s okay to eat a little.

「We might need to fertilize them soon.」

The harvest time is approaching. To make them grow bigger, we need to fertilize them now.

「What’s fertilizer?」

「It’s like food for the crops. Now, what should we give them…」

Plants mainly need three different nutrients: phosphoric acid, nitrogen, and potassium. However, it’s impossible to find a chemical fertilizer in this world that effectively provides these. So…

「Maybe we should bring some soil from the forest.」

The soil in the forest is made from decomposed fallen leaves. It should work as an organic fertilizer.

「But we have to be careful not to bring in strange bugs.」

Like beetle larvae.

◇

「Eek! Almus!」

Tetra clung to me.

What’s the problem?

「Th-there are earthworms…」

Don’t freak out over that. Learn from Gram. He just grabs them with his fingers and tries to… hey, don’t crush them!

「Earthworms improve the soil, so just throw them into the pottery along with the dirt.」

「Is that so?」

Gram, looking surprised, dropped the earthworms into the pottery.

「Why? Why do we need these things?」

Tetra clearly looked disgusted.

「Earthworms move around in the soil, right? That action tills the soil.」

I decided to keep quiet about their droppings. She would definitely hate it.

「Hmm, I see.」

It seems like she understood. Good, good.

「We’ve gathered enough now, let’s spread it in the field.」

「Yeah!」

We returned to the village and started spreading the soil over the turnip field. Hoping for delicious turnips.

◇

「Finally, time to harvest.」

The time has finally come!!

It’s surprisingly easy since all we have to do is pull the turnips out of the ground. We didn’t even grow that many. Next time, let’s grow more.

「Leader! Let’s eat them.」

「Wait, wait. Calm down. These are for the goats and cows to eat in winter. We can only eat a little bit. Now, let’s calculate… no, you do the calculation, Tetra.」

「Me?」

「That’s right. It’s a big responsibility.」

I said this and patted Tetra on the shoulder. Tetra grinned.

Finally, a chance to use her arithmetic skills. This should help the kids who are not motivated to understand the importance of learning a bit better.

Today’s dinner ended up being turnips. A turnip party, if you will.

But we don’t really have any good seasonings. It’s just boiled turnips.

However, they are sweet and tasty when chewed. Definitely more delicious than the forest fruits and wild grasses (which taste like weeds).

「Delicious.」

「Indeed.」

I ate the boiled turnip leaves.

They are crispy and tasty. They are tasty, but… I want to eat them with soy sauce. At least some salt would be nice.

I ate the boiled turnip.

It’s soft and sweet. But… I want to eat it pickled…

Gathering, hunting, farming – all these activities involve physical movement. When you move, you sweat. When you sweat, you lose salt.

We haven’t had any salt lately. I’ll get some salt if I have the chance.

With those thoughts in mind, the day ended.