After Apocalypse, I Got Rich With Superpower

Chapter 77: Chapter 75 Brewing Vinegar

Chapter 77: Chapter 75 Brewing Vinegar

By then, he had a clear idea, having a shop at home to sell agricultural and sideline products, he was not afraid of having too much stock.

Gu Ye, with the children, was busy pickling vegetables, sauerkraut, kimchi, and sauces in the farmyard, which he all knew how to make.

Wenwen, skilled in accounting, would scan and re-label the sold goods daily, allowing the monthly summaries to show how much of each item was sold and what might need to restocking, she made her own detailed chart.

She clearly marked the sales data for every type of goods, vegetables, sauces, and fish and shrimp, using this monthly data to adjust stock levels; knowing which items would likely sell well next year enabled them to stock more of those.

With this chart, Gu Ye understood which vegetables were selling well and which weren’t, like the poorly tasting cabbages which weren’t too enjoyable to eat and sold the slowest when there were other options, but eventually, they too sold out.

Based on the list, Gu Ye started making pickled vegetables and assigned tasks; the youngest children, lacking strength, were tasked with washing and hanging the vegetables to dry or stirring the pots, which were lighter tasks.

Older children were tasked with fire tending, chopping, and blanching vegetables.

He took responsibility for chopping and pickling the vegetables, making fermented sauces, and handling such technical tasks.

There were also duck and chicken eggs, with unfertilized eggs kept for eating and fertilized eggs incubated separately for further breeding.

He intended to make salted duck eggs and others, both of which everyone enjoyed eating. If made in excess, they could be sold.

After preparing the ingredients, he let the children pickle the eggs while he freed up to handle other tasks.

The children, very smart, sat in a line and started an assembly-line operation, working both quickly and well, which greatly delighted Gu Ye; it was the first time they worked so efficiently and neatly.

In a few days, they had finished these miscellaneous tasks, and in the evening, everyone cooperated to tie corn, string peppers, and cut them to make chili flakes, which were then set out to dry.

With abundant crops came abundant work; they also made some Pixian bean paste, which Gu Ye knew how to make and said he would sell if made in excess.

Once they started working, they realized they were short of hands; despite the seemingly minor tasks of pickle making and egg processing, everything was painfully intricate. With the crops abundant, everyone was happy, but if not processed timely, the vegetables could spoil instantly. These tasks were unavoidable and urgent; the vegetables would not wait.

The leafy greens were turned into sauerkraut which could be eaten after a few days of pickling. Besides consuming at home, the surplus was sold in the shop, and surprisingly, it sold out within days.

The tomato sauce too had sold out, including last year’s stock, as these products were preservable.

Busy through the month, it was September now, and grapes along with other fruits were ripe, with massive amounts of grapes appearing on the market as the base sent people daily for transport.

Li Pan and Xue Dong, cared for by the Base Commander over the years, didn’t want the hassle and just let the base handle the sales, with the money expected in their accounts by the next month, saving worry and effort.

Oranges and lemons were also ripe, and she chose several tasty varieties to grow, which fetched high exchange prices; despite weather setbacks like frost damaging some of the fruit this year.

Though the harvest wasn’t ideal, it was still sizable, with several varieties of pears, including four types of lemons like green, perfume, and yellow lemons available for cultivation.

Pears were also of several varieties; such popular fruits sold well.

Apples too came in several varieties, and oranges varied in size and type, with several kinds of peaches, watermelons, and melons also ripe.

Both farms had only No.7 Farm with fewer fruits, being a year late in planting, and even their grapes were not plentiful; mainly, it was No. 8 Farm that had a more substantial fruit output.

The Base Commander sent someone daily to collect things; a batch of fish and shrimp could be collected from the house again, and selling the remainder in the store would just about clear them out.

The fruit shops kept fewer fruits because they don’t store well and easily spoil. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

They kept some fruits, and Gu Ye suggested making some fruit canned goods, turning the oranges into dried tangerine peel; saving it for making sour plum soup next summer would be delicious, and yellow peaches were originally meant for canning anyway.

At this time, the base’s factory equipment was all turned on, producing canned and other processed products to be sold; otherwise, where would those goods in the stores come from.

Moreover, the previously matured strawberries were off the market, and they themselves had hardly eaten any, all were sold off very quickly; within three to five days in the store, they were sold out. It was said that the base sold them extremely well, all stocks were cleared at once.

The wheat straw and other crops such as wheat were planted on time in the fields, representing the last batch of crops after the autumn harvest.

Every day, Li Pan would conduct Wood Power inspections, checking which areas lacked Wood Superpower or needed a bit more water, and he would make timely corrections the next day; comprehensive intercropping had already begun in the fields, with all types of intercropping in place, hoping to yield the first batch next spring.

Gu Ye also began to get busy, making some fruit canned goods, while Xue Dong and Cui Yanjun were busy brewing alcohol; now that the harvest provided grains, making some proper grain alcohol made it a compelling gift for the holiday season.

With last year’s brewing experience, Xue Dong’s skill in brewing had also stabilized, and errors were no longer occurring.

This year, they also planned to brew some vinegar, which would be good both for home use and for selling; last year’s trial was very successful, just that the measurements weren’t precise, and the fermentation time was a bit long. This year’s batch would benefit from the experience.

That not being enough, the last batch of fruits still being picked at home was planned for making fruit wines and vinegars, which were highly sellable; they saw other farms selling these vinegars and fruit wines to great demand.

Rice, sorghum, and wheat could be used to make alcohol and also to brew vinegar.

The process isn’t too complicated, but the key is experience and measure.

Preparation: Prepare sugary and starchy grains (such as rice, corn, sorghum, etc.), salt, jars or crocks, vinegar starters, acetic acid bacteria, vinegar dregs, etc.

Cooking rice: Wash the rice thoroughly before boiling it in a pot, ensuring not to overcook the rice as it might affect the taste of the vinegar.

Fermentation: After cooling the cooked rice, pour it into a crock, adding vinegar starters and yeast for fermentation. During fermentation, periodically add yeast and vinegar starters and stir evenly. The required fermentation time is approximately three to four days.

Mixing vinegar dregs: Mix the fermented rice evenly with the dregs, then place it back into the crock for a second fermentation. This process also requires three to four days.

Applying vinegar: After the second fermentation, dig a hole on one side of the crock for easy vinegar application. Sterilize all tools used by scalding them in boiling water, then place processed sorghum stalks in, followed by bean stalks. Fill a basin with the prepared vinegar dregs and pour it into the vinegar application crock, followed by a basin of clean water. Continue this cycle of applying vinegar. After circulating all the vinegar dregs three times through, the vinegar is brewed.

Different regions and families might have various vinegar brewing methods and secrets; for example, the production of Shanxi old vinegar includes five major steps: steaming, fermenting, smoking, applying, and aging. During the vinegar brewing, attention must also be paid to hygiene and temperature control to ensure the quality and taste of the vinegar.

Actually, getting it just right could be quite difficult; a small mistake could ruin everything.

Xue Dong also didn’t dare to make too much, based on last year’s success, planning to make slightly more this year. If successful, they could both consume and sell it, and if not, just consume it themselves.