Chapter 621: Giving Back to Nature

After a while, the children had almost finished harvesting.

Fang Ye looked at the rice field, blew a whistle, and clapped his hands, "Alright, let's tidy up the harvested rice and take a break! If you want to try threshing, you can go ahead. Later, I'll show you how to dry the rice."

A child quickly raised their hand, "I haven't finished harvesting yet!"

Fang Ye smiled, "There's not much left. Let's leave some for the birds to eat!

Although we planted the field, the rice depends on various organisms in the field to grow healthily.

We take from nature, so let's give a little back to nature."

One child seemed reluctant, "Hey~~ isn't that wasting food?"

After all, they had worked hard to grow the rice. Planting the seedlings had left them with sore backs and legs for days!

Fang Ye thought for a moment and said, "Let me tell you a story about the Oriental White Stork!

There are about 6,500 Oriental White Storks in China. Last winter, 5,000 of them migrated to Tianjin for the winter.

In previous years, there were never that many because they couldn't find enough food in the wetlands along their migration route.

When these storks gather, they become easy targets for poachers, and frequent takeoffs and landings can lead to collisions with high-voltage lines, resulting in electrocution.

Without enough food, they have to eat fish from villagers' ponds, and the villagers drive them away with firecrackers. Eventually, volunteers had to raise money to buy fish for them, temporarily solving the crisis.

Due to human activities, many wetlands have disappeared or are being destroyed.

Threats to wetlands include converting lakes to farmland and dredging rivers and lake shores for sand.

China's rapid urbanization over the past few decades has created a huge demand for sand for making glass, concrete, and construction materials. The ideal sand for industrial use comes from rivers and lakes, not the ocean.

A rice field is like a small wetland, providing a place for birds to rest and replenish.

As our human communities develop, we shouldn't forget to leave some living space for our wild animal neighbors.

Of course, the most important thing is to protect their habitats."

"Oh!"

Hearing Fang Ye's story, a child blinked, their eyes welling up as if about to cry, "Can we leave a bit more for them?"

Fang Ye squatted down, patted the child's head gently, and said, "Sure, the birds stopping here to rest will definitely thank you~"

A parent sighed, "When we harvested back home, we would intentionally leave some wheat, corn, and sweet potatoes unharvested to provide food for overwintering animals."

"This eco-friendly, nature-giving agriculture is really nice!"

"Hey, we used to hate migrating geese because they would eat the wheat. Plus, goose down could be exchanged for foreign currency, so many were hunted. Eventually, they stopped coming to our area... If I had the chance now, I'd treat them better."

"As our human communities develop, we shouldn't forget to leave some living space for wild animal neighbors. That's so well said!"

Not only the children, but the parents listening from the field ridge also felt they had learned a lot!

They had always seen zoos as places for entertainment and relaxation, to see elephants, pandas, and feed tigers.

But after visiting the Linhai Zoo, they gradually learned to appreciate animals' natural behaviors and understand their survival needs.

The zoo had set up a few fields, thinking it would help children exercise, break their pampered habits, and understand the value of food.

Unexpectedly, the rice field, despite having no rare animals, acted as a window showing the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.

The experience far exceeded expectations.

After the children finished threshing, Fang Ye called the farm staff to bag the threshed rice.

The remaining unthreshed rice was also taken to be processed by machines.

"Alright, let's gather up the rice stalks! Threshed rice stalks are very useful. They can be fed to alpacas, dried to make bedding for animals, or fermented with manure to become fertilizer!"

Fang Ye placed the unthreshed rice in a small cart and waved his hand, "Let's go, let's handle these first."

Behind the small farm was a small brick house.

It covered 300 square meters but the walls were unpainted, making it quite simple.

This was the rice processing room, equipped with various machines and also used for storing farming tools.

Fang Ye called the children, "Follow me in an orderly manner, keep your distance, and don't touch anything! Parents, please help keep an eye on them!"

The children entered, looking around curiously!

Fang Ye patted a wooden frame beside him and introduced with a smile, "This is a winnowing machine!

After drying the rice, we use this machine to blow away the lighter impurities, husks, and broken shells, leaving the full grains to be stored.

You should have learned the principle in middle school physics, f=ma.

It's a very old and traditional tool, dating back to the Western Han Dynasty, and recorded in 'Tiangong Kaiwu.'

Many rural areas still use it today, a testament to the wisdom of the ancients."

Qian Keke said, "It looks a bit like a barbecue grill!"

Both were rectangular with a crank handle for blowing air.

Tang Xiaoxin disagreed, "I think it looks like a steam locomotive!"

Fang Ye demonstrated, pouring some rice into the funnel at the top, catching it in a bamboo basket below, and started turning the crank.

The winnowing machine hummed, "Woo~ woo~ woo~!"

Full grains flowed from the bottom outlet into the bamboo basket, while impurities flew out the other side.

After a few turns, he let the children take turns experiencing it, and they had a great time!

Even after Fang Ye left, Qian Keke enthusiastically continued turning the crank, while Tang Xiaoxin put her face to the air outlet, closing her eyes and opening her mouth, "Ah..."

Seeing a fan, it's hard to resist playing with it.

Qian Keke was quickly scolded by her mom, "Come on, stop playing!"

Qian Keke covered her head, complaining, "I used to be very smart, but you knocked me silly."

Tang Xiaoxin, taking advantage of Qian's mom's distraction, stuck out her tongue at Qian Keke, who made a funny face in return.

Moving on, Fang Ye pointed to a machine similar to the winnowing machine and said, "Now we generally use a hulling machine to hull the rice!"

The staff poured the half-bag of dried rice into the hulling machine's funnel.

With the switch on, the belt turned continuously, and slightly yellow rice flowed from the outlet.

A child was puzzled, "Huh, why does it look like that?"

The staff explained, "This is just the first milling. It needs to be milled three times!"

After the second milling, the rice looked much whiter, resembling the rice we usually eat, but still slightly dark.

After the third milling, it became white and shiny rice!

"Oh~"

The children watched in amazement and applauded enthusiastically.