Chapter 5

After hiring workers to move everything, I headed to the produce section to see Mom’s haul. Mom was tallying while explaining.

“We have the fridge; lettuce can last a week or two. Eggplant, cucumbers, beans—about a week.” Mom had cleared the shelves of all Chinese cabbage, napa cabbage, and bok choy. “We’ll eat the fresh stuff first. The rest we’ll wash, chop, and freeze.”

Then came the essential root vegetables for stockpiling. Mom went big: potatoes, pumpkin, carrots, white radish, Chinese yam, onions, sweet potatoes, winter melon—40kg each. Dried ingredients: wood ear fungus, kelp, dried tofu skin, white fungus—30kg each. Back at Grandma’s, pumpkins stored under the bed lasted a month; winter melon was cut as needed.

Fresh vegetables provided vital vitamins, but storage was limited. Scallions could be grown hydroponically, snipped continuously. Fruit prioritized long-lasting apples, tangerines, oranges, plus imported coconuts, seasonal winter jujubes, pomelos, pomegranates. Small packs of blueberries and greenhouse strawberries—seven or eight boxes.

“We’ll need to process these veggies when we get back—blanch them for freezing, package the others. Dad just called; the freezers are set up.” Mom paid the bill. “I hired two separate crews for moving. All the outer packaging is furniture boxes.” “Xixi, let’s go.”

I started to move, then turned back, forcing a smile. “Mom, actually… I graduated with honors from Ag school.” Mom raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Oh?” I had a plan. Four years of theory and fieldwork couldn’t fail at home gardening, right? Worst case, just yell: “Mooooom!”

Home cultivation in the apocalypse required more considerations. The rooftop could be used, but for stealth, climbing vegetables like snow peas, green beans, cucumbers, and luffa were too conspicuous. PASS. And low pest/disease risk was best.

After consulting with Mom, we decided to prepare: 50 planting boxes and 50 grow bags each. Clean soil mixed with sheep manure for simple base fertilizer. Wood ash and other common fertilizers were prepared. Carrots, lettuce, water spinach, kale, and a wild edible herb called baijiangcao (known for clearing heat and promoting urination) would become our new “family members.” We’d also scatter cilantro seeds in the gaps. Seeds for other seasons were also ready. To shorten cycles, I prepared cuttings for any vegetable that could be propagated that way. The fastest greens could be harvested in a month.