The former sandy wasteland was transformed into a hundred orchards.

On August 23, Xie Huayong directed the workers to raise seedlings while calling his father in the same garden in Jijiazhai Village, Dicun Township, Julu County.

"where are you and what are you doing? It's so hot, don't heat you up. Come on, take my mom home. It's a hot day, what's wrong with it? " Xie Huayong has nothing to do with the old man. No matter how hot the day is, if the old couple don't come around the yard every other day, have a look and do some work, they will have nothing to do.

After a while, the 72-year-old Xie Zhishan came leisurely with a pair of scissors to prune the fruit tree, looking at the orchard soaked with half his life's hard work: the jujube branches were covered with full green pearls, the heavy pears on the sturdy pear trees pressed down the branches, and the red plums were hidden among the thick leaves. The breeze blew from time to time.

No one can imagine that this hundred orchard in front of us is a barren land.

This piece of sandy wasteland in the east of the village has ups and downs, with sandy hills at the top and saline-alkali land at the bottom, barren all the year round. According to the old man in the village, this is a wasteland that does not pay money and food for many lives. After liberation, during collectivization, it was not cultivated and was abandoned all the time.

In 1985, Xie Zhishan signed a 30-year contract with the village, of which more than 100 mu were contracted. Since then, the father and daughter have formed an inextricable bond with the land.

It is difficult to start a business because of the long road ahead. Xie Zhishan and his family embarked on a road full of hardships to control sand and become rich.

Tree pits are dug one by one; saplings are planted one by one; water is picked by buckets; roads are repaired section by section; saplings die one crop after another and replant one crop after another. Xie Zhishan's family fought a protracted war with this sandy wasteland.

Catch up with a thorough rain, in order to catch the moisture to plant trees, Xie Zhishan brought dry food, dry all day, at noon in the shade of the tree to eat a few mouthfuls of dry food, rest for a while, and then dry.

In the early years, when apricot trees bloomed, they often caught up with the late spring cold. In order to preserve a year's harvest, the whole family came to the field at more than two o'clock in the morning and lit smoke in the forest. although they were wearing thick cotton-padded clothes and cotton-padded shoes, the air conditioner invaded every part of the body. By the time I went home tired, it was already dawn.

It rains heavily in summer for fear that the seedlings of fruit trees in low-lying areas will be drowned by water. Xie Zhishan braved the heavy rain to carry the shovel and ran to the field. The usually shallow river on the road was soaring, so Xie Zhishan had to swim across the river.

One summer, at noon in June, father and daughter went home after picking two baskets of apricots. Xie Zhishan pushed the cart, while her eight-or nine-year-old daughter helped her father push the cart. Stepping on the floating soil with no feet and the hot poisonous sun, Xie Huayong suddenly said, "Dad, I think the happiest thing in the world now is to have a bowl of water to drink."

In addition to working hard, Xie Zhishan also continued to learn the knowledge of fruit tree cultivation. He subscribed to Hebei Science and Technology Daily and other newspapers and magazines at his own expense, and sometimes went to Shouguang and other places in Shandong Province to seek face-to-face advice from experts.

When asked what is the motivation to persist, Xie Zhishan replied: "there is no difference between good and bad land, land is the least deceptive." Although it is sandy and alkaline here, through efforts, what it lacks, what we can make up for him, it will certainly become an oasis. "

After nearly ten years of hard work of the whole family, the former sandy hills have become a lush orchard: more than 2000 apricot trees, more than 1000 jujube trees, as well as pears, nectarines and other fruit trees.

As he worked with his father on this land since childhood, Xie Huayong had a deep affection for this land.

After graduating from school, she worked in the township, but eventually returned to the land and took the baton from her father.

After Xie Huayong took over, on the one hand, he registered the trademark of "Spine Garden Red", set up professional cooperatives, carried out green food certification, improved fruit quality, advanced listing time, carried out under-forest farming, and developed ecological circular agriculture.

In order to change the business model and expand the business scope. She develops agricultural picking, from picking it down and shipping it out to selling it, to letting tourists experience the fun of picking. At present, the thorn garden red picking garden is well-known in the surrounding counties and cities, receiving more than 50,000 tourists a year; black wolfberry, honeysuckle and other seedlings are cultivated in the forest, which can raise more than 200,000 seedlings a year and are sold to Shandong, Henan and other regions.

Flexible Xie Huayong, actively adapt to the tide of e-commerce, the thorn garden red picking, seedling supply, fruit sales have been achieved online. "our apricots, pears, dates and other fruits are sold to all parts of the country through the Internet." Xie Huayong said that during the apricot festival in June this year, she sold more than 30,000 jin of fresh apricots through the Internet alone.

Father and daughter also have a little conflict. Young people focus on high efficiency and low cost. Weeds under trees are usually sprayed with herbicides, and withered branches and leaves are given away as fuel. His father, Xie Zhishan, insisted on digging deep into the weeds, withered branches and leaves under the hoe, sprinkled with special biological agents purchased online, and fermented into organic fertilizer.

The old man's reason is very good: "the land has given us so much, we should cherish the land in turn." Now we are trying to save trouble and use herbicides to pollute the land. Decades later, hundreds of years later, what do future generations depend on for a living? "

Although there are small differences in the details, both father and daughter are optimistic about the future of "Spike Garden Red" and want to build it into a modern leisure picking garden integrating picking, sightseeing, catering, recreation and accommodation.