“Autumn is a harvest season, and various vegetables are ripe, including sweet potatoes, soybean barley, rice, cabbage, leeks, spinach, okra, water chestnuts, lotus roots, peppers, chestnuts, winter melon, There are many kinds of green beans (kidney beans) and so on."
"Autumn Harvest"
Author: Hua Xia Chennong?
" Since ancient times, autumn has been a sad and lonely season. "I say autumn is better than spring," a poem called "Autumn Poetry" tells the story of how many literati throughout the ages have two completely different mentalities towards autumn. In their sadness or praise, autumn is given too much emotional sustenance. But whether it is sad or praiseful, it seems to have nothing to do with farmers. It’s not that farmers don’t understand the sentiment, it’s not that farmers don’t know how to be elegant, but autumn is the season of dedication in the fields, and autumn is the season of harvest for farmers. Farmers really don't have the leisure time, let alone the leisure time to lament here - the joy of a good harvest needs to be laid with their sweaty toil.
The fields in autumn are rich fields, with peanuts, soybeans, corn, and sweet potatoes, plus crops of cotton picked up, bunches of red beans and mung beans picked, and red hair. Purple sorghum, sesame seeds with endless flowers, pumpkins, beans and other crops planted on the edges of the fields are all ripening one after another.
The old saying that when the melons are ripe, the stalks will fall off is absolutely correct. From this point on, when the crops are ripe, they must be harvested in time. Remember that riddle? "Hemp house, red tent, and fat white man living inside."
After a timely autumn rain, people scattered in the peanut field, bowing their waists and lowering their heads, grabbing the dark green or yellow-green peanuts. With a little force to pull out the seedlings, those "white fat men" hiding in the arms of the land father-in-law appeared in front of people one by one, together with their "hemp houses".
If the peanuts are overripe, not only will the stems fall off, but they will also sprout in the ground. People take the peanuts back home in a timely manner, put a wooden stick in a larger container, or place an instrument such as a hollow brick with corrugated corners on the spot, hold the bright green peanut seedlings, and aim at the distance between the peanut stalk and the fruit. At the connection point, gently drop it on the edge of a wooden stick or brick a few times, and the peanuts will fall off automatically. After smashing, the peanuts and peanut seedlings can be dried separately and put away.
The beans are overripe, the pods crack, and the round beans jump around. The most dedicated people are soybeans - whether they are soybeans, black beans or green beans. They have carried the spirit of self-sacrifice to the extreme. The soybeans harvested and brought home were dried and placed in the garden. No matter day or night, as long as people had time, they would beat the dried soybeans with the straw over and over again using agricultural tools such as wooden forks and sticks. The bean stalks and leaves were beaten to pieces, and even their bodies were beaten to pieces, until all the bean pods cracked and all the beans were spit out. The separated bean straw and bean leaves were stuffed into the stove, and in the "cracking" ceremony, they turned into blazing flames, cooked the food, and ended the lifelong mission in the most gorgeous way.
When the corn matures, the green skin turns white, and the heavy weight of the corn causes the long handles to separate from the strong and upright body, slightly sticking out, like big cow horns looking up in anticipation. The arrival of the master. But be sure not to let them wait too long, otherwise the corn skin and handles will gradually lose moisture and become less brittle and more tough, making breaking them time-consuming and laborious. In areas where winter wheat is planted in rotation, mature corn must be taken home quickly to make room for wheat. When the corn is harvested for the first time, no one is usually seen. From a distance, you can only see the corn stalks shaking in the field. When you get closer, you can hear the crisp sound of breaking the corn in the field. After the corn was broken, the corn stalks were cut down, and then the owner of the corn and the piles of corn broken off in the field were seen. In the plots where winter wheat is planted, the corn rhizomes and weeds in the ground must be cleared, and then the land must be plowed, cultivated, and sown. Only with spring planting can there be autumn harvest. If you want to harvest heavy ears of wheat next summer, you must cultivate again in the spring tide of autumn harvest, and then sow the seeds of hope. There is a farmer's proverb: The white dew comes early and the cold dew comes late, which is the right time to plant wheat during the autumn equinox. Seasons wait for no one!
Sweet potatoes have a long growth period and usually play a backing role among major crops. However, they must be harvested before frost to avoid frostbite. When harvesting sweet potatoes, you must first cut off the sweet potato vines and then wave them? Use your head to dig out the sweet potatoes ridge by ridge. People harvest sweet potatoes, sell them, dry them, or store them in cellars as they please.
In addition, the harvesting of sorghum, soybeans, sesame and other crops, as well as the work of picking cotton, mung beans and red beans, often intersperse or run through the harvesting period of the main crops. Accessory crops such as pumpkins and beans are usually picked home in the evening when work is done.
Looking around, there is a busy and lively scene in the vast fields, with people working hard everywhere. Tractors, tricycles, and trolleys shuttled back and forth on the field roads in an orderly manner. Along the way or passing by the fields where villagers work, whether they have close acquaintances or casual acquaintances, people meet and smile, asking and answering each other and greeting each other. Hearty laughter and loud greetings always reach my ears. People working in the fields come and go non-stop all day long, and they gradually disperse until dark.
The night with clear wind, bright moon and numerous stars is cool, comfortable and charming. The chorus of crickets can be heard every night in the grass outside the courtyard wall. The chorus is messy, high-pitched and loud. Every house in the courtyard is brightly lit, and fireflies carrying lanterns parade from one house to another from time to time.
Henna, cabbage chrysanthemums, autumn chrysanthemums, etc. bloom one after another. As the name suggests, roses bloom and fall one after another from summer to autumn, blooming in full bloom month after month, as if they will bloom forever. The flowers are blooming beautifully on the branches, and the flowers are falling profusely on the branches. It is a pity that during this busy period, people do not have the leisure and ease of being in front of the flowers and under the moon. No one appreciates the flowers when they bloom, and no one cleans the flowers when they fall. All these flowers and plants can only wait quietly. In front of the court, it blooms, falls and is fragrant. Farmers who have worked hard all day cannot get a rest at night. Listen - the sound of "pah pah pah" is people throwing peanuts, and the sound of "shua la shua la" is people shelling corn. The crops harvested during the day must be sorted out at night and dried in time tomorrow. The first task tomorrow is still to harvest mature crops from the fields and bring them home.
Farmers who own orchards, vegetable gardens or contracted land are even busier in autumn. "In July (lunar calendar, all the following are the same), walnuts, pears, and persimmons in September come to the market." Apples, grapes, jujubes, and hawthorns also mature one after another. Although fruit vendors now come to purchase door-to-door purchases, and some fruit farmers have even signed supply and marketing contracts with merchants. Fruit farmers no longer need to go to the market randomly, but the work of picking, sorting, and boxing still needs to be done, and a small number of fruits still need to be harvested. Take it to the market and sell it. Firstly, it meets the demand of the local market, and secondly, the retail price is always higher than the wholesale price. For farmers who grow vegetables in greenhouses, autumn is the season of crop rotation. Digging the ground, preparing the borders, planting, and covering the sheds, we were busy all day long. These types of farmers are usually in a hurry to take their crops home and no longer have time to take care of them. They have to dry and stack the stems and leaves. Farmers with particularly large amounts of land will even dry it in the fields and stack it on the spot, and then sort and sort it carefully when they have a little free time. But they won't have to wait too long. The rats, which are always good at stealing, will invisibly urge them to store the harvested grain in the warehouse. Otherwise, over time, the grain debris in front of the crops will be obvious. Furthermore, if winter comes, the temperature will plummet. Except for noon when there is no wind and the warm sun is shining, no one can sit in the yard or field in the cold morning and evening.
Frost is the last sign of autumn. In one season, the farmer's proverb "harvest in the autumn, and throw it away if you don't harvest it." Except for cabbage and radishes, all fruits, grains and vegetables must be taken home before winter comes, otherwise they will be frozen and no longer edible. Sweep away The fields of light are no longer as grand as they were before, with only the dead grass surrounding the bare land shivering in the cold wind of late autumn mornings and evenings. The breath of winter has become stronger and stronger, and autumn is urging farmers to leave it. The magnificent picture of ripe fruits and abundant grains is divided, gathered and condensed from the fields into the courtyards and warehouses of each household, bringing with it all the hard work and sweat of the farmers, leaving the joy of abundant food and clothing in the hearts of the farmers, and then leisurely Following the footsteps of time, we are getting further and further away.
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