As the main component of feed, corn, like sweet potato, was once the staple food of human beings. In my hometown Huaihe Plain, corn was not produced before. In the 1970s, in order to solve the problem of eating, corn settled in the fertile soil of Huaihe Plain. I remember that I was only a teenager and a primary school student at that time, and I lived a hungry and carefree life all day. Hunger can't refresh people, but it can motivate people to find ways to solve difficulties. Maybe the production captain got some corn seeds from somewhere because of hunger. If they get the treasure, the captain and the members of the village will plant corn on the best land.
After selecting the land and fertilizing it, we began to plow and level the land, and then divided the land into beds more than two feet wide. Between the beds is a drain more than a foot wide, which can also be used for people to walk. Plant two rows on each side, and the whole sowing process is like a ceremony, which is very solemn. First dig holes in the boundary with a shovel, throw two corn seeds in each hole, then water them, and then bury the seeds with fine soil. This intensive cultivation is to preserve the seeds and make every corn sprout, but the efficiency is very low. Men and women worked together for a few days and finally planted six acres of corn.
After the seeds were sown, the seedlings grew up quickly. Vivi saw the wind and sunshine and thrived like a lively child. Looking at the green corn seedlings in this area, the captain was beaming. This green color gives us hope that we can eat enough.
When the corn seedlings grew to one meter high, the captain decided to topdress them so as to grow big sticks. At that time, farming was mainly based on farmyard manure, but there were also chemical fertilizers, that is, ammonium bicarbonate that smoked people's eyes when opening bags. Fertilizer was difficult to buy, so the captain managed to finally get some bags and brought some members back from the fertilizer factory in the city with a pole.
Because the adult labor force has other important work to do, the captain handed over the task of fertilization to our primary and secondary school students. The captain appointed an older middle school student as the team leader and took us children to do the work done by adults. In order to save fertilizer, topdressing is very particular, and it is also the strict requirement of the captain. We were asked to dig a small pit one foot away from the root of corn with a small shovel, then put a spoonful of chemical fertilizer in it for the children to eat, then pour water on it, and finally bury the pit with the dug soil, so that ammonium bicarbonate, which likes to volatilize, will lie in the soil and be slowly absorbed by the root. This kind of work is like a game, we play happily while doing it. The team leader always urged us to hurry up, but with these requirements, especially to fetch water from a distant pond, we couldn't get up, so at the end of the day, each team didn't even finish writing a line. The captain came to check our work, and he was worried about the slow progress, so he said, just put the fertilizer in and bury it tightly, without watering it. So we did as the captain told us, and we worked happily. This is indeed very efficient, digging holes, fertilizing and burying soil in one go, and a line will be completed in a short time. When the captain is present, we use spoons to hold fertilizer. As soon as the captain leaves, we will grab it directly with our hands. If we estimate how many spoonfuls there are in a handful, we can plant a few trees, which greatly improves the efficiency. The fertilizer in our hands feels cool and comfortable. Even the smell is blinding. We also feel it is an honor, because we are playing a "foreign fertilizer" that several generations have never seen-at that time, people generally called products with scientific and technological content "foreign", which also included the meaning of import.
Corn grows more rapidly and vigorously under the nourishment and urging of chemical fertilizers. Soon, the corn bloomed, and small flowers floated all over the floor; The breeze blew, the leaves rustled, and some danced like a girl's braid. As the flowers bloom, the stick grows out, wrapped tightly, revealing only a handful of reddish beards. Whenever we have free time, we gather around the corn fields to play. Some naughty and daring people go down to the fields to fold wide corn leaves and twist them into a circle to wear on their heads, just like the Eighth Route Army hiding in the trenches in the movie. However, this kind of dressing is only the moment when we play by the cornfield. As soon as you come out of the cornfield, throw away all the fresh circles, and never tell the captain. The corncob swelled day by day, and when it was almost ripe, the production team sent more nurses to prevent someone from stealing the corncob because of hunger or curiosity.
In the envious eyes of the children and under the careful care of the production team, the corn finally matured. At harvest time, the captain held a simple ceremony, and then men and women went into battle together. Even our group of primary and middle school students who have been fattening corn have joined the harvest army. Women and children break sticks in the field, and men are strong and pick them in the field with baskets and sacks. There are also a group of older women in the field, who are responsible for breaking off the coat of corn cob to make bare golden corn kernels easy to dry.
After collecting the cobs, only one corn stalk stood in the field like a sentry. Don't look at these straws that have lost their fruits. They are also a kind of wealth. First of all, we children fold corn stalks and eat them as sugarcane. When you go to school, don't forget to tie a few knots in your schoolbag, find a quiet corner and taste the fragrance of sugarcane stalks. After the adults settled down the fruit, they began to cut down the corn stalks that once brought us sweetness. So much straw, which hasn't dried for a while, is used as cattle pasture. Later, the dried corn stalks were no longer chewed by the old cows, so they were distributed to the members as firewood. At that time, there was not only a shortage of food, but also firewood. With these firewood, many meals can be cooked.
The fruit began to divide, and every family was beaming, carrying sticks home with their hands, and then threshing for a long time. In the free time in the afternoon, in the background under the wall or in the shade, there are always groups of people peeling corn and talking about their family affairs. At that time, there was no machinery, and these particles stuck to the stick had to be peeled off with both hands, and some of them were still covered with blood bubbles. Later, someone invented a tool to flatten one end of thick iron wire with a hammer, like a screwdriver. It is much easier to poke corn kernels off the cob line by line with this tool. Others hold a big stick in one hand and let them rub against each other, so the corn grains fall one by one. So many sticks have turned their hands into corn kernels. Although the labor intensity is great, everyone's heart is warm and there is always a happy smile on his face, because there is food to eat.
People use a stone mill to grind corn into flour, mix it with frosted sweet potato leaves or shredded radish, and add a little salt to make tortillas. The fragrance is endless and intoxicating. Some are ground casually, ground into large particles, and made into two rice with rice, which is much more delicious than just making rice. During the slack season in winter, corn kernels are fried in a hot iron pan and eaten as snacks. Corn is always changing different patterns in the hands of hardworking housewives to meet people's needs and desires for food.
Now, as a staple food, corn has almost withdrawn from the table, but occasionally it will be patronized as coarse grains to adjust the human body's demand for vitamins. And this tiny adjustment function sometimes makes people uneasy. It is said that some corn has been genetically modified, and the safety and right to know of genetically modified food have been questioned by some people. Today, with more and more material wealth, food safety has been challenged as never before. Therefore, people's memory of old corn is getting deeper and deeper.