Farming Beneath the Changbai Mountains

The Xu family spent the New Year at Tao's house, and then stayed there until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month before returning to Shenchangzi. Of course Zhixin went back several days in advance to set fire to all the houses. By the time the old man and the others returned, the house was already very warm.

Since the school started teaching on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, Wen Han and the others did not go back to the mountain. Of the girls, only Jingya stayed in the town. Anyway, Jinghui was almost two months old, so it was easier to handle, and Jinghan and the others didn't need to look after her. Jinghan had been living in the town for the past few months and felt uncomfortable all over, so she strongly requested to go back to Shenchangzi. Jingwan and Jingxian both followed Jinghan, and they followed Jinghan wherever she went.

Mrs. Chen also had other ideas for leaving Jingya in the town. Jingya was already twelve years old and it was almost time to get married. If you keep living in the mountains, your child's marriage will be delayed. So Mrs. Chen left Jingya behind and asked her to help Huixin see the cooking. Otherwise, Huixin would be too busy serving Jinghui and Wenhan.

When we returned to Shenchangzi, the mountains were still covered with heavy snow. At this time, people from the village were coming to the mountains to cut wood. This great ginseng soil must be cut down entirely at once if it is an old forest that has been growing for more than seventy or eighty years before it can be used to plant ginseng. And the ginseng soil that will be used this year will be harvested this year. If some forests were cut down in the past two years, that kind of forest will not work. To use the saying of a ginseng farmer, it is called running away from the sun. Therefore, every year the village must report the forest area to be used this year, and then go up to the mountains to cut trees during the first month.

The reason why I chose the first month is because at this time the snow in the forest is solid after a winter. The trees cut down in this way are easier to transport. The good wood in the forest must be handed over to the government office, and the rest can be kept by the villagers for making sheds and other uses. Two thousand feet of ginseng soil is about a little over two acres of land. When converted into acres, it is about thirty acres to less than forty acres. Almost every family in the village comes to work, and those who have animals have to bring their animals too so they can be used to haul wood.

The villagers have been busy for more than ten days before they have cut down all the forest that will be used this year, and then transport the wood outside, near the road. In a few days, the yamen will send someone to take away the wood, which basically means selling it.

Naturally, Jinghan and the others were not idle either. The forest was cut down, the good wood was taken away, and the slightly worse wood was left to the villagers. But there are also some tree branches and other things, which are good things for making fire. So the children dragged the small sledge and dragged firewood every day. Of course, the two brothers Zhixin had to work together. They cut the wood with a saw, then loaded it on the sledge, and then let the children drag it back. The ox cart at home cannot be used, but it can be replaced with a large sledge, which can hold a lot of wood. The children were too young and Zhixin did not dare to let them drive the oxen and the sledge, so the old man drove the sledge and pulled firewood back and forth every day.

In fact, everyone knows that these tree branches are good for making fires, but the villagers did not come to get them because they were too far away to make it worthwhile. There are woods surrounding the village, so you can just get some. Who wants to be bothered by traveling so far? So only the Xu family pulls firewood here.

Everyone worked hard for more than ten days. After dinner in the morning, they went to pull firewood. When they came back in the afternoon, Zhixin and Zhiming saw the frame on the outside, and then cut the collected firewood into lengths of one and a half feet. The thick ones have to be split, and then they are all stacked up when the time comes, so that when they are dry in the summer, they can be used to make a fire. There are several houses on the mountain, and some firewood has to be sent to Qingnian, so I have to save more to save what is not enough. That diligent family can accumulate several stacks of firewood alone.

I’m so busy, spring is here in a blink of an eye. It's a good spring again. The trees on the mountains are beginning to turn green, the grass on the ground is also sprouting new green, and the little yellow flowers are blooming quietly. Jinghan led Jingwan, Wenxuan and the others into the mountains to collect wild vegetables.

This year Wenhan, Wencheng, and Jingya were not on the mountain, so Jinghan became the oldest. Jingwan and the others were very convinced of Jinghan, so they were all willing to follow Jinghan up the mountain.

In this season, wild vegetables are abundant in the mountains, such as celery, mountain spinach, mountain spinach, mountain millet, and thorn sticks, etc., all over the mountain. The children don't care, they just pick them when they see them. They are all delicious anyway.

"Second sister, have we picked enough? If we pick more, we won't be able to carry it anymore." Wen Xuan looked at the wild vegetables in the basket on his back, and they were almost ready to stand out.

Jinghan took a look and saw that several people had a lot of baskets on their backs. It was really a lot. "Okay, let's go home. Today I asked my grandma if she can make some dumplings to eat." These dumplings made with celery are very delicious. Jinghan has been craving for them for two years, and she doesn't know if she can eat them this year. superior.

When the children returned home, Jinghan told Mrs. Chen that she wanted to eat dumplings. When Mrs. Chen heard this, she clapped her hands and said with a smile, "Okay, what's so difficult about this? It just so happened that your father went to deliver things to Wenhan and the others today and bought meat on the way. Let's make dumplings in the afternoon and eat dumplings in the evening. Speaking of which, , and I haven’t been able to eat dumplings from Daye Qin for several years. They are very fresh and only available at this time of year. Come on, let’s pick out the vegetables first and see if the ones you got back are enough to make dumplings. of."

Everyone poured out all the vegetables from the baskets on their backs, and then separated them one by one. Yan'er can be used to make steamed buns or dip into sauce, mountain spinach can be used to make soup, mountain millet can be blanched and eaten as dipping sauce, and celeriac can be eaten in the most popular way. It can be fried or blanched and mixed with it. Of course, the best is Making dumplings. At this time, the big leaf celery is still very tender, only about half a foot tall, and even the leaves can be eaten. In a few days, the leaves will be too old to be eaten.

After picking out the dishes, it happened to be noon. Mrs. Xue and the others cooked the rice first, then put the hot pot on, blanched the celery, took it out and soaked it in cold water.

After lunch, Mrs. Chen asked Jinghan and the others to take a nap. It is said that sleepiness in spring brings fatigue in autumn. In spring, people love to feel sleepy the most. Jinghan also felt that her eyelids were a bit fighting, so she led Jingwan and Jingxian back to the back room, and lay on the kang and fell asleep. It was a good sleep, and when Jinghan and the others woke up, it was already late. Mrs. Xue has already started chopping the stuffing and preparing to make dumplings later.

The blanched celery was soaked in water. Xue rinsed the celery several times with water and then squeezed it into a ball. The water should be squeezed appropriately and not too dry, otherwise there will be no moisture in the dumpling filling and it will be too dry and not fresh. Grasp the watery vegetable balls, put them on the cutting board, and start chopping the fillings.

The cutting boards in Northeast China are actually called Cai Duner, which are cut directly from logs. Basswood is generally better. The wood is soft, does not like to shed wood residue, and has no peculiar smell. The size of the vegetable pile directly depends on the thickness of the tree. The Xu family's vegetable pile is very large, so it can chop a lot of stuffing without having to divide it into several pieces.

There were two vegetable dumplings at home, so Mrs. Xue chopped vegetables and Mrs. Zhu chopped meat. After the two sisters jingled, the dumpling fillings were ready. Mrs. Chen had already prepared the noodles, and everyone worked together. It didn't take long before the dumplings were almost ready.

Of course, we ate dumplings in the evening. Jinghan took a bite of the dumpling, revealing the green vegetable filling inside, and her mouth was filled with the special fragrance of celery. Jinghan couldn't help but sigh in her heart. After coming here for two full years, she finally had the big leaf celery dumplings she had been craving for.

"Second sister, these wild vegetable dumplings are so delicious, so fragrant." Wenchang said while eating.

Chen felt a little sad after hearing this. The Xu family's life has always been tight, so they can only make dumplings every year during the New Year or festivals. I haven’t eaten these dumplings stuffed with celery leaves in many years. At least I saved some money last year, which not only paid off the famine, but also left some money. In addition, Zhixin often goes to the mountains to hunt prey, and sometimes he can sell it for some money, so he has plenty of money this year.

"If you are willing to eat it, we will make it every year in the future. When the leeks come out for a while, we will make them stuffed with leeks. It's just two pounds of meat, and our family can still afford it now." Mrs. Chen looked at the children. The food was delicious, so he said. When the children heard this, they were even more happy and couldn't help cheering.

"Grandma, don't worry. Our family's life will get better and better. When the time comes, they won't want to eat the dumplings." Jinghan is full of confidence in the future. Everyone in the family is very diligent, so that's it. If things continue to develop slowly, their family will definitely be able to live a good life. "By the way, grandma, should we raise two pigs? Last year we picked up a lot of acorns, just waiting to be fed to the pigs. Also, can we raise more geese this year? This thing They are stupid and cannot climb up the pond, but they can eat grass in the horse paths. We put the geese in the ginseng field. This saves food and allows less grass to grow in the horse paths. It can also lay eggs and eat more meat. OK."

"Listen, our family Jinghan knows how to live a good life. This is the plan. Okay, I have wanted to catch pigs for a long time, and it just so happened that the Wu family in our village had piglets. When Jiajun came that day, I already told him that I want two piglets. They may be delivered in the next few days. Then, Jinghan, it will be your job to feed the pigs." Chen said jokingly.

"Whatever is here, just feed it. With the second sister leading us, we can do any kind of work. When the pigs are raised, we can kill them and eat meat." Wenchang thought of killing pigs and eating pig meat. , I felt like my mouth was watering.

Wenchang's appearance made everyone laugh. "Okay, this year we raised pigs, and we will keep them for our own consumption. We won't sell any of them, and we will keep them all to feed you little greedy cats.

The family finished eating the dumplings talking and laughing. The children were a little full, so Mrs. Chen asked them all to go outside for a walk and not lie on the kang. So, Jinghan took her younger brothers and sisters out for a walk.