solemnly declares: The article is original and not first published. It is a simplified version of the first published platform. ID: Xiaoxiao Liu. You are responsible for the article.
The third spring is not as busy as the first autumn, and the third autumn is not as busy as the wheat field. This shows how important and important the wheat field is to farmers. But since the emergence of modern agricultural machinery, the wheat field in the true sense no longer exists, and it has been lost in the rolling waves of history.
1. Harvesting wheat
In my vague impression, I still remember that when I was a child, the school had a busy holiday of about one week every year, which was probably held around June 1st. The purpose was to let the students go home and help the adults with farm work, because This is the golden time to harvest wheat.
As soon as May Day passes, the weather becomes hotter. The ears of wheat in the fields are getting fuller and plumper day by day. A gust of wind blows through the golden waves of wheat and rushes over the boundless fields in waves, bringing the fresh fragrance of wheat to the farmers. It pours into the nose and throat, refreshing.
The cicadas on the tree are chirping louder and louder, as if signaling that harvest is ready. Men rush into the fields to harvest wheat, while women cook at home or deliver food and water to and from the fields. Provide adequate logistical support.
The summer sun was fierce and long. People in the fields wore straw hats and kept waving their sickles. Every time they moved their right hand back and forth, they grabbed a handful of wheat ears with their left hand. Wherever they passed, there were countless small neat piles behind them. of wheat sheaves. Black sweat flowed down the hair and down the cheeks and fell into the soil. The clothes on the back were soaked and clinging to the skin. People hurriedly drank a few large mouthfuls of cold water, stretched and then hurriedly bent over to harvest. No one dared to stop and rest. . The golden wheat field is full of scattered people. Everyone is harvesting in the same direction, some fast and some slowly. Behind them are piles of neatly arranged wheat sheaves.
Harvesting wheat. The picture comes from the Internet and must be deleted for copyright infringement.
The reason why I don’t dare to rest is because it may rain tomorrow. I have to finish harvesting before the rain falls. Only when the wheat is brought back to the wheat field can I feel at ease. If there is a light rain for several consecutive days, the wheat ears still in the fields will sprout. After germination, they will become moldy and cannot be stored, and 80% of them will not be edible. If there is a violent storm, the originally upright wheat will be knocked to the ground and unable to stand up, and the plump wheat will be knocked to the ground one by one, leaving only the fluttering wheat shells. This is quite a scary thing. I heard that one year in a neighboring village, Widow Wang’s wheat crop was hit by a heavy rain before she could harvest it. After the rain stopped, Widow Wang and her children sat in the field crying while picking wheat in piles with winnowing picks. It was really pitiful.
At that time, there were not many job opportunities in the city, and rural people were not interested in going to the city to work. The young and middle-aged people in the village would take advantage of the ripe wheat season to go to the New Year market to earn some money. Due to slight differences in geographical location and climate between counties, the wheat maturity time will also differ by one month. When my father was young, he also went to celebrate the New Year with his uncles in the village. They rode Phoenix brand 28 big bar bicycles all the way from the low-altitude county town to their home. They could harvest two acres of land in one day, and they lived and ate at the host's house. At that time, Most of the people here are simple and kind. They work hard and are treated well by their hosts. The simple and short-term employment relationship has no disputes or displeasure. They are all very kind and pleasant.
2. Wheat field
There is a particularly grand ceremony every year before harvesting wheat, which is the cutting field. After waiting for a light rain, when the surface is wetted by rain and no longer so hard, grandpa will use a sickle to cut off the excess weeds on the field, then spread a thin layer of wheat husks from previous years and tie it with a rope. It is rolled over and over again with luqi (a stone roller, a cylinder made of stone). The ground after the grinding is made harder and smoother, and it is cleaned and ready for the wheat to be put on the field.
The stand truck is completely blocked by wheat, leaving only a half-meter-long handlebar that can be used as an armrest. Hemp ropes are passed through the roof of the car to tie the bundles of wheat to the handlebars tightly, leaving both sides of the car exposed. The wheat ears lowered their heads slightly because of their plumpness, and walked back to the venue through the Guan Laoye Temple and the narrow paths of the village under the moonlight.
The wheat pulled back from the fields will be piled neatly together, and people will choose a good day with sunny weather to grind the field. At dawn in the morning, a large family came to the wheat field. While there was still moist vapor in the air, people tore off a bundle of tied wheat from the wheat pile and tore off the knots. The wheat stalks are spread evenly on the field, and when the sun is full at noon and every wheat husk is about to explode on its own, the rolling begins.
The so-called grinding yard is to use a tractor with a stone hook attached to the front of the tractor and go around the yard to crush the wheat ears. The purpose is to separate the wheat from the wheat ear husks. The tractor's churning sound continued around the wheat field for about ten or twenty minutes before it was completely crushed. The wheat straw that had been strutting its claws before was now clinging to the field obediently, like hair that has been soaked in the rain and clinging to the scalp. superior.
The picture of the rolling field comes from the Internet and must be deleted for infringement.
The first half of the grinding is finished here. The tractor is parked on the side of the field and the driver comes down to rest. At this time, the owners will quickly enter the field and use an iron fork to flatten it. After all the wheat straw was turned over, most of the neighbors came over to help. The small field was full of people. Everyone quickly finished turning over and waited for the tractor to come in again. After another ten minutes of grinding in circles, the tractor master went straight to the neighbor's wheat field to start a new wheat grinding operation.
Wheat-grinding tractors are very rare. There are only two or three in the village. The tractor wheat-grinding field is like today's assembly line. The length of each field is fixed. If you are delayed at Wang Er's house, you may be Zhao Si's house. It can't be finished before dark, so only at this time will the neighbors work hard to help each other. The sooner your house is finished, the sooner my house will be cleared.
When the second half of the rolling field is over, the tractor rushes to the next house, and the nervous starting here begins. The whole family, men, women, old and young, will go together. There will be a relatively large starting tool at my house. , behind it It is a protruding square armrest more than one meter long. The main armrest can be adjusted in the middle. There is a auxiliary armrest on the left and right sides. There are five long forks in front. The longest in the middle is slightly shorter on both sides, distributed in an arc. Dad holds on to the main armrest, and his brothers hold on to the side auxiliary armrests. They lower the fork from a distance and when they run over, they can pick up a lot of wheat straw. After running back and forth seven or eight times, the wheat field is completely covered. Some of the wheat straws were forked into the corners, and the remaining corners that could not be forked were forked little by little with iron forks. After a while, only the full wheat husks and the wheat hidden at the bottom were left in the venue.
Next, some people went to build the wheat straw pile, and some people continued to build the wheat husks and wheat on the field. There is a trick to building a pile of wheat straw. First, find a center point and build it up around the center point. Step on it while building it. Dad is always the one who stands on top and steps on it. The others just push the wheat straw up and leave it loose on the outside. The straw will be pulled down and forked again, and after a while a round pile of wheat straw that looks like a roof will rise. Every household cannot do without piles of wheat straw, which serve as fire starters for cooking and burning the kang.
The starting picture comes from the Internet and must be deleted for infringement.
Raising wheat husks and wheat is relatively simple. Just turn over the wheat rake and push the wheat to the middle of the field. Push it in front and sweep it with a bamboo broom in the back. In a short time, a pile of wheat will be piled up. Mountains are piled up. Only when the mountains are piled up can people take a breath and sit down to have a rest. If you are unlucky and encounter a thunderstorm, the start will be like a war. There is no time to build up the wheat straw, and everyone is running around in a hurry to pile up the wheat first, cover it with plastic colorful strips , and surround it with Press down the bricks so that if rainwater does not seep back through. If you are lucky, you can wait until the heat dissipates in the evening and the wind picks up, then you can raise the field. When raising the field, men are usually responsible for sweeping, and women are responsible for sweeping. The field is still a technical job, and if you are not skilled enough, you have to ask the neighbors. The veteran is here to help. A straw hat and sunglasses are essential equipment for the show.The people who raised the field stood upwind and used the wind to shovel a piece of wheat and lift the wheat high. The light and fluttering wheat husks would be blown aside by the wind, and the solid wheat would still fall in place, but some of the wheat would be blown up. The husks will also fall on the same place, so you should quickly use the bamboo broom to gently sweep the wheat pile during the lifting period to sweep out the fallen wheat husks. The two people must cooperate with each other tacitly. As soon as they are lifted and swept together, slowly, only the full wheat is left on the field. The wheat shell is like a huge cone, stretching out a long line from near to far. 's tail. People sweep the wheat husks together and put them into snakeskin bags in a few seconds. They are indispensable for stewing on the kang in winter. Sometimes they can also be mixed into feed for pigs, cattle and sheep to eat.
Yangchang Pictures from Internet infringement must be deleted
After a series of complicated procedures, the plump wheat was finally peeled off. Looking at the healthy and plump wheat, people felt comfortable and joyful without words. Especially the old people who have experienced the hungry years are even more happy from ear to ear. They have enough food at home and don’t feel panic!
3. Warehouse
After the wheat is milled, it still needs to be dried and put into warehouse. When the weather is good, it will take about three to five days to be completely dried. When the wheat is hard to pinch, or it is dry and crispy with no moisture when you bite it in your mouth, grab a handful and throw it on the ground to make a crisp sound without a dull sound. , that means it’s ready for storage after drying.
Drying wheat is relatively the easiest thing. It also happens early every morning when the sun has just come down and it is still not hot. You have to use a rake to rake the wheat. Every inch must be spread evenly and not too thickly. It's too thick for the sun to penetrate. After ten o'clock, the sun comes up completely, and it's time to dry the wheat. Grandpa always turns over the wheat every hour to ensure that it can be dried quickly and evenly. I also like to turn over wheat. I wear a straw hat and go barefoot. It feels warm and itchy when I step on the wheat. The wooden rake plows through the wheat, making a crisp sound of swishing. The strands of wheat are like ridges, and the entire field is full of ridges. They are neatly arranged in the wheat field and look particularly comfortable.
When the wheat is all dried, it’s time to pack it into the warehouse. One person holds the bag, and the other person uses a wooden lift to lift it and pour it in. Holding the bag is often a child’s job, and the smell of earth in front of you is mixed with the freshness. The smell of wheat kept filling my nostrils. The packed wheat is not stored in sacks. Instead, it is carried to the cave dwelling and then poured into the iron granary. The bottom of the iron granary will be paved with bricks to raise it. The bricks will be swept clean, and then the iron granary will be placed. The bottom and sides of the granary will be covered with plastic paper. Everything is ready and waiting for the new grain to enter the warehouse. The main purpose of storing in iron granaries is to prevent moisture, insects, and rats, and to save space. If the bags are stored directly, within a few months, the bags will be full of holes bitten by mice and the wheat will leak all over the floor. When the granary is full of grain, my father will kick the granary hard several times to ensure that the granary is packed tightly. When it can no longer be loaded, my mother will seal it tightly with plastic paper and press it with bricks, wood and other things. , so mice can't get in easily.
Granary Pictures from Internet copyright must be deleted
During the wheat drying period, my father had to sleep on the field every night to prevent it from raining and to prevent anyone from stealing the wheat. There were no folding beds at that time. My father would put the frame cart on the sidelines and remove the wheels, and it would become a simple and narrow bed board. With a mattress on it and a quilt on it, I could have a sweet night's sleep.
The summer nights are cool and comfortable, the stars in the sky are bright and far away, the summer insects chirp loudly and cheerfully, everyone is in the sun drying area, and people in twos and threes sit and chat, whether they are from different places or have short families, I always like to sit quietly and listen to the adults Chatting, the breeze blowing on your face, it feels so good!
4. Picking up wheat
When the wheat is put into the warehouse and the summer harvest is over, people can finally take some time off. The intense and heavy work during this period makes people so tired that they cannot stand up and just want to relax.
But the old people are always frugal. Grandma will take us children to the fields to pick wheat. There will be many scattered ears of wheat left in the harvested wheat fields. They lie there alone and need a good place. destination. We carried baskets on our arms and bent over to pick them up and put them into the basket one by one. The children were always energetic and tireless. Sometimes they would go out at noon and compete with the little sisters in the neighborhood to see who could pick up the items. Fast, and I am afraid that if I am slow, those wheat ears will be picked up by others.
Gleaning wheat ears is not a good job. The weather is very hot in summer. Although it is nothing compared to the hard work of cutting wheat, it will also make you sweat profusely. Sometimes the sweat will flow into your eyes and sting your eyes. The wheat stubble under my feet was really in the way, sticking hard to the ground. Sometimes I would accidentally scratch my feet, which would cause bursts of pain. Also, when the awns are exposed to the sun, they will become even sharper. If they pierce the back of the hand, they will make people very irritated. The hands will bounce away immediately as if they were electrocuted. Sometimes I can't pick up even a few ears of wheat after a long day of picking, but I feel very happy.
We will grind the wheat we pick up individually. Sometimes there is so little that we don’t need any tools and we just need to step on it with our feet. Those who can make it in time will be put into the warehouse with the large army, and those who can’t make it or the threshing is not clean will be fed to the chickens. .
5. Written at the back
More than ten or twenty years have passed. When I recall these scenes again, it seems as if more than half a lifetime has passed. The grandparents and grandmothers in the neighbor's house have both passed away long ago, and the old house no longer exists. The wheat fields have disappeared, and the flowers and trees that brought me infinite joy in childhood are gone. The orchards where my parents and I have worked for many years have also been cut down.
Only that piece of land is still there, but only one piece of land is left. The carrier of my entire childhood happiness has almost disappeared. Whenever I see that piece of land again, I always feel a sense of loss, as if it is a world away. Although they have disappeared in the real world, I will always think of trying to remember and record the old times bit by bit with words, proving how real they once were and how much they left a mark on my childhood life. Deep imprint.
Times are changing, lifestyles are constantly changing, the future will only get better and better, and the old times will not be forgotten!
