The pomegranate trees in the flower bed downstairs are hung with red pomegranates. When the wind blows, they sway and are shaking. The North Courtyard is the courtyard where I live, commonly known as "Patio". There are two sour pomegranate trees near the east wall of the courtyar

The pomegranate legacy of the three generations

text | Sun Jingpu

The autumn is clear and the fragrance of fruits and vegetables. The pomegranate trees in the flower bed downstairs are hung with red pomegranates. When the wind blows, they sway and are shaking. This scene evokes my memories of the past when three generations of my family planted pomegranate trees.

Grandma's pomegranate tree

Grandma's house has two yards. The North Courtyard is the courtyard where I live, commonly known as "Patio". There are two sour pomegranate trees near the east wall of the courtyard, which were planted by my grandfather when he was young. The South Courtyard is an idle house managed by the people of our tribe. There is a sweet pomegranate tree near the south wall of the courtyard, which is said to have been planted by my grandfather.

Most of the pomegranate trees are small trees . It is said to be one, but it is actually a cluster. There are two or three plants in a cluster, all of which are divided from the roots of the mother plant. Because the time of division is different, the thickness is also different. The thickest trees in the north courtyard are thicker than fists, and the thickest trees in the south courtyard are thicker than rolling pins. Each tree trunk grows many branches, and many needle-shaped branches grow on the branches to form a dense canopy. The bark of the old branches is rough, gray-black, and is covered with branches that are horizontal and vertical, making them the main branches that bloom and bear fruit. The new branches are tender, gray-green, slender and straight, as if they are about to break out of the siege and reach out to the outside of the canopy. These new branches would not bloom back then. The new branches are soft and elastic, and are the children's playground. My cousin and I used it to make fishing rods, bows and gyros whip rods , which is very handy.

The leaves of the pomegranate tree are oblong and oblong, with green and smooth leaves and clear veins. In late autumn, it gradually turns yellow, and after frost falls, it all falls away.

pomegranate flower in grandma's north courtyard is a single layer of red flowers, fiery red. The South Courtyard is a multi-layer pink flower (commonly known as double flower). The pomegranate flowers have different branches, and the male flowers are smaller (called Kuanghua in dialect), with an inverted cone shape, with yellow stamens exposed inside, which is bright and dazzling, and looks like attracting bees and butterflies. The pomegranate flowers in the peak period, three and five are clustered by the wind, and they are like a group of girls in red dresses, dancing on the canopy set off by green leaves, making the whole yard prosperous.

After the female pomegranate flowers are pollinated, the gourd-shaped calyx at the bottom develops into the outer skin of the spherical fruit and gradually grows, and finally grows into a large pomegranate with a big belly and a small mouth. At this time, my cousin and I started to pick pomegranates and eat them. Although the grains are white, they are not full and have a sour and astringent taste, we also ate them with relish.

Around the Cold Dew Festival, the pomegranate is ripe, pomegranate skin is red and bright, and some are cracked, revealing red and transparent grains like pearls, just like a beauty opening her red lips and smiling. My cousin and I ate even more happily. Sometimes we peeled the grains into a bowl, mashed them with chopsticks, and added a tablespoon of brown sugar to make the sugar-water pomegranate juice. It looks bright in color and tastes sweet and sour, refreshing. Especially in winter, it is very pleasant to eat this bite.

Grandpa said that pomegranate trees like flint (i.e. quartz) as fertilizer, and he asked my cousin and I to go to the street to pick up flint. We picked up a basket, and he smashed it into pieces with an axe and buried it under the roots of the tree. He also said that the pomegranate tree could bear more fruits and the peel was thin. I have not verified whether this statement is scientific or not.

The pomegranate trees in my grandma's house are all high-quality varieties. Some neighbors come to ask for saplings, so my grandfather used the method of splitting and pressing the new branches under the roots into the soil pit on the ground, and cultivated soil to allow the branches to take root. The next year, we cut off the connection between the branches and the big tree, dig out the roots and give it to others. As long as new branches grow roots, they will usually grow alive.

Red porcelain bottle, small mouth, autumn is coming, grin,

Mother brought back two sour pomegranate saplings from my grandma's house by pressing strips, planted them in the corner of my yard, and it bears fruit in three years, and grew into two big trees in five years.

At that time, there were fewer pomegranate trees in our village. During the Dragon Boat Festival, it is the season for pomegranate flowers to bloom. The fiery red flowers attract many bees and butterflies to circle among the branches. The eldest girl and the wife next door pick flowers (the unfinished flowers) are worn on their heads with moxa branches, honeysuckle and shiny flowers, and dress up in a colorful way.This is a unique scenery of the Dragon Boat Festival, so in our place, the Dragon Boat Festival is also called the Daughter's Day. In ancient times, women wore skirts and liked the redness of pomegranate flowers, so " pomegranate skirt " became synonymous with young women in ancient times.

Pomegranate trees are also prone to insect pests. There were three types of pomegranate trees in my house, namely pomegranate worm, scale insect and heart-eating insect worm - these insect names I later learned. The pomegranate ruler is commonly known as the bow bridge worm. It can arch its body like an arch bridge, hence its name. It has a protective color that is the same color as the branches, and it is difficult to find when climbing on the branches. It nibbles into the leaves and flowers of pomegranates. The mantis is its natural enemy. I once saw a mantis with a big green belly, using its sickle and axe to clamp a -foot , chewing it greedily. I used to hold scissors and look for rulers. Once I found it, I used scissors to cut it off in the waist and peel it off to the ground to give it to the chicken for food.

The pomegranate tree has grown up and has produced more fruits. My grandmother was very happy to see so many pomegranates. After the fruits ripened, she ate one every day, and there were more than a dozen on the back windowsill, preparing to eat them in winter. I also pounded her sugar water pomegranate juice. She had a bad tooth and it was even more exciting to drink this juice. She also gave me "broken" (guessing riddles), such as: "The red porcelain bottle has a small mouth. Autumn is here, and she grinned, revealing pearls and agate." This is a cracked pomegranate. Also: "A red porcelain jar is separated by twelve rooms, with pearls in it, and the pearls are sour and sweet." This is about the internal structure of pomegranate. After mastering this rule, you can peel out crystal clear triangular prism-shaped seeds when peeling pomegranate, which is very convenient to eat.

Hanlu, my mother picked the pomegranate and gave each neighbor to try it out. Leave a few small ones on the tree and wrap a layer of cloth. After the frost falls, these fruits will not only grow, but also have redder grains and higher sugar content, which is particularly delicious.

I planted pomegranate trees in the community

The pomegranate in Laizhou City is famous in Cuijia Village south of the country. The pomegranate fruit has large skin, large grains, small and soft core, sweet and sour. In the spring of 2016, I asked for a pomegranate seedling from the village from my friend and planted it into the flower bed in the community. Unexpectedly, the soil of the flower bed is really suitable for its growth. Six years later, it grew into a two-tall tree about 3 meters tall, and it can bear more than 20 pomegranates every year. I have also buried some fires at the roots and applied compound fertilizer to it. In drought, I often water it.

Unfortunately, the flowers and trees planted in the flower beds are too dense, such as apricot trees, figs , walnut trees , Chinese toon trees , rose flowers , purple hibiscus, plum blossoms, etc., which affects ventilation and light transmission. The pomegranate tree can't spread and can only grow upwards, but there are not many results. Besides, it attracts lice, which I have scratched manually, but it cannot be scraped from high places. I once asked forestry technicians, and they said that scraping is a good way, but you have to scrape it all over and scrape it a few more times. I asked them if they had any medicine, and they said that if they could catch their breeding season, they could spray lithosulfur mixture, but it was difficult to catch it accurately. Another problem is that pomegranate fruits are prone to cracks, and the cracked fruits are prone to breakage. Technicians say this is due to the climate and is difficult to prevent. I had to let it develop freely.

The pomegranate tree is planted on the public territories, and of course the fruit should be shared by everyone. When the pomegranate is about to be ripe, someone will pick it and eat it. I also shared the ones I picked and ate with my neighbors.

The pomegranate fate of three generations is homesickness with color and taste.

Original title "Three Generations of Pomegranate Fate"

Original text was published on October 26, 2022 " Yantai Evening News "