Water chestnut is an annual herbaceous aquatic plant grown in the water by people in my hometown. It is also called "water peanut". They grow where there is water, and can be cultivated in lakes, shallow bays in rivers, and artificial ponds. The leaves of rhombus are available in green and red. Because the leaves are shaped like rhombus, they are called rhombus.
My hometown is a place rich in red water chestnuts, which are also a specialty of my hometown. Their skin is bright red, and their fruits are ingot-shaped with two sharp horns growing on both sides, commonly known as water chestnuts. Water chestnuts hang in the water under water chestnut leaves. The so-called red water chestnut refers to water chestnuts and its stems that are purple-red. Their flowers are bright and light yellow flowers, and their fruits are red.
There are cultivated and wild water chestnuts. It takes about five months from sowing to harvesting. Therefore, when spring enters rural areas in Jiangnan, it is necessary to prepare seedlings around the Qingming Festival. When I was a child, I often saw my mother and villagers raising seedlings in the river behind the house, and we often helped together. The method of cultivating water chestnut seedlings is very simple. Repair an old and broken basket that is not in use. Then use an iron spoon to dig out the black river mud from the river and fill the basket. Take out the water chestnut seeds soaked in the jar, and then fill them up one by one. Arrange them in a basket, and hang a tightly twisted straw rope or a thin wire on the basket.
After everything is ready, a large oblong wooden barrel is used to ferry the person to the middle of the river, a few bamboo poles are inserted, and Yuling's basket is hung in the middle of the water. As spring warms and flowers bloom, the water temperature begins to rise, and tender green water chestnut buds appear in the center of the water chestnuts. The water in the river is crystal clear, and we can clearly see the growth of water chestnut buds. The water chestnut sprouts will pop up as soon as you poke your head into the water. Soon they will turn into water chestnut seedlings, and soon they will stick out of the water. It’s May weather now. The water chestnut leaves began to swim on the water, and soon the straw rope on the bamboo basket began to break. The basket was very heavy, and it sank into the river mud with the water chestnut roots, and then the water chestnut's happy world was born.
The water chestnut is a plant that floats on the water and grows leaves. Its roots can grow to more than three meters long. Root systems will grow on the roots and stems of the water chestnut, and the roots are covered with brown "beards". These beards sway back and forth in the water, absorbing the nutrients needed in the water for the growth of water chestnuts, and also driving away floating insects. Usually, it is enough to sink five or six baskets into the river behind the house. These water chestnut seedlings will expand the growing space on the river surface. They will grow better and better. By June, the water chestnut leaves will slowly cover them. covered the entire river.
The methods of cultivating lings are different in different parts of the country. When I grew up, I learned that in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Zhejiang and other places, farmers used the harvested early rice fields to raise water chestnuts. Every year in April, farmers there will begin to intensively cultivate seedlings. In early summer, at the end of May or June, when the double-crop early rice is harvested, farmers will work overtime to build higher ridges around the rice fields, and then divert water into the fields. , transplant the cultivated water chestnut seedlings that have grown leaves. When the weather is hot, the water chestnuts will grow quickly and soon fill the paddy field. This is field cultivation of water chestnuts.
The water chestnuts in the lake are more interesting. People fish out the water chestnuts cultivated in the pond, tie them with a straw rope more than two meters long, and then plant them one by one near both sides of the bank. In a lake or river, soon the water chestnut seedlings will slowly take root at the bottom of the lake and gradually grow, eventually crowding the curved surface of the lake. In order to prevent the water chestnuts from being attacked by wind and waves in the lake, people neatly inserted bamboo poles around the water chestnut seedlings and surrounded the water chestnut seedlings with straw ropes, so that the water chestnut seedlings would not grow aimlessly. If it is in a river, the middle will not affect the passage of the river. Now it seems that the method of raising caltrops in my mother's day is obviously a bit old, but it can save time and is a good sight.
About two months after careful management, the water chestnuts in the fields will begin to bloom and bear fruit like the water chestnuts in rivers and lakes. "The water chestnuts are planted during the Qingming Festival, and the young water chestnuts are harvested at the beginning of autumn, and the old water chestnuts are harvested when the frost comes in the summer." This is an exquisite summary of the entire process of raising water chestnuts by people from my hometown. Water chestnuts can grow in both shallow water and deep water. In early summer, after water chestnut seedlings are planted, management is also very important. In particular, pests and diseases cannot be underestimated. There is a bug that loves to bite water chestnut leaves, which will bite the water chestnut leaves into pieces, affecting the yield of water chestnuts.
If dried and powdered, it can be cooked into porridge. Like lotus root starch, they are what people like to eat during and after illness.
The red water chestnuts that can’t be eaten will be taken to the streets to be sold. At that time, the price of red water chestnuts in my hometown was not expensive, usually twenty cents per catty, and a basket collected could be sold for about two or three yuan. When we were young, we used to make red caltrops into caltrop flutes to play with. Select the cooked old water chestnut, make a small opening in the pedicle to take out the water chestnut flesh, then make a small hole in the umbilicus of the red water chestnut shell, and stick a bamboo film or reed film on the pedicle, and use Blow hard on the navel with your mouth, and it will make a sound like a wheat flute. Experienced young people can also play some simple tunes like "Yi Yi Ya Ya".
In the autumn of the year before last, I was collecting water chestnuts in Dongshan Mountain of Taihu Lake. My friend took me to see the girls collecting water chestnuts in Taihu Lake. It was very poetic and picturesque. On the rippling blue lake, several large wooden basins for water chestnuts were placed in a row on the water. The girls sang "The Beauty of Taihu Lake" and paddled the water with their hands to make the wooden barrels move forward slowly. As their hands swayed, they waded. Shui's hands uncovered the bright red water chestnut leaves, and the red water chestnuts lifted up one by one. With the girl's delicate hands, the red water chestnuts were picked and put into the basin. The girls' songs echoed on the lake again. "The beauty of Taihu Lake lies in the water of Taihu Lake. There are white sails on the water, red caltrops under the water, green reeds on the water's edge, and fat fish and shrimps on the bottom..." Looking at the patches of red caltrops on the water, I suddenly realized that the water of Taihu Lake is really singing. Beautiful.
This autumn, while walking on the street, I suddenly heard someone shouting: "Selling Red Lings". Suddenly, I remembered the classic play "Selling Red Lings" by the famous Shanghai opera actor Yang Feifei. This is her The classic song co-written with her husband Zhao Chunfang became popular in Shanghai for a period of time and is known as the banner of the Yang School of Shanghai Opera singing. The song is melodious and popular, and it has become the favorite of many Shanghai opera fans in Shanghai. When I heard the shouting, her melodious singing seemed to ring in my ears...
It is a pity that she passed away on May 21 this year, but the arias of this play are like " The beauty of Taihu Lake will last forever. Thinking of the scene when I interviewed her in the autumn of ten years ago, it seems that everything is still floating in front of my eyes.
That day, she became emotional when we talked about "Selling Red Lings". The story of Shanghai Opera "Selling Red Lings" reflects the love and engagement between rural youths Fan Fengying and Xue Jinchun in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. After Fengying's parents died, her uncle forced her to marry into the wealthy Zhang family. He also bribed the government to falsely accuse Xue Jinchun of seducing a woman from a good family and sent her to the army. After serving his sentence, Xue Jinchun disguised himself as a salesman and went to Zhang's house to visit Fengying, shared their difficulties, and met at the temple fair to fly away together... We talked about the artistic features from the storyline, and also talked about the reflection of the life of the times and the high level of art that originated from the life of the times. When living in the times, Yang Feifei laughed. She said that she had liked Hongling since she was a child, and the misery of the heroine in the play was exactly the object of her sympathy. She said that she had also experienced hardship since she was a child... She sang while talking and singing her favorite Her friendly smile and humble demeanor infected me with "Selling Red Watersheds". It was she who sang the red water chestnut song with true feelings, and she never tired of singing it all her life. This is the extraordinary career of an artist, and this may be the real reason why "Selling Red Lings" was sung...
In late autumn, bathed in the sunshine, I returned to the grassland by the river in my hometown and spent a A long bamboo pole picked up a branch of red water chestnut lying by the river, grabbed the water chestnut leaf with his hand, and looked at the remaining red water chestnut. A scene of picking water chestnuts as a child appeared in front of my eyes. At that moment, I seemed to have walked into the happy time of childhood again. I rowed a long round wooden bucket, picked fresh red water chestnuts with both hands, and opened the water. Rowing forward leisurely again...