Overflowing rivers have one characteristic. Its water will rise and fall with the rising tide of the sea. The river is clear all year round. Chun Lv, Xia Qing, monks and Dongbai are like the mother's milk, feeding the people on both sides of the strait. Although the land is some soil with white salt and nitrate, it barely supports the farmers.
Living in that era, it is inevitable that life is hard, but no matter how hard it is, people still survive. It is precisely because of this that there will be a spring drought for nearly half a year every year, which will make people feel that the taste on the tip of the tongue is stronger, lingering in their minds and unforgettable.
As long as I can remember, when the smoke of firecrackers in the Spring Festival was still scattered, my mother tried her best to get all the family's meals wet, carefully taking out the dried vegetables that were dried intermittently last year, or taking them out of the laundry basket in the corner, or taking them off the clothes peg on the wall and drying them on the curtains one by one. Looking at those Chinese cabbage skins, radish and cherry seeds, and maybe some dried beancurd and carrots, you can see from your mother's brow that she is planning how to arrange for her to spend the spring drought years that are already in front of her, and she is not careful at all, for fear that there will be three meals.
When there are not many turnips left in the cellar, or when there are not many Chinese cabbages stored (at that time, there were no plastic greenhouses today, and there were no vegetables in winter, just like in the northeast, some radishes and Chinese cabbages were stored), careful mothers would mix some dried vegetables into the turnips, stir-fry a handful of soybeans, and maybe even some tofu bites to burn a large pot of "Bai Na Cai".
On February 2 nd, the dragon looked up, and the green tide kept coming in the fields, and shepherd's purse, garlic and wolfberry heads flooded in. In this way, the dining table at home is greener, and at the same time, the roots and whiskers of Artemisia selengensis accumulated in a winter have become people's dishes in vain. These wild vegetables are not only fresh and delicious, but also rich in trace elements beneficial to human body. When these wild vegetables prevailed in February, a bowl of porridge was stuck in the folds of my memory, lingering and indelible. Its practice is also very simple, that is, wash the shepherd's purse dug in the ground with clear water, add a large piece of watercress, and cook it with corn flour into porridge that is neither thin nor thick. It looks golden and inlaid with green. It smells good and tastes delicious. It should be said that shepherd's purse is the best and simplest way to eat, and neither a famous chef nor too much seasoning is needed.
Yangchun March is the real spring in my hometown. It is the season of blooming flowers that attracts butterflies and bees to fly, and birds are indispensable where there are flowers. At this time, although the ground is full of flowers, there are very few for people to eat directly. Although the leeks in the small garden are thriving, they can't get rid of their purple pants. Other dishes are just waking up from a dream, rubbing your eyes from time to time.
The rising temperature, inadvertently, made the pickles submerged in the tank last year give birth to a little white hair. As a last resort, my mother fished it out to dry and turned it into qianzi. These pickles with the smell of last autumn frost were put into condiments such as garlic and ginger when they were flooded. In the past winter, they usually picked it up from the jar and chopped it up to accompany the meal. They are crisp, delicious, full of flavor and very refreshing.
After drying it for a few days, my mother washed it, cooked it, and dried it until it was 70% dry. It became the prune that people often say, and she never got tired of eating it. Once we meet, even gentlemen and ladies will forget their identities and chew on them. I remember Su Dongpo in the Song Dynasty liked plum and barbecue very much. Not only that, in the process of his continuous cooking, he also made Dongpo meat, which is a big dish handed down from generation to generation. Today, if you go to Changzhou, Jiangsu Province and don't eat a bowl of Dongpo meat, you have never been to Changzhou.
Another way to dry plums is to wash the dried plums of last year, soak them in salted water, and then cook them and dry them in the sun, especially the dried plums. Dried plums are especially delicious and have a certain crispness, just like eating jellyfish.
In April of the lunar calendar, the sun rises and the ground temperature rises, which is the time to plant spring vegetables. It takes 20 days to eat small vegetables, and it takes longer to grow that kind of radish called cherry, at least 40 days. Those peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, beans and other vegetables are eaten from summer to autumn. Just when people are eager for green vegetables again, leeks begin to fade from red and purple, and they can be eaten in 10 days, and will be harvested in turn. At this time, my mother will carefully move out a jar she deliberately collected from the corner. As soon as the lid was opened, a mellow smell came to my nose. Not to mention the leek flooded last summer, there are some small peppers mixed in it. It could have been eaten directly with rice, but my mother always steamed it in a dry rice cooker, especially underground rice. In fact, these leeks were still in June of the year before last, but they were flooded when they were considered too old to eat. Just when the leek was fragrant, the vegetables planted when the autumn frost was thick last year began to come out of the market, and people finally passed the first hurdle of the spring drought year.
The Xiaoman solar term has come, and people have entered Xia Meng time. As the saying goes: "Little people see three fresh things: cherry (known as the first fruit in the world), cocoon (the best material since ancient times) and garlic (an indispensable condiment in home life)." At this time, the three wheat crops in the field began heading, flowering and filling, which was also the "peak" of food shortage. People are eagerly waiting for the wheat to ripen, but the family may stop blowing at any time.
Fortunately, God has eyes, and the Robinia pseudoacacia shoots from Germany, which grow indiscriminately in soil, dance out white flowers at this time, covering the emerald crown like snow. Happy people pick up some long-handled tools to pick Sophora japonica flowers that attract bees to fly. Sophora japonica can be mixed with a little leek fried rice, or mixed with batter to make a cake. The coexistence of fragrance and delicious food has become a delicious food to understand and suppress hunger, and it has also provided people with a large number of trace elements necessary for the human body and improved people's health level.
At the same time, Chinese milk vetch and alfalfa, which are specially used to press green manure on rice, are also growing wildly. People want to pick some tender heads and fry them, which becomes a vegetable on the table. Of course, people will not forget to scald Sophora japonica, Astragalus sinicus and alfalfa with boiling water, and then bask in qianzi in the summer sun. One can enjoy summer food in other seasons, and the other can share some with relatives and friends in the city.
Although people munch on Chinese milk vetch and Sophora japonica, the lid of many families can't be opened in the end. Faced with the plight of the members, the old captain had to bite his teeth and clap his thigh. "It is very important to live." He ordered to cut off some immature ears of wheat and expose them to the sun in Xia Meng, and then distribute them to the members. If there is no mature wheat, after beating it with a dead hammer, wash the removed wheat with clear water and then dry it a little. It is not hunger that makes it delicious, but it really has a unique taste, enough for people to eat. People who barely eat enough can enter the "battlefield" of summer harvest in summer sowing.
Before the calendar of May was torn off, the Dragon Boat Festival stood in front of people. Wormwood is inserted in the eaves, and calamus is hung on the window lattice. Just when people looked at the reeds swaying with green leaves on the river, they were embarrassed. The production team leader didn't know how many trips he made to the Grain Management Institute before he won glutinous rice for the members. He happily picked up the broadcasting pipe and ordered people to get glutinous rice. Zongzi not only pays tribute to Dr. San Lv, but also fills people's stomachs. I'm not very greedy for zongzi. What I remember most is the cherry radish used in a custom at that time. Its small and exquisite appearance, brilliant red skin and white meat are a kind of magnetic charm for children, not to mention being submerged with sugar. Sliced radish looks crystal clear in sugar water, and its edge lacks bright red halo, which makes my tongue tremble.
Before using this radish pickled with sugar, drop a few drops of white wine. After parents give their children a bath (usually hot water boiled with a hundred herbs), they dip some yellow powder in radish to wipe their ears, nose and shade, saying that it can prevent mosquitoes from coming in in summer. That year, I secretly took a radish that was drying in the sun, tasted it, and ate it one after another, leaving only two or three pieces. Therefore, during the Dragon Boat Festival in the next few years, my mother always pickled one more to prevent similar things from happening again.
Dragon Boat Festival is usually mixed with the time when wheat matures, either a few days earlier or a few days later. In short, when eating zongzi, it is the beginning of summer harvest. People happily picked up the sickle that had been ground into Xuan Yue, and turned golden waves into golden streams. Grass forks with ancient charm hold up streams and throw them high to the Jinshan of ox carts. Cattle transport Jinshan to social farms for threshing in the sound of carts.
So, in the years of spring drought, I watched the golden yellow after lifting the shovels and left the small village with flying dust. People frown for half a year and stretch out. People who stand up straight have laughter again, rippling comfortably in the drifting wind.