When I went back to my hometown some time ago, I saw that my uncle’s family still uses gourd and ladles. When we were children, we all used this ladle to scoop water and cook rice. After several years away from home, our memory of it has become increasingly blurry. Now that I suddenly see it, my thoughts seem to travel through time and space, returning to our happy childhood.
The old house I lived in when I was a child had a vegetable garden behind the house. Next to the vegetable garden, there was a large persimmon tree, covering half of the vegetable garden. The remaining half is used to grow vegetables. Every spring, we build a bamboo scaffolding in a corner of the vegetable garden and use the scaffolding to grow beans, loofahs, gourds, gourds and other vine fruits, so that we have fresh fruits to eat.
Among them, the most useful are loofah and calabash gourd when they bear fruit. At that time, my mother often observed carefully under the trellis, keeping the fruits with the most beautiful shapes and the most abundant ones, and picked the others for cooking. Fresh loofah is used in soup, which is sweet and delicious; gourd melon is often used for stir-frying. If you can put some meat in it, it will be the most memorable delicacy in the whole summer.
After the remaining loofahs are fully mature, they are dried under the trellis. We picked dried loofahs and hung them on the rafters. When it is time to use it, peel it to reveal its dry and solid fibers. The seeds inside are carefully preserved and sown in the spring. My mother's dried loofah was cut into sections. It was the best dishwashing tool and could easily wipe off the oil stains in the dishes.
The same goes for the gourds and melons we grow. Wait until they are fully ripe and dry on the tree, then take some long, particularly large and beautiful ones and cut them in half to create a natural and practical way to scoop water. The ladle is ready. Half of it is placed in the water tank to replace the one from last year. One is used to hold fruits and snacks. This is the most natural fruit bowl.
Some old people in the village will also choose some long ones with uniform shapes and beautiful shapes. Open the head, take out the melon flesh and seeds, leaving only a hard empty shell, which can be used to hold wine or water. Hang it around your waist, quite like the image of those old naughty boys in martial arts dramas.
In an agricultural society where plastics were not widely used, gourds were widely used and almost became a must-have item for every household. They grew up with us.
Today, the natural tradition of gourd melon has disappeared. It has entered textbooks from daily life. Children only know the gourd in "What I Want is a Gourd" and have no idea that it is edible or usable. The gourd has also become the unknowing child in the vase of folk art for centuries. It is hard to imagine that he is a basketful of food and a ladle of drink in the Analects of Confucius, in a back alley.
People can't bear their worries, and they won't change their joy even after returning home. Let's use the utensils for breathing with people!