Why is Shanxi Xiaomi so good?

Millet from my hometown

Shanxi/Guo Dongmian

I saw a photo of mature millet posted on WeChat, and the thick ears of millet were crowded together. Squeezing each other, lowering the heavy head, the plump grains are really gratifying. I can't help but think of the scene of growing millet with my father when I was a child...

My hometown, Yuanqu County, is located at the southernmost tip of Shanxi Province. , surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing water on one side, spans Wangwu Mountain to the east, Zhongtiao Mountain to the west, Taihang Mountain to the north, and the beautiful mother river, the Yellow River, to the south. Surrounded by mountains and rivers, this place has beautiful scenery and profound human resources. This is the birthplace of the ancestor of mankind, the ape. The only virgin forest in North China, Lishan Scenic Area, known as the "North China Animal and Plant Gene Bank", is in my hometown. Lishan Shunwangping is the main peak of Zhongtiao Mountain, with a total area of ??100 square kilometers and an altitude of 2,358 meters. It borders Yicheng, Qinshui, Yuanqu and Yangcheng. There are many green peaks in the territory. According to legend, Shun was on this large flat. Farming, teaching people to grow millet (general name for millet) and flax. The big furrows that Shun cultivated in the past can still be vaguely discerned. According to legend, when Shun was plowing on the ground, a bird brought the seeds, which were the earliest millet. So this is also the birthplace of millet culture. The climate, soil, water source and environmental quality here are extremely high, with abundant water sources, sufficient sunshine, and low temperatures, which are very suitable for the growth of millet. Therefore, Yuanqu has also been a very famous hometown of millet throughout history.

Yuanqu County is located on the southern slope of Shunwangping. It is a typical mountainous and hilly area. The mountains and ravines have different altitudes. The highest Shunwangping is 2358 meters above sea level, and the lowest Mazuwo is only 176 meters above sea level. Therefore, The sowing period and growth period of millet are also different, and there is a saying that "the sky is different in ten miles". The taste of millet also has its own characteristics. The most famous ones are Lishan millet from Beishan, Yuantuping millet from Nanshan, and Hetao millet from the north bank of the Yellow River and Boqing River. The sowing of millet is divided into two stages. The millet sown in spring is called Zaogu, also called "Zhigu" in our dialect. It matures before the white dew. It is the earliest place where millet matures in my country. Millet is very delicious, with golden color, plump grains, soft texture and natural mellow aroma. It is known as "Longjing Mingqian tea and Yuanqu Luqian rice". Late millet is a stubble millet planted after the wheat is harvested and has a short growing season.

Millet is one of the most famous specialties in my hometown. Every year at the beginning of spring, farmers begin to pull farm manure into the fields. Sometimes, in order to catch up with the sowing period, they work overtime at night to spread the manure on the fields under the moonlight. Then the animals were driven to plow the land, and the manure was turned into the ground and mixed thoroughly with the soil. When the cuckoo calls "cuckoo cuckoo", it is the time to plant millet. There was no mechanization at that time, and all planting was done manually. A columbler (equivalent to a senior technician), a floor-plitter, a three-legged wooden columbine and A horse or an ox, the horse is faster, the ox is much slower. The columbator-handle type puts the high-quality grain seeds prepared last year into the funnel, and uses a small wood chip to press the seed outlet in the funnel to a suitable size. It is very harmonious to lead the animals and listen to the rhythmic "knot, knot" of the wooden columbine, which is like a beautiful piece of music. A large group of remaining laborers were behind to trample the grain. They wore flat cloth shoes and trampled the fields where the millet had just been planted. They were usually women, old people and children. The procession was very spectacular. , people put their hands on their hips, like walking in a race, chasing each other, it's like a picture of spring sowing.

After ten days and eight days after the seeds are sown, when the seedlings grow to two or three inches, it is necessary to thin the seedlings. Thinning wheat seedlings is also a technical job. As the saying goes: "Thick wheat and thick millet can kill people." This means that because the wheat ears are small, the wheat will be thicker and the yield will be higher; if the wheat ears are large, they will not grow if they are too thick. The yield will be low, with less millet and more chaff. Cutting rice seedlings is not only troublesome, but also very hard. It is the hot weather in the dog days. People wear straw hats and squat in the fields to work. Old people with bad legs bring small horses and small benches to sit down and work. First use a small digging hoe to remove the weeds in the field, then gently hold the seedlings with your left hand, and use the small digging hoe in your right hand to hoe off the excess seedlings, or pull them out directly to keep the distance between the seedlings. Well-proportioned, not thick or thin. Although there is not much technical content in doing this work, it is still not easy to master the heat. After a long time, my back hurts, my legs are numb, I am upset, and the sun makes me dizzy. I deeply understand that "it is noon on the day of hoeing" , the hardships of "sweat dripping from the soil". In order to survive and produce, we have no choice but to grit our teeth and move forward.

After planting the millet seedlings, it will take more than ten days to fertilize the millet and use a big hoe to weed. When the millet is about to ripen, the yellow ears are thick and big. Some are hairy, which is called hairy grain, and some are like thick hemp rope, which is also called rope grain. Looking at the harvest of millet in the fields is very gratifying, and I can't help but think of the poem "Sow a grain of millet in spring, harvest ten thousand seeds in autumn" by Li Shen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, in "Compassion for the Farmers". At this time, sparrows also came in groups, so people would put up a few scarecrows in the valley to scare the sparrows. This method worked initially, but gradually it stopped working over time, so we sent our children and children to Standing at the edge of the field, they took turns holding long bamboo poles to catch sparrows. We have known since childhood that the food that reaches our mouths will be spoiled by sparrows. What a pity! When the millet is ripe, it must be harvested in time. As the saying goes: the wheat is full of green grains, and the millet is full of chaff. "Inverted green" means that when the banker is mature, it encounters continuous rain and turns from yellow to green. If the wheat is green, it will grow longer and fuller; if the millet is green, it will lie down and rot in the soil.

When harvesting millet, because the grain stalks are thicker and stronger than the wheat stalks, a sickle that is larger, thicker and heavier than the sickle used to cut wheat is used, called a stupid sickle, which is half-cut and half-chopping. Someone is cutting in front, and someone behind is tying up the grain with knots made from straws, carrying it back to the threshing floor, and then using a sickle to cut off the ears of grain one by one, commonly known as millet.

When the grain is a little better, grinding begins. I always remember that at this time, my mother would hitch the donkey and grind the rice on the stone mill in the village. After grinding it three times, all the skin of the millet fell off and turned into golden millet. Whoever grinds the new grain rice first has to share it. Each family is given a big bowl first to make a meal of new grain rice, including scooped rice, braised rice, millet porridge, and rice mixed with rice. It is very fragrant and delicious. Relatives all know that the millet here matures early, and they often come to my house to ask for some fresh food to take home. When their millet is harvested, they will also give us some to taste.

The soil and water support each family, and the millet in my hometown has nurtured me. My bones are nourished by millet, and my blood is filled with feelings of millet. Decades later, I still feel that if I don't eat a meal of rice a day, I feel like I haven't eaten and I feel sick to my stomach. So whenever I leave my hometown, I have to bring some millet from my hometown, either to visit relatives or friends, or to enjoy it myself. Thanks to my spread, the millet from my hometown has traveled to Beijing, Shenzhen, Yunnan, and Hainan. Friends from Beijing and Shenzhen all praise the delicious millet from Yuanqu.

When friends come to my house as guests, they all eat the millet I made. Millet has become a bond between relatives and friends. I feel happy and full of pride.

About the author:

Guo Dongmian, female, member of Shanxi Yuanqu County Writers Association. Graduated as a kindergarten teacher with a college diploma and has been engaged in primary school, early childhood education, and special education for more than 30 years. He once served as deputy principal, principal, school inspector, etc., and is now retired. He loves life, likes literature, and has many good relationships. He has published articles in "Chinese Disabled People", "Shanxi Charity", "Shanxi Special Education", "Yellow River Morning News", "Shun Xiang", "Oriental Prose", "Writers Online", Articles have been published on platforms such as "Yuanqurenjia" and "Writer Shinkansen".

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