Pigs eat a lot. Prepare two baskets of pig grass for pigs every day. There is not enough pig food at home, especially in spring, and the vines in the field can't grow. Last year's pit red yam has been used up, so we need to cut a lot of grass from the wild to feed the pigs.
Adults are basically busy with farm work in the fields, and the small work of cutting pig grass falls on children. No matter how much grass we cut every day, we will make up for it from the pig vegetables planted in the field, but we can't just rely on the pig vegetables planted on the ground at home. If this continues for a long time, even pigs will not be enough to eat.
The age at which rural children cut pig grass is probably synchronized with school. At that time, there were no kindergartens in the countryside. I went to primary school at the age of seven or eight. After school, I didn't work as hard as my children now. After coming home from school, I will do some menial work according to my parents' arrangement, and sometimes I will go up the mountain to cut pig grass. Now that I think about it, I should have been carefree and had a good time. Why do I feel so awake? I think it has something to do with the living environment. It really means that "children from poor families have long taken care of themselves."
Everything revives in spring, which is the time when plants grow and the season when grass begins to grow. The weather in Sichuan and Chongqing is always foggy and humid, but the weather is getting warmer, which is the best season to cut pig grass. Everyone has a sickle and a backpack, which is something that every child has experienced. When it comes to mowing grass, boys can't compare with girls. The girls were quick with their hands and feet, waving sickles, and soon put a handful of grass in their backpacks. My hands were clumsy when I was a child. My sister often cuts a lot, so I just cut a little. However, in the end, my sister cut a backpack for me.
It's hard for me to forget the memory of my childhood. Even today, decades later, I still remember the knowledge of cutting pig grass very clearly, and I can casually name many grasses: grass, broken ear root, fish-eating snail, dried wild vegetables, shepherd's purse, goose intestine, dried bean curd, purslane and wild onion. The most common are grass, goose intestines and empty bean curd, which are more common in fields, crops and the edge of barren slopes. Every time you mow the grass, you have to choose a different direction, such as going to the back hill today, going across the hall tomorrow and going to the ditch the day after tomorrow, so you will constantly change places. When the grass in this place is cut, the grass in another place will grow again, where there is more grass and less grass.
Adults say that there are many Chinese herbal medicines in weeds, which can treat people and animals, but some of them are also poisonous. There is nothing wrong with which weeds pigs can eat and which weeds they cannot eat. My father is a barefoot doctor in the village. He often tells us all kinds of wild vegetables that can be used as medicine, such as purslane, which can reduce inflammation and swelling and treat diarrhea. The roots of broken ears can enhance immunity and make pigs less sick; Empty tofu pudding can detoxify and benefit the stomach, and it can also feed sows. However, there is a kind of grass called Ma Yuzi, which is very toxic. You can kill pigs if you eat them, as well as Lysimachia christinae and five-leaf lamps. , are poisonous weeds. When cutting pig grass, it is clear every time, and poisonous ones must not be cut.
When mowing the grass, I experienced many interesting things. Sometimes when I was mowing the grass, a pheasant suddenly jumped out and accidentally let out a cry. Sometimes I can meet snakes in the grass in summer. As long as I see snakes, girls generally won't go there to mow the grass next time. Although I am afraid, my sister won't go there to mow the grass. The grass there is very lush. In order to mow the grass early enough for one day, I have to bite the bullet and mow it. When mowing the grass in autumn, you can also pick some wild fruits such as mulberry kernels, wild strawberries and Rosa roxburghii from the mountains to eat. Now, I still think the wild fruit is sour and sweet, and it tastes good. I often cut my hand when mowing the grass. Every time I cut my hand, my friends helped each other and pressed the wound with their hands. Another partner found a mulberry tree and cut it with a knife. Soon the mulberry oars flowed out and applied them to the wound. After a while, the bleeding stopped; After a buddy cuts his hand, other buddies will help him mow the grass all day. Now, childhood friendship is really pure, every little happiness can be talked together for a long time, and every little mutual help can be remembered for a long time.
Decades have passed in a blink of an eye, and those things about cutting pig grass are still so clearly printed in my mind.
(The picture is from the Internet, thanks to the photographer)