The weather is getting warmer, and winter is going to spring. After mid-March, the temperature rises and the trees begin to sprout. At this time, the weather is not stable, maybe the previous week you thought the sun was too sunny during the day, and this week it will be rainy and the temperature will plummet.

The plum and peach trees in front of and behind the house, as if agreed, always bloom together at this time. The outer bark of a plum tree that has been planted for a certain period of time is always rough and cracked, and the branches grow so freely. In comparison, the peach tree is much more disciplined. The branches of the peach tree are straight and grow upward. The pink peach blossoms, dressed in the treetops, make it look like a girl, and it is flattering. The flowers of the plum tree are white, with a few bunches of pale yellow stamens in the middle of several petals. The white flowers contrast strongly with the rough branches, resembling a dignified and elegant woman, which makes people respect. If the peach and plum blossom encounters a continuous drizzle, how can this scene be a beautiful word......

Peach and plum are flowering and then growing leaves, which can be regarded as the "wonderful" in fruit trees.

The weeping willows by the river also sprouted, and the thick trunks, the thin willow branches, and the young shoots on the willow branches were small. When the spring breeze blows, the branches sway from side to side. "Wet clothes want to wet the apricot blossom rain, blowing the face does not chill the willow wind", although the wind and rain blowing on the face at this time is not cold, but it is still a little cold.

The grass on the side of the road is also a new sprout, growing next to the dry yellow grass. The camelina inside grew old, changed its color from dark green to light green, and grew long stems with small white flowers on the long stems. In winter, such wild vegetables are a rare dish. Generally, cooking noodles or boiling vermicelli in the morning at home can add a lot of flavor. There are also some artemisia grasses with frog-like leaves that cover the back of the leaves with a layer of white fluff. The stems of this grass can be stir-fried and eaten when they are tender, and the leaves can be mixed with glutinous rice flour to make Qingtuan, which we call "Artemisia Ba". Artemisia grows most gratifying around the Qingming Festival, so people often pick Artemisia to make food at this time.

At this time, the field had not yet been ploughed and sown, but rape flowers were planted. The rape grows fast and one person is taller, and the yellow flowers are blooming one after another. Patches of rape fields are connected into a sea of flowers. The green stems and leaves and yellow flowers have achieved a rare beauty in the countryside. Rapeseed is a common oil crop in the south, and rapeseed oil is the main source of edible oil in our family. So much so that when I went to work in other places as an adult, I still can't forget the smell of vegetable oil. When I am not used to eating, I have bought rapeseed oil online to stir-fry, but I always feel that it is not as fragrant as the self-squeezed at home. When I talk about rapeseed oil is delicious, my friend always shakes his head, "Rapeseed oil has a strange smell, I can't eat it......". The strange smell of canola oil is, in my opinion, the taste of home. Whenever I bring the oil home with me, I always open the lid and get close enough to smell it. When making those fishy meats, rapeseed oil can cover its bad taste well, and the aroma of rapeseed oil itself can also be well integrated into the meat to add flavor to the vegetables. For example, fried fish, fried duck, with rapeseed oil is the most suitable.

Blessed are those who have bamboo forests at home, spring bamboo shoots begin to erupt at this time. In early spring, the bamboos in the mountains begin to sprout. This kind of bamboo shoots is more tender than bamboo shoots, with more juice and basically no bitter taste, so we call it "water bamboo shoots" locally. One of the joys of childhood is to "pull bamboo shoots", bamboo shoots are born in dense and short bamboo forests, and it is not an easy job to "pull bamboo shoots". At that time, whenever I came home from class, as soon as I put down my schoolbag, I would run to the hill to pluck bamboo shoots, and I did this every day. After all, bamboo shoots grow extremely fast, and they will grow into bamboo in a few days. I went to pull it out today, and I can pull it out a lot tomorrow.

When bamboo shoots are at their peak, in order to pull out more bamboo shoots, the whole family will go out at this time. When he returned, the powerful man carried home with a snakeskin bag and a flat pole. Worse, you can also pull out a snakeskin bag. After returning home, you should dispose of the bamboo shoots as soon as possible, otherwise the bamboo shoots will easily spoil. The first thing is to remove the bamboo shoots, and the old knots under the bamboo shoots must also be removed. My family is always reluctant to remove the old festival, and it has become a routine to plug teeth when eating dried bamboo shoots and bowls every year. After removing the old bamboo shoots, boil a pot of boiling water and blanch the bamboo shoots to remove astringency. Blanched bamboo shoots are dried and can be stored for several years. When there are no fresh vegetables, take out the dried bamboo shoots and soak them overnight, and then they can be boiled and eaten the next day.

Later, the water bamboo shoots grow into bamboo, and this is when the bamboo shoots begin to emerge. When the bamboo shoots are about to emerge from the ground, the soil on them will be broken. The bamboo shoots that will break the ground are the most tender, and once the bamboo shoots grow to half a human height, such bamboo shoots will be old. Generally, the combination of bamboo shoots is wet sauerkraut, the acid of sauerkraut can well neutralize the astringency of bamboo shoots, and fried bamboo shoots with sauerkraut are the constant collocation of my family.

"It rains a lot during the Qingming Festival", Qingming, it basically rains every year. There was a year of Qingming, which was windy and rainy. Dad went to the mountains to sweep the grave of his grandmother, but he didn't get home in the evening. My mother was preparing dinner under the stove when the wind blew so hard that the door of my kitchen swayed and several tiles were removed from the roof. Outside the house, I quickly ran to my mother, who also stopped cooking and took me into her arms to prevent me from running around. After a while, it began to rain heavily. Columns of rain like spatula handles were mixed with strong winds, wires were blown in a mess, and trees in the back mountains were messy in the wind......

It was almost dark before the rain stopped. Dad came home for dinner and sighed, "I'm afraid today is not a rare wind and rain in the past few years." ”

Later, during the Qingming Festival, I went to sweep the graves with my father, bringing hoes, firecrackers, yellow paper and incense to worship the deceased ancestors. We always go with our cousins and father-in-law's family, and after cleaning up our relatives, we go together to worship our common ancestors.

Although my father also came to clean up the weeds during the winter solstice in the middle of the month, the grass couldn't grow too fast, and when Qingming came, the weeds were still overgrown on the grave. The road was also full of thorns, and the thatch was overgrown with the path, which had to be chopped with a wood knife to make a path. When you come to the grave, the first thing you need to do is to remove the thatch from the grave, and if there are trees, you have to cut them down, and you have to cut down the surrounding bushes. After cleaning up, insert a few plastic flowers to add a little life. Burn paper, light incense, and put a pair of firecrackers. The elders always say to bow to the grave, and the ancestors can bless you with peace and health, and everything goes well. So we children held incense in our hands and poured incense at the tombstone, and then inserted it in front of the grave......

After sweeping the tomb, if you have time, you can also pout some "fern willows". "Fern willow" is the shoot of an edible fern. When it is young, there is a layer of white fluff on the fern pole, and the top fern leaves are still curled up in a ball without opening. When the leaves at the top are fully opened, the "fern willow" is too old to eat. The "fern willow" picked home must be blanched before it can be eaten, otherwise it will be poisoned. On the other hand, blanching can remove the bitter taste and fluff of "fern willow". However, I have always been a fan of "bracken willows".

Around May Day, you can pick "萢". At this time, the temperature is already very high, and it is about to enter summer, which is also the time for the family to plant grass. When my mother comes home in the evening, she occasionally brings back some "萐", which is packed in plastic bags.

"Hey, look what I've brought you back"

I took the plastic bag in her hand and opened it, and the "yu" inside was very ripe fruit, which had been crushed in my pocket. And when I see such a "Ying", I will not be happy with the surprise she brings back, but will blame her.

"It's all crushed, how can you eat it......"

There are many kinds of "萢", but all of them are prickly. Be especially careful when picking raspberries, as their stems and branches are covered with thorns. And the plants are always hidden in the bushes and are difficult to find. Raspberries are pale red when ripe, have a lot of juice, and are easily broken. So you have to eat this thing as soon as you pick it, and eat it as you pick it. The light orange fruit hanging from the branch is firmer and can withstand the squeezing and bumps, and can be put in a bag to take home and enjoy slowly.

There is also a kind of "earth". The plant is about 20 centimeters long, and the stem also has some thorns, but it is easier to pick than raspberries. The color of the "earth" is deep red, and the fruit can grow to the size of a thumb. It is less juicy but has a strong aroma. One bite at a time, satisfied. The middle is hollow, broken open, and the white inner pulp is often left with small maggots staying inside.

Another type of "snake clamour" grows on vines against the ground. Adults say that this kind of "worm" cannot be eaten, it is poisonous, and it will turn into a snake after eating. One time there was a girl in our school who ate one, and we all laughed at her, and she was going to turn into a snake tomorrow, and we saw what she would do. As a result, when I came to school the next day, I saw that she was still human. Why didn't you turn into a snake? We got together and talked about what the hell was going to be for that.

Is it too little to eat? Or was the one she ate too small? We advised her to eat a few more "snake pills", and then she was reluctant to eat them again......