Forever green areca garden

My garden has hundreds of areca trees, which give off a lush green shade all year round. My childhood was spent in the areca garden all year round...

Areca trees spread their green shade throughout the four seasons. (Photo: Dan Tri Newspaper ).

At that time, my family had the most beautiful areca garden in Tri Yen village (now hamlet 8, Kim Hoa commune, Huong Son). Every tree was round, straight, and smooth from the trunk to the top. The foliage looked like a green broom waving with the wind. On clear mornings, flocks of starlings would come together to sing loudly throughout the garden.

The happiest time is during the Qingming Festival in March, when areca flowers bloom. At that time, not only the red-whiskered bulbuls but also the sparrows, woodpeckers, black starlings, and cuckoos gather in the garden to practice their voices, then preen their feathers and wings in the fragrant scent of areca flowers.

The clusters of white areca flowers mixed with a bit of night dew are as beautiful as beads. (Photo: Dan Tri Newspaper ).

My garden has hundreds of areca trees, which spread their green shade all year round. My childhood was attached to the areca garden all year round. In spring, I anxiously waited for the areca flowers to bloom. My friends in the neighborhood and I gathered under the areca tree to play many interesting games. When the areca tree was ready to bloom, the outer shell burst open and fell to the ground, revealing clusters of white flowers mixed with a bit of night dew, as beautiful as beads. The scent of areca flowers wafted throughout the garden. The flowers stayed on the tree for a few weeks and then fell to the ground. Every time after school, my garden was filled with the laughter of my friends. Under the areca tree, we used some bamboo bushes to make a house frame, cut banana leaves to cover the roof, picked areca shells to make boats, picked areca flowers to make rice, used duck eggshells to make pots, built 3 small stones, and lit a fire to cook rice with areca flowers. Oh my! The innocent memories of childhood, so funny and ridiculous.

Entering summer, the areca garden is filled with the cicadas' chirping and the doves' chirping in the fields. In the bright, shimmering sunlight, my areca garden is still shady... During this time, many young fruits fall one after another, and the areca canopy is sparsely covered with old leaves. We often pick up those young fruits to play hopscotch, or to use as "bullets" to load into a peeler to make a gun... My friends divide into factions, forming a battle formation to chase each other under the areca tree. Occasionally, a few areca trees shed their old leaves. When they hear the sound of falling leaves, everyone rushes to grab the leaves. Whenever the spathe changes from green to dark yellow, the branches and leaves turn yellow, and a new spathe on the areca tree continues to spring up to replace the old one... When my village did not have electricity, in the summer everyone tried to make a fan from a cut areca spathe. Families who did not have a water bucket would take a cut areca spathe and sew it into a bucket. The most convenient way is to use areca spathe to wrap fragrant and sticky rice balls. Every summer, the villagers come to ask my mother to use them.

Entering autumn, the areca clusters are round like green chicken eggs, the top of the areca nut shows a small round knob like a bean. My father goes to the garden to check each tree, looking at the color of the fruit to know whether it is old or young before picking.

In my hometown, there are often many weddings in October. In addition to the wedding feast prepared by the groom's family to present to the bride's family, including a pig's head, green betel, cakes, there must also be a bunch of fresh areca nuts. The areca nuts in my hometown are beautiful, so many families come to buy them.

My father went to the garden to look at each tree, looking at the color of the fruit to know if it was old or young before picking it... (Photo: Dan Tri Newspaper ).

At the end of October, my family started harvesting areca nuts. Every afternoon, my brother and I went out to the garden with my father to pick areca nuts. Picking areca nuts was simple, just need to climb up the ladder. Without needing the last step, the sickle curved like a question mark touched the areca nut cluster. After a "phút" sound, the areca nut cluster laden with fruit had left the areca tree. My father leisurely lowered the sickle, my brother and I stood ready to receive the areca nut cluster and neatly arranged it on the ground. Just like that, on average, my father picked about 10-15 areca nuts every day.

Areca nut splitting season, my whole family is happy and busy. Areca nut bunches fill the whole yard, every night after dinner, my parents and eldest sister-in-law, each with an American oil lamp, a sharp knife, a large basket, sit and split areca nuts. My whole family, from my parents to eldest sister-in-law, each hand holding the knife is quick, after just one night, the areca nuts just picked from the garden are quickly cleared.

Areca nut splitting season, everyone looks forward to sunny days to dry areca nuts. But unfortunately, winter rains and is colder than warm sunny days. Once the areca nuts have been split, they cannot catch the sun and must be dried to avoid mold. To become dry, crispy and fragrant areca nuts, many winter nights my father had to stay up until two in the morning fanning the charcoal, watching over each batch of burning charcoal. The areca nut drying tool is woven from thick ivory bamboo strips like a reed leaf, round, about one meter high. The two ends of the hard bamboo are surrounded by thick rattan, which my villagers often call a "areca pit". Every time before drying, my father often takes a basin of kitchen ash and pours it into the middle of the house, puts in the fanned charcoal, places the "areca pit" in, and puts a tray of fresh areca nuts tightly covering the mouth of the "pit". Every hour or so, when this batch of charcoal has burned out, my father takes out the tray of dried areca nuts, then continues to stir the fire, puts in a new batch of charcoal to dry a new tray of areca nuts. Every winter night, my father dried three trays of fresh areca nuts, each tray three times. For many years, during a week of continuous rain, each tray had to be dried dozens of times before it was crispy.

Every time I return to my hometown, passing through the old path and garden, I miss my childhood under the green shade of areca trees... (Photo: Internet ).

Thanks to my parents’ diligence, their habit of staying up late and waking up early, and their gardening mindset, they harvested five to seven jars of dried areca nuts each year. Dried areca nuts were considered a special product of farmers at that time. Before the areca picking season, Mrs. Lan in Son Trung, Mrs. Tri, Mrs. Nam in Choi... came to my house to “deposit” in advance. Every season, the areca nuts were priced well, and my family not only provided enough food, clothing, and books for 6 siblings to study and grow up, but also “saved” many relatives and friends in the village to get through the lean season in March.

Now my old garden has a new owner, my parents have passed away long ago. But every time I return to my hometown, passing through the old garden, I miss my childhood under the green shade of the areca trees.

December 2023

Phan The Cai

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/van-hoc/vuon-cau-xanh-mai/260892.htm