Prose about harvesting wheat

The wheat grows yellow in three days, and the vast fields turn golden waves.

Farmers are happy with the fragrance of wheat and are busy cutting, pulling, grinding and harvesting wheat.

As the saying goes: "When the pawns are busy, the wheat comes on stage." The pawns are the ninth of the twenty-four solar terms. Before and after this solar term, it is the harvest season of wheat in my hometown.

Last night, my mother called and said that the wheat at home was yellow and asked me to go home and cut it. The next day happened to be a weekend, so my wife, son, and I rushed back to our hometown early in the morning. After a short rest, we went straight to the field. It's said that you are cutting wheat, but in fact you don't have to do it yourself. You just have to wait for the combine harvester in the field. The harvester of Lao Wang in the village is harvesting from house to house in the wheat field, and the "bumping truck" is busy running back and forth, taking the harvested wheat home for everyone. After waiting for an hour, we arrived at my property. Amidst the roar of the harvester, three acres of wheat were harvested in less than twenty minutes. There is no need to put it in a bag, just put it in the "bumping truck" and take it home, dump it on the cement road in front of the door, spread it out, stir it evenly and dry it. As long as the weather is good, it can be stored in the warehouse in two days. Sitting under the big tree in front of the door, looking at the harvested wheat, I couldn't help but think of those unforgettable wheat harvest scenes many years ago.

During the wheat harvest season, children are picking up wheat. When I was a child, the rural areas had not yet implemented the joint production contract responsibility system and were still in the era of "agricultural cooperatives". At that time, there was a shortage of food and clothing. People who had worked hard for a year looked forward to having white flour and a full meal after the wheat harvest. Therefore, harvesting wheat is an expectation and the key to solving the problem of food and clothing. After the wheat matures, harvesting is the top priority among all tasks and the most important thing of the year. The members of the commune have a clear division of labor. There are those who specialize in cutting wheat, some who specialize in driving carts to pull wheat, and some who specialize in crushing wheat. etc. In short, "there is no wheat harvest big or small" and everyone has their own work and tasks. The harvesting of wheat is all done manually, with one person holding a sickle, and the wheat falls one by one with the swing of the sickle. We, the children, followed the adults who harvested the wheat to pick up the wheat to ensure that the grains returned to the warehouse. The wheat they picked up did not belong to themselves. Instead, they handed it over to the production team when they returned. After being weighed and registered, they were given certain material rewards based on the quantity, usually pencils, notebooks, pencil cases, etc. There is a large wheat field in the team, which is used for grinding and drying. There are walnut trees surrounding the wheat field. It is a place for people to rest and enjoy the shade after work. It is also a place where we children often play.

I am happy when harvesting wheat and make preparations in advance. After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the household contract responsibility system was generally implemented in rural areas, and the "agricultural cooperatives" were disintegrated. My family was allocated ten acres of responsible land and some production tools. During the wheat harvest season, cutting, pulling, grinding, raising, drying, and hiding are all done as a family unit. At the beginning of the reform and opening up, although rural productivity was not yet developed and wheat harvesting was still carried out using traditional production methods, everyone was very motivated. Before the wheat is harvested, the wheat field must first be "groomed", that is, the wheat grinding field is tidied up, which is used to stack the harvested wheat, grind it and dry it. The wheat grinding field is generally two or three inches in size and is located in a ventilated and open area in front of the door or behind the house to facilitate drying and winnowing. Before the light field, the land was combed and leveled with a rake. Then, when the weather was fine and the soil was moist, two people pulled the smooth surface and rolled it back and forth, while one person dusted the grass and wood behind until it was smooth and solid. At the same time, go to the market to buy some farm tools, such as "broom handles, ox cage mouths" and the like, to prepare for the summer harvest.

Farming time waits for no one, wheat yellow makes people anxious. Wheat harvesting days are the busiest time in rural areas, but the weather is unpredictable. If you are not careful, the yield will be reduced or even lost due to weather factors, which will directly affect people's food and clothing problems. Therefore, people are used to calling wheat harvesting. One can imagine the tension and importance of "taking food from the dragon's mouth". After the wheat is harvested, every household, men, women, old and young, mobilizes. People who go out will go home, and schools will have "busy holidays". In short, everything is done to harvest wheat, and everything is done to harvest wheat. On wheat harvest day, the family has to get up early, grandma cooks, and others take care of the harvesting business. My father sharpens the blades and sickles over and over again to make them extremely sharp. As the saying goes, "sharpening the knife will not cut the wheat by mistake." achievement". After breakfast, everyone put on their straw hats, picked up their sickles, picked up their kettles, and pulled the cart onto the ground.

The ground wheat straw is used to feed cattle and burn firewood, so it must be piled up. When stacking wheat straw, neighbors will help each other, because stacking wheat straw requires several people. After the bottom of the pile is laid, one person stands on it and steps on the pile. One or two people use forks to pass the wheat straw upwards. The rest of the people push the wheat straw forward. As the wheat straw is piled up layer by layer, the pile gradually rises. When the wheat straw is almost used up, the people who step on the piles start to collect the tops of the piles. This can ensure that rainwater does not penetrate and the wheat straw does not rot. After the wheat straw is piled up, the summer harvest can be announced.

The wheat harvest is different every year. In the late 1980s, when I went to school out of town, my family took care of the summer harvest. After I started working, I had to take time off to go home and help out every time it was time to harvest wheat. However, at that time, the responsibilities of my family were reduced, and harvesting wheat with a combine harvester became the main method of harvesting. Wheat harvesting no longer involves cutting, pulling, and rolling. The modernization of agriculture has improved production efficiency and also liberated people from heavy manual labor. Today, the level of productivity has increased significantly, and the agricultural production and management model has changed. Wheat harvesting has changed from a "main business" to a "side job". People are working towards a well-off society in an all-round way. People who go out to work during wheat harvesting no longer go home, and schools no longer have holidays. , the wheat field no longer exists, the sickle is put in a high cabinet, and the wheat is sleeping on the roadside. Harvesting wheat is no longer tense and busy, but becomes simple and easy.

Although the lively wheat harvest scene in the past can no longer be seen, the wheat harvest experience of these decades flashes in my mind from time to time like a slideshow, which is unforgettable. Among them are the hard work of "sweat dripping from the soil", and the joyful mood of "full of grains and grains", and even more, "a porridge and a meal, when you think about where you came from, it is not easy; half a thread, half a wisp, a constant reminder of the material difficulties." ." Deep understanding! After so many years, it is still hard to leave the land of hope in my hometown, the strong local accent and nostalgia are still hard to leave, and the good days of harvesting wheat are still unforgettable!