Xiang Dad's pearl guavas, growing an unending farmer's spirit
Yuejian's guavas are mainly cultivated and managed by Tianjing's father, who has farmed (never abandoning farming) for over sixty years, with Tianjing and tea as secondary crops.
Looking back at the beginning, Xiang Dad (that is, Tianjing's father), who has already worked as a mason for more than forty years, stopped his schooling after elementary school. From the age of six he helped with the family's farm work, and he could handle everything from shoveling and carrying rice seedlings to harvesting and pruning. When he left the military, it happened to be an era in Taiwan, China when agriculture supported industry; as a worker his daily wage rose steadily and soon became much higher than farm income, so Xiang Dad switched to being a masonry apprentice, learning bricklaying, tiling and concrete. Despite the heavy work of making a living as a mason, Xiang Dad never gave up the family's farm work. When the busy farming season came, he took leave to transplant rice seedlings, harvest and dry grain; when the harvest period fell during the Spring Festival, the whole family went up the mountain on the third day of the lunar new year to pick kumquats; he also used early mornings and the time after getting off work in the evening to grow vegetables for the family to eat. Day after day, year after year.
Xiang Dad was immersed in rural life from childhood, and with long-term physical labor, although he is now almost seventy years old, he is still robust and in very good shape. When friends see Xiang Dad, they often say to Tianjing in surprise: "Your dad is so young."
Six years ago (2014), Xiang Dad became eligible for labor retirement. As his daughter, of course I hoped he would not have to work so hard at such heavy labor. And Xiang Dad's passion for growing things could be seen from his uninterrupted cultivation: the family grew Yu He Bao lychees, pearl red tangerines, liucheng oranges and pearl guavas, all of which he figured out by himself through gradual exploration and gained experience in. It just so happened that a neighbor released news of land for rent, so we began discussing with Xiang Dad growing his specialty, pearl guavas, and set about preparing the land.
Gravelly land abandoned for decades,
under the careful nurturing of green fingers, has already produced abundant results...
From bending over to pick stones and dig a well, to digging holes and planting saplings, to pulling out one sturdy cockscomb after another and beggarticks, to mowing grass tirelessly, to covering the tree canopy with rice hulls or rice straw, and when pests or diseases appeared, asking experts from the flower improvement station to come and guide them.
Today the guava trees have grown tall and fruitful. The crisp, sweet pearl guava is a taste memory from childhood, and also the tangy-sweet flavor that Tianjing, who loves guavas, enjoys most.
Ever since Tianjing and Cha began friendly farming, my father was initially skeptical, questioning the young people's perseverance; later he looked down on it, feeling the yield was not good enough and that he could do better himself; but now the guavas he mainly cultivates are praised by everyone, and seeing the glow of accomplishment in Xiang's dad's eyes makes me very happy too.
But of course, things do not have only a beautiful side. After all, with organic cultivation it is impossible for every fruit to be perfect; there will still be insect damage and disease. Especially in recent years, with sudden weather changes, Yilan, which used to be rainy, is no longer so rainy. Sometimes there are months of drought, sometimes torrential rain and blazing sun attack in turns. Some weaker fruit trees simply cannot take it. Although quality and yield have improved, the proportion of defective fruit is also not small (mysterious reason: it is just a lot).
Change takes time and companionship...
For sesbania and tea, "yield" is not what we care about most; how to coexist with the ecology and how to maintain quality are the points we focus our efforts on even more. But after all, my father carries the anxiety of the previous generation and hopes for efficient management and obvious yield, so concentrating the work periods and planting a single crop often results in a concentrated and large harvest period. This makes me, who is responsible for marketing, very troubled. After all, fresh products have a short shelf life, and ordinary households order limited quantities. We cannot be like selling to wholesale brokers, where once it is harvested there is nothing more to worry about.
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