Pear melon, savoring an old flavor from memory

Many people ask: why grow a melon that has already been forgotten?

These days, in summer, farmers grow nothing but Meinong melons or cucumbers.
I think back to the heyday of the muskmelons of Erlin when I was a child.
That scene is still vivid in my mind. Out in the countryside there was a muskmelon market, packed with vendors from all over the country who had come to buy, and with farmers whose carts were loaded with muskmelons.
What was special was that this market sold only muskmelons, no other vegetables or fruit at all.
Later, because of improper use, a melon virus spread, and the Erlin area could no longer grow melons well.
The bustling muskmelon market disappeared!!
Today the market's outer shell is still there, but inside it is completely empty.

I thought to myself: weren't the melons of the past all yellow and oval? Why is there only the white-skinned Meinong melon now?

Jiaxiang energetically described the old scene to Xiaonan.
I replied: I've never seen that. Aren't muskmelons just this Meinong melon?
Inside I thought: Are you fooling me again? Since I came to Yunlin I've never seen many people in Erlin growing melons, and I've never seen a yellow muskmelon.

Jiaxiang was surprised. Was the past really that different? Could it be the age gap?

Walking among the now-abandoned houses, recalling the scenes of the past,
made us begin to have a tiny wish to recover those old memories.
So we started looking for information, asking friends about the melon in their memories: the pear melon.
So many people said, that's right, I haven't seen that kind of melon in ages. Why is it gone?
Inside I thought: So Jiaxiang wasn't lying to me. Was I really that distrustful? Oops.

We asked old farmers who had grown pear melons why they stopped.
Almost all the old farmers said: I don't know, the middlemen just like to buy white-skinned Meinong melons, so of course I grow white-skinned ones. But pear melons taste really good!!! It's just that their sweetness is lower than Meinong melons.

In the past, pear melons were always grown trailing on the ground.
We have a greenhouse, so why not try growing them the way high-value Meinong melons are grown!!!
Improve the quality and appearance, raise the value.
Value is not the same as price, you know.

After spending a lot of time and effort,
we finally planted them. Along the whole growing process, since no one had ever grown them upright, there was no one we could ask.
We observed and recorded everything ourselves.
Even the ripeness we figured out by taste-testing every day.
Finally we found the best ripeness, and the yield wasn't much either!!! Later the sweetness gradually came through.
But we tasted it all ourselves, or gave it away for taste-testing, so the income was very small.
All along the way we were scolded: why grow something nobody wants to grow? If you're going to grow things, do it properly; you're just playing around………….. Whatever harsh words you can imagine, we heard them all.

Sometimes I think: as farmers, we hold everyone's health in our hands, legally using poison [pesticides], and without realizing it we start damaging the environment.
Because farmers have to make a living and need real money, you can't blame them.
Farmers follow what consumers like.

We hope that, while taking reality into account, we can also take care of ourselves and do as little damage to the environment as possible. Today we insist on using no pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, or herbicides.
Because my own health is poor too, I know how important this is.
That's why we are so strict about the vegetables and fruit we grow.
I don't use harmful substances around me, and I won't put myself in such an environment either.
For me, this is a way of being kind to myself.
Kind to my friends: my friends can eat with peace of mind, and when they come to visit they don't have to worry about being in an environment that was just sprayed.
On a broader scale, I am kind to the land and the environment. I think we're not that noble yet.
But being able to do a little is still a good start.

Bring the melon from memory into the present again,
into a reassuring environment.
Memory and the present interweave,
weaving together an even more distinctive feeling.

A friend
took a pear melon home and said to the elders, look, this is a new kind of muskmelon!!!
The elder held the warm pear melon and said excitedly: This is the pear melon from the old days. I haven't seen one in so long!!!
And then they began to tell the memories of the past……………………

Or else
an elder holds a pear melon and says to a child: Grandma/Grandpa used to grow this kind of melon.
The melons people ate in the past were exactly this kind …………………. and they begin to tell the story of their memories.

With memory, with feeling, with images, with flavor,
you too can use the pear melon to create your own story.

Harvest is expected in one week. Friends who want to taste it, want to remember, want to write a story, want to share a story, or want to bring an elder to tears
can start making reservations now.
You're welcome to share your story with us!!!

Mr. Liao 0920361141