民蔬记-Memories of Homegrown Vegetables

蔬记童年自家草舍后有采畦，大半亩见方。年种黄瓜，冬瓜，南瓜，紫茄，瓠子，豇豆，辣椒。

香瓜，西瓜亦隔岁一植。另有韭菜，蒜苗，苋菜，青菜地，皆是农人度日之蔬。

茄子可置铁锅米饭上，蒸烂，加蒜头捣糊，撒油盐即食（今不复薪爨，但思此味，犹如仙人驭风远去而芳香无穷）；亦可红烧（余旅居生涯中常佐之物也）。

Memories of Homegrown Vegetables

Behind our thatched cottage in my childhood, there was a vegetable patch, about half an acre in size. Every year, we grew cucumbers, winter melons, pumpkins, purple eggplants, bottle gourds, cowpeas, and chili peppers.

Muskmelons and watermelons were also planted every other year. There were also plots of leeks, garlic sprouts, amaranth, and leafy greens—all staples for farmers to sustain their lives.

Eggplants could be steamed until tender over rice in an iron pot, then mashed with garlic, drizzled with oil, and sprinkled with salt for a simple meal (now that we no longer cook with firewood, the memory of this flavor lingers like an immortal’s ethereal fragrance, lingering endlessly). They could also be braised in soy sauce (a frequent companion in my years of wandering).