30 November 2024
If autumn and winter seasons are my favorite in Hong Kong, the harvest season, on the other hand, is my favorite in my country. It is the time when farmers harvest the fruit of their hard work and dedication throughout the growing season. My late father left a piece of land for our family to grow fruits and crops so we would not starve. So, having a small farm also makes us farmers, and I love the harvest season.
In September, I finally visited our small farm after several years. It is somehow untended since our father passed away, so it become overgrown with weeds and grasses. My siblings seldom visit it because they have schools and other things to attend. We don't want to hire other people to attend to it because it would cost a lot. Each time my brothers returned home from their duties, they would stop over at our farm to at least trim weeds and tall grasses and check out fruit-bearing trees to be harvested.
Our small farm is located in a secluded place in our town, and it would take more or less twenty minutes to travel by motorcycle. That's the most accessible mode of transport we have because our car has also been left unattended ever since our father passed away. Distance is our leading issue here, so people around the area usually take advantage of it, sometimes harvesting whatever they can without our permission. They don't show respect to us now that our father isn't here anymore. Despite our warnings several times, they are uncontrollable, especially when no one is looking after the farm.
Even though the land is quite untended, planted fruit trees bear fruits, which we harvest weekly during harvest season. I intentionally visited our farm to see how it is since it was the last time I saw it seven years ago. Back then, we had a small native hut in the middle of it where we used to hang out, and the place was well taken care of by our father.
Today, it is overgrown with weeds and grasses, and sprouting seeds from rambutan trees are scattered everywhere. It is something I want to work with once I have the budget. I want to turn this untended farm into a profitable one and plant more fruit trees.
Another reason why I visited the farm is to see what rambutan and durian trees look like. I also want to experience harvesting fruits and feel how to become a farmer, even just for a short period. The durian trees bore fruits earlier than rambutan, so they were all harvested.
So, for that day, I became a rambutan fruit harvester. The rambutan fruits we harvested are just for my family's consumption. We only took a big bag of them. My brother climbed the tree, and my sister and I helped him collect the fallen fruits under the tree. We have red and yellow rambutan trees, but I like the red the most. It is sweeter compared to the yellow rambutan.
While doing so, we also eat rambutan fruits because, for me, the fruit tastes better when eaten right after the harvest.
After harvesting some rambutan fruits, I got to know other trees on our farm. I knew fruits but not their trees. We found out that our star apple trees are already bearing flowers and soon fruits will come out. There are other fruits that can be harvested like the bananas, pineapples, and guava fruits. But we didn't harvest the bananas, only some guavas and pineapples.
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I found out that we also have a mangosteen tree on our farm. From the seeds my father planted, only one survived. It bore one fruit as well. I hope it will bear more fruits next year.
We also have some root crops such as cassava, taro, and the so-called palawan in our dialect.
Bamboo is in all corners, and it can be used to build back our ruined native hut.
A strong typhoon ruined our native hut. This is where we used to hang out before. The surroundings were once shaved and well-maintained. We had a hammock underneath the star apple tree, where I used to rest and unwind.
The ground is now rustic with fallen leaves from trees around the hut.
I missed those days. We also used to picnic here, enjoying fresh coconut juice with my relatives.
We returned to the main highway after harvesting a bag of rambutan fruits. Near the road is my older brother's unfinished house. He was the first to build a home on my father's land.
A lot of birds of paradise outside my bro's house.
After an hour or two of staying at our farm, we returned home because the weather wasn't fine that day, and it might rain suddenly.
You can check out the video uploaded on YT here:
Thanks for your time.
Jane is a Filipina wanderer in a foreign land who finds comfort in nature and freedom in writing. She loves watching raw picturesque landscapes, listening to the symphony of nature, breathing in drops of sunshine, walking through scenic trails and cityscapes, tasting new culinary flavors, capturing pretty little things, venturing into hidden gems, and dancing with the flow of life.
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