Weeds Scene | Wild Vegetable Gathering

Today is our wild vegetable gathering.

Participants: Yanzi, Yang Mi, Li Zhenhao, Agua, Feibi, Xiaoqi.

In the afternoon, when Sister Feibi arrived, I was drawing a poster for the wild vegetable party. I drew myself lying on the ground. I drew a 'Spring,' a monster with long ears, wildflowers in its belly, and wild vegetables in its hands. Then I handed the pen to Sister Feibi, and she drew shepherd's purse and dandelion beside it.

We went to dig wild vegetables behind the house.

Sister Feibi focused on gathering in a small patch of field. I wandered around. I noticed that wild vegetables near the ditch were much plumper, so I told Sister Feibi to move there.

She pinched a slender tip of wild vetch and said, “The wild vetch here is pretty good too.”

I said, “You really haven’t seen good stuff!”

My original task was to dig a lot of shepherd's purse, but there were so many kinds of wild vegetables in the field that I ended up bringing back 13 types.

We sorted each variety: wild vetch, golden buckwheat, lamb's quarters, a polygonaceae plant (I had eaten it in Vietnam), bittercress, shepherd's purse, wild spinach, cudweed, wild mallow, horsehead orchid, forget-me-not, water celery, and chickweed.

​

Just as we were sorting these wild vegetables, Yanzi arrived. The fiddleheads in her basket were so plump, and the chickweed and wild vetch in her basket were several times thicker than what Feibi and I had picked.

Yanzi poured out her plump wild vegetables and laughed at Feibi and me squatting on the ground, saying, “You two are like playing house.”

Haha, as if she weren’t coming to play house herself.

After a while, Xiaoxi and Yang Mi arrived. Yang Mi’s basket was full of Buddleja flowers, and her smaller basket held tiny alfalfa. She said it took her a long time to pick them. I could understand—alfalfa is small, and picking them one by one tests patience.

​

While we were washing the wild vegetables, Yanzi went to the field behind the house again. She came back with plump water celery and alfalfa. She didn’t forget to tell me they grew by the ditch. I don’t know why, but whenever Yanzi picked something, I wanted to describe it as “plump.”

​

Yang Mi was in charge of the alfalfa: coat it with flour and steam it. I used part of the shepherd's purse to make meatballs, set aside for later to put in the hotpot. Yanzi was responsible for making cudweed and chickweed fried eggs. Yanzi said this dish is a memory from her hometown—she is from Fujian.

I blanched the fiddleheads and soaked them in cold water; they need to be soaked for three days to fully remove the bitterness.

Sister Feibi was always focused on washing her mini assorted plate. She also took a plant we didn’t recognize but looked edible.

​

​

Around five in the evening, Xiaoqi arrived. He brought a bottle of baijiu, a carton of eggs, and a large bunch of cherry blossoms.

Xiaoqi’s gift also included a whistle made from willow bark. When I blew it, it sounded a bit like a fart. Later, Agua summarized it in one sentence: “This thing is really unpleasant, but also fun.”

Li Zhenhao led a group today and only came down the mountain after seven. She still insisted on making the twice-cooked pork she had prepared. The wild vegetables Li Zhenhao and Agua brought were lamb's quarters, willow shoots, and nettles, picked before the morning group. But because there were too many vegetables and it was getting late, we didn’t make the cold willow shoot salad.

​

We put the nettles into the hotpot. Before eating, everyone touched its stinging hairs. Xiaoqi put it on the back of his hand. After being picked and washed, the nettles indeed became less prickly—just like me.

Now I’m lying by the bed writing, wanting to record today without spending too much time.

The music playing is “きえる” by Chara, which Sister Feibi mentioned an hour ago. Feibi feels that Chara can control her voice very freely, making it square or flat at will. Feibi wants to learn music. She sent me a recording. In the recording, Feibi is singing—her voice is pure, with a bit of childish cuteness, no accompaniment, and faintly you can hear a few birds chirping in the background.

I hope that when I’m in my forties, I can sing as lovely a song as Feibi is singing now.

Nettle

While eating nettles, Yang Mi’s urticaria flared up.

​

Horsehead orchid

​

Lamb's quarters

​

A certain polygonaceae plant

​

Chickweed

​

Forget-me-not

​

Water celery

​

Wild spinach

​

Alfalfa

​

Shepherd's purse

​

Wild vetch

​

Walnut catkins

​

Fiddleheads

​

Buddleja flowers

​

​​​ ​

In the middle of it all, it started to rain with strong wind, so we set up a tarp and then took it down.

​

Photos and videos