What happened to the Rice Field?
Posted on 15 July 2009
Ginger had been posting about her neighbor’s rice field and last year and I had also done some posting on my aunt’s rice field as well. But this year, it’s a whole new year. I had finally taken the time to go to my aunt’s house and then to their rice field, which is behind my old house. Gosh, how I miss that place! But then it made me extremely sad, after all the hard work my dad had put into plowing the field and after us kids including the cousins came together to make a mini dam, the rice field is now just a farm field with maybe one or two rice patties. I remember when we were still living there; my dad would wake up extremely early to tend to this field and work hard to keep the rice field alive and healthy, it’s his morning routine before heading to work. One summer my dad decided that he wanted to build a small damn at the creek so they’ll have water to make a wet rice patty so he got us and few of the cousins and aunts and uncles to help him make this damn. At the time this rice field was owned by 4 different families including my parents. We had moved out of that location last year, sold our house and land to a Korean family and then that same summer an aunt who also lives in that area and also farms with my parents passed away due to cancer.
This year, I guess since we moved out and also since one of my aunt passed away, they all decided to leave the rice patty behind and just use the old rice patty land as a garden. It was a big disappointment to see my dad’s hard work and pride turn into a regular garden. My dad used to spend countless hours tending to his rice field. He used to spend most of his time there during the farming season. If he is not with his chicken he is at the rice garden doing something. He wakes up early and stay out late just working at this field. I guess it’s not his pride anymore every since he stop working the rice patties there.
Now he and my mom have their own garden in Hartwell just growing some vegetable.
Everything had changed, now instead of 4-5 family growing rice together it is just a single family growing some vegetable. I sure do miss it all; it was once so beautiful with the nice rice patties and what not, now it’s just another garden.
This here was once one of the many rice patties, now it is just a empty patty with grass growing
Below are the rice patties from last year, what it once was!
2 responses to What happened to the Rice Field?
Awww, I guess it’s back-breaking work, kind of sad to see them not doing it anymore. I passed my neighbor’s paddy today, and it’s extremely green from the road, I might go take picture again tomorrow.
It looks like they’ve been working hard in their garden, it’s very well kept, thanks for sharing the pictures.
It did sadden me knowing that they stopped. I guess they still made used of the land. But it was once such a beautiful rice field, now it’s just another farm.