Growing vegetables and raising chickens in the Quang Trung house at that time

(Baonghean.vn) - Even on a high floor, Quang Trung people still have a wayincrease productioncreative and effective. Family meals are therefore more presentable, with more cheerful laughter from the elderly.

Quang Trung multi-storey house. Photo: Truong Manh Ha.

But during the difficult economic years of the subsidy period, the people of Quang Trung apartment complex were creative in finding ways to improve their lives. Initially, they used all the vacant land to grow vegetables. The households that were quick to claim their plots early got gardens nearby, while the others had to travel far, even several kilometers, to grow vegetables.

We kids also had to cross Quang Trung Street, all the way to the soccer field to plant vegetables. Every time we went out to water and pick vegetables, it took us more than an hour, so “planting and watering vegetables” was a chore that parents assigned to their children.

At that time, my neighborhood also discussed and shared experiences on what kind of vegetables to plant that were suitable for the soil and climate to save watering, have a quick harvest, and, equally important, to avoid theft. In the end, the residents of the multi-storey houses agreed that the most convenient way was to plant amaranth, water spinach, and water spinach; in the early summer when there was a shortage of water for irrigation, they planted water spinach by seed, and at the end of the season, they switched to growing water spinach.

To keep vegetables green, every house stores urine in the attic, and in the afternoon mixes it with pond water to water the vegetables. I remember, I normally had to carry 5-7 buckets of water to water the vegetables before I could go play soccer with my friends.

Quang Trung residents grow vegetables on the rooftop - Photo: Thanh Cuong.

My mother kept saying: "If you can take care of the vegetables, we will try to teach you to buy more eggs and meat to add a little protein to our family's meal."

Hearing my mother say that, my four brothers and I, no matter how playful we were, had to remember to come home and water the vegetables. At that time, the neighborhood kids like Duong, Binh, Hoa… as well as my brothers and I, after school, all helped our family grow vegetables. Sometimes, when we grew a lot, we even brought them to Vinh market to sell.

In those days, Quang Trung people raised both pigs and chickens. Raising pigs was more complicated, so most people only liked to raise chickens. For houses with basements, it was simpler, just find some wooden sticks, build a temporary cage, just need to reinforce it to prevent theft and you could raise chickens. For households in Vietnamese-designed houses, without basements, raising chickens was more complicated, they had to use cages to bring them upstairs.

In the morning, chickens are released from high floors, flying around to the ground, looking very happy. Because they are allowed to fly freely from high floors to the ground every day, households here do not raise laying hens, for fear of sagging ovaries. Experienced people often go to the countryside market to buy cheap and healthy chickens, less susceptible to disease.

Every afternoon, we kids would go down to feed the chickens, going in groups, having a lot of fun. The most difficult thing was when the chickens got lost and hadn't returned to the coop by evening, we would frantically look for them for fear of being scolded by our mother. Many days, we walked all over the bushes and still didn't see the chickens return, my friend's face was tearful and he looked so pitiful.

To prevent thieves from using slingshots to shoot chickens, the neighborhood kids take turns guarding the chickens at lunch. Often thieves will sneak in during lunch when there are no people around to strike. The schedule for “chicken duty” is also posted on the notice board, and any household that forgets will be criticized.

Raising chickens, however, does not always mean being lucky enough to get a piece of chicken meat. Usually, on the occasion of a death anniversary, my father will be the one to decide which chicken in the coop will be “sacrificed”. My younger brother, was sad for a whole month when his beloved rooster suffered an unfortunate fate.

Knowing that my brothers and I worked hard and were attached to the chickens, my parents rarely slaughtered chickens to entertain guests. Only when they were very special guests would my parents gently say, "Let us borrow a male chicken for now. When we go back to the countryside next week, Dad will buy us another one in return!" Usually we were silent, neither shaking nor nodding.

Many times, at the beginning of the school year, my mother would take the chicken cage to the market. The chickens “went away” so that my siblings and I could have new clothes, new school bags… we were happy all week because we felt that our hard work had finally paid off.

The childhood years of the children in Quang Trung residential area at that time, had chickens, vegetables and very Nghe smiles.

An Thanh