On Laoyun Cliff, Xiaoman returned carrying a basket of freshly cut straw.
This grass needs to be harvested in the summer and dried in the shade; it is the raw material for making ropes and straw sandals.
Xujia Village has little land, so villagers sell straw in the summer, collect tung oil in the autumn, and sell oak charcoal in the winter to supplement their land's income.
The long, hair-like grass is called straw, and how many children would recall those memories?
Xiaoman now lives in the mountains. Every day, besides doing her chores, she also cuts a handful of straw to take home when she comes and goes.
Grandpa Xiaoman was weaving a carrying rope with straw when he saw him return. He said, "We're starting house repairs early tomorrow morning. Help your sister-in-law split the pig's head open."
These past two days, we've just been partitioning the large room smaller; it was all done by Xiaoman's family members, without asking Xu Errui for help.
But to build another house outside, this huge project would require both families to work together, and they would need to stew a big pig's head.
Xiaoman said happily, "I know, Grandpa. My sister-in-law has already soaked the smoked pig's head. I'll chop it up in a bit."
Xiaoman has been eating meat all this time, but she still feels like she can't get enough.
He dropped the straw raincoat and basket, took out a large bunch of foxtail grass, and shouted, "Nini, look what your uncle brought back for you!"
Nini was pestering her mother by the stove when she heard her uncle calling her, so she quickly came out to see what was going on.
Her uncle would bring her different little trinkets every day; sometimes they were pretty wildflowers, and sometimes they were big, menacing insects.
At first I was scared, but after a while I got scared, and I really wanted to know what it would be this time.
Seeing Nini come out, Xiaoman shook the foxtail grass in her hand: "Look, so much, enough for you to play with all day!"
Nini loves fluffy foxtail grass, and seeing so much of it, her eyes crinkled with a smile: "Uncle is the best!"
But just as she walked over, Xiaoman stuck the foxtail flower into the little bun on top of her head and clapped her hands with a laugh: "Hahaha, Nini has a tail on her head!"
Nini angrily chased after him, pulling the grass off her head, shouting, "Uncle is a bad person! I'm going to tell Dad about you!"
Laughter and merriment filled the courtyard. Xiaoman teased her little niece and then went to work, while Nini snuggled up to Xu Dazhu and complained.
Xu Dazhu is making straw sandals.
When his daughter came to complain to him, he had no choice but to untie the rope that was binding her waist to keep her in a fixed position, take the dog tail off Nini's head, and comfort her with a smile: "Nini, don't cry, Daddy will make you a little dog to play with."
He was skillful, and in no time he wove a fluffy little dog out of foxtail grass. Nini stopped crying and happily took it to show Chunfeng: "Mom, look at the little dog Dad made!"
Image from the internet
On the cliff, Jiang Zhi was also busy. Beside her were Xiao Man's grandmother, who looked focused, and Qiao Yun, who was holding a child.
Qiaoyun has been learning spinning and weaving from Xiaoman's grandmother for the past few months.
After removing the clothes from Xiao Caixia's body, they wove a piece of hemp cloth, saying they would make new clothes for her mother-in-law.
Xiao Caixia's clothes were undyed before, remaining in their original color, but Jiang Zhi's fabric now needs to be dyed.
In rural areas, those who can weave cloth themselves usually dye it themselves.
Those who are more particular will use indigo plants from the mountains to dye their plants indigo, dark blue, or any other shade of blue.
Those who don't care much for appearances simply mix wood ash and mud to dye the fabric a light gray.
Now, Jiang Zhi and Xiao Man's grandmother are discussing the blue color to dye this cloth.
Grandma Xiaoman spent her whole life doing needlework, dyeing cloth herself, using indigo, a common local plant.
The so-called indigo is not a single plant, but a collective term for a variety of plants that can be used for dyeing.
In his "Compendium of Materia Medica", Li Shizhen said: "There are five kinds of indigo, each with its own therapeutic effects... but they are all the same." He pointed out that there are five kinds of indigo: cabbage, knotweed, horse, wood, and amaranth.
The famous Banlangen is the root of the indigo plant. Its effects are self-evident; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an all-powerful medicine.
The indigo flowers and foam removed before dyeing cloth with indigo are the medicine Qingdai, the main medicine for treating laryngitis, and also the pigment in Chinese painting, Pheny blue.
Indigo dyeing techniques have been well-established since ancient times and are described in detail in the "Essential Techniques for the Common People". Jiang Zhi is simply experiencing hand-dyeing cloth again.
Grandma Xiaoman turned over the indigo plants that Jiang Zhi had cut back, and said with some regret, "It's a pity that my dye paste was thrown away after two years of not being used to dye cloth."
Jiang Zhi knew that Xiaoman's grandmother's statement that the item was lost was a euphemism; in reality, it had been sold. After Dazhu was injured, the family used all the money they could to buy medicine and pay for medical treatment.
In the past, when Xiaoman needed to dye cloth, she would naturally make her own dye using indigo.
Making dye from indigo plants is very troublesome. It requires a large vat to ferment the indigo plants for a long time, and a lot of lime needs to be added repeatedly.
There wasn't much lime on the mountain, nor were there large vats for soaking indigo plants.
Moreover, Jiang Zhi only dyes one piece of cloth and doesn't have the patience to make the dye water.
She wanted to use the "ancient plant dyeing method" of modern bloggers in front of an old expert like Grandma Xiaoman, even though it was like showing off her limited skills, just for the sake of convenience and speed.
The bloggers' dyeing method is very simple: just boil the plants of the desired color in water to extract the base color.
The fabric is then soaked in 40-degree hot water for a short time, and then soaked again in a color-fixing agent mediated by alum.
The desired shade of fabric depends on the number of soaking sessions and the duration of soaking.
Xiaoman sold her homemade dye, but she kept a small packet of alum, which will come in handy now.
Without alum, Jiang Zhi could only use salt water or clarified wood ash as a color fixative.
A basket of indigo leaves is washed and put into a pot, then boiled for half an hour. After filtering out the residue, the soaked cloth is then added to the broth.
The fabric, after being repeatedly soaked, quickly turned a light blue. Although it wasn't as rich and thick as dye, the speed at which it produced results was still beyond everyone's expectations.
Xiaoman looked quite surprised: "Although this color isn't very durable for sun and washing, it's definitely much more convenient. Errui's mother, do you think we can use this method to dye other colors in the future?"
Jiang Zhi laughed and said, "Yes! Use basil to dye it red, sweet potato leaves to dye it ochre, gardenia flowers to dye it yellow, and you can also use pomegranate peel and walnut husks to dye it black."
Lala vine, also known as sawgrass vine, is the most common weed growing in wheat fields. Based on the principle that everything can be used as medicine, it is also a medicinal herb that can treat diseases and save lives.
It is used for its blood-cooling and hemostatic effects. When combined with Imperata cylindrica root, it can treat nosebleeds. When combined with loach, it can treat bloody dysentery. If Leonurus japonicus is added, it can also be used for dysmenorrhea.
Because sawgrass belongs to the Rubiaceae family, it can also produce a beautiful red dye.
Grandma Xiaoman was very surprised: "We'll try it too!"
Plant-based dyes all have one drawback: they fade badly and are not as vibrant as chemical dyes, which can keep clothes looking bright even when they are torn.
Working requires being able to withstand dirt, and clothes need to be frequently washed and pounded. Laborers wearing coarse linen clothes often use shades of blue and gray, which fade and turn white after washing.
Even the nicest clothes have to be worn inside out, for fear of fading in the sun.
Only fine silk can be dyed with bright colors, and people who wore these fabrics didn't care about the cost; they would wash them once and change into new clothes if the color faded.
Xiaoman's mother thought that if dyeing cloth could be so convenient, she could dye various colored cotton threads, and the cloth woven with colored threads would be even more beautiful.
Jiang Zhi hadn't thought of this yet. Seeing that Xiaoman's mind was so clear, she naturally wanted to encourage and support her, and said with a smile, "In the future, Chunfeng and Qiaoyun can think about it more. It won't be a waste that you taught them to spin and weave."
Grandma Xiaoman thought of her eldest grandson who wanted to learn weaving. If Dazhu and his wife really mastered this skill, they would never have to worry about food and clothing again.
She looked at Jiang Zhi and said with deep gratitude, "Er Rui Niang, I don't know how to thank you enough. Da Zhu and his wife will owe you a debt of gratitude for the rest of their lives."
Jiang Zhi waved her hands repeatedly: "Auntie, please don't thank me. I was just saying it casually. How to do it and whether it can be done are still up to Dazhu and his wife to do."
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