I would like to share some autumn pages in my city with you.
Ears of rice are mature. It takes five months from rice planting to reaping.
This is a rice combine having two functions of reaping and threshing. In old days, of course, farmers cut stems with a toothed sickle. They had to stoop for a whole day during the reaping.
In this field, straws are bound and put on the ground for drying. Farmers would cover a pumpkin field with them in summer.
A silvergrass head is a symbol of autumn. We used to offer this plant to the full moon with steamed rice flour dumplings at the autumn moon festival held on 15th August in the lunar calendar.
Flagrant orange-colored olives （Osmanthus fragrans）are in full bloom. The season is from end September to early October. They are planted in house gardens and parks.
I like to ride a bicycle and catch the autumn fragrance in my city. Chinese people in some areas put these flowers in green tea.
The flower is small and looks like sleeping with a smile.
This tree is silver-colored one. It's rare to see this kind now.
Silver kinds open their flowers earlier than golden.
The full opening shape of Osmanthus fragrans is a small cross.
How interesting!
ReplyDeleteDearest RTC,
ReplyDeleteWhat a joy to see the full bounty of autumn!
What a blessing it is that the stooping job of planting and reaping now is mechanized! Our ancestors have slaved on the fields...
Silvergrass is so beautiful! Osmanthus fragrans is of course a nice addition to the garden for indulging in its fragrance.
We have enjoyed a scenic train ride, on my present blog...
One more to follow. Even though the timing for fall colors was a bit off due to our wet and lush summer, leaves tend to hold on longer this year.
Hugs,
Mariette
"Looks like sleeping with a smile" -- beautiful description!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post!
ReplyDeleteYour autumn looks quite beautiful. I love the flowers and can practically smell their fragrance across the sea and the continent! I learned a lot from this one. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know how the rice is harvested these days.
ReplyDeleteHave seen photos of people bending over getting the rice so much easier with the harvester.
Take care and thanks for the photos and information.
Hello rtc, autumn is truly the time for harvest, but I am glad to see there are still some flowering plants available. Osmanthus tea is easily available packaged in Taiwan. I love the bounty of fall, whether it is a tree full of ripe apples, or grains ready for harvesting.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Now I learned how rice grows and how it looks when ripe.
ReplyDeleteOrange colored olives are beautiful.
Hope the flower tea tastes good.
What an interesting post, thank you.
ReplyDeleteGreat photographs too.
All the best Jan
Your nature photos are beautiful! So this is fall in Japan? Glorious! The olive blooms are my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThank You For Sharing
ReplyDeleteCheers
I like how you called them "Autumn pages." The yellow flowers are pretty. I would like to try them in green tea, as you said. That is interesting to see how the straw is bound for drying. And that rare tree is pretty. Autumn is lovely in your area. : )
ReplyDelete~Sheri
Beautiful photos of your Autumn! Working in the rice field reminds me of my Dad, who worked on a farm from a very young age. He picked cotton beginning at age 10! Most people now have no idea how hard it is to do hard, manual labor.
ReplyDeleteI love those little flowers...wish I could smell them all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for showing us the rice maturing...it is all so interesting. I always think of what a hard job that must have been. So much of farming was...
So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteVery pretty autumn scenes! The rice plants are interesting to see being harvested and with the stalks standing in bundles. I really enjoyed seeing all the different flowering trees. x
ReplyDeleteThanks to modern technology, reaping is now done by machines. Beautiful flowers that we don't see here in our country.
ReplyDeleteAdorei estes belos olhares outonais, da sua cidade... que nos mostram tanto das suas culturas e produções...
ReplyDeleteComo sempre uma publicação muito interessante, por aqui!...
Um grande abraço, estimando que se encontre de saúde, assim como todos os seus!
Ana