In winter, the weather is very cold. However, there are many kinds of vegetables sold in the wet market, such as red pall, cucumber and eggplant, which are sold all year round. The reason why out-of-season vegetables can be used by ordinary people in thousands of households is inseparable from the development of modern logistics and the promotion of greenhouse planting technology. People always like to pursue the diversity of food varieties, and the ancients were no exception. Although science and technology were backward in ancient times, people still tried all kinds of ways to enrich the vegetable basket in winter.
Common vegetables in the Han Dynasty were sunflower (winter amaranth), leeks, shallots (scallion), rue (rape), reeds (radish), woad (cabbage), green onions, etc. Summer vegetables such as cucumbers were grown in the winter by farmers in the Han Dynasty, which was too difficult. The farmers of the Han Dynasty may have experimented but were unsuccessful, so they set their sights on slightly hardy vegetables such as onions and leeks, and after some research, they really found a solution.
Ban Gu, a famous historian and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wrote in "Hanshu - The Biography of Zhao Xinchen": "Taiguan Garden planted winter onions and leeks, covered with roofs, lit a fire day and night, and waited for the warmth to be born. "Taiguan Garden, which is designed for the best vegetables in the Western Han Dynasty, has built a special greenhouse in winter, planted leeks and other vegetables, and raised the indoor temperature by burning firewood day and night, so that vegetables can grow normally.
In order to enrich the variety of winter vegetable baskets, the ** of the Tang Dynasty also tried their best. According to the Taiping Imperial Review, the palace would purchase a large number of fresh vegetables in advance, mainly by chilling and cellaring them for winter use.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, there was already a method of promoting the early blooming of flowers. In the Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi's "Twenty Songs of Hechun Shen" has "I am accustomed to seeing greenhouse trees and full of bathhouse flowers." The poem was named after the Tang flower. Zhou Mi of the Song Dynasty pointed out in "Qi Dongye Yu Ma Cheng Art Flower": "Those who bloom early in the flower are called Tang Flower." He heard and witnessed this method in Hangzhou: "Decorate the secret room with paper, dig the ground as a ridge, reel bamboo, put flowers on it, and use oxen to sulfur in the dung, and do the best to cultivate the method." Then put the boiling soup in the kan, wait less, the soup is fumigated, then fan it with a breeze, full of spring melting, and the flowers will bloom after staying. This method is also used in the Qing Dynasty, Qing Wang Shizhen's "Ju Yi Lu" contains: "Today's Beijing Shi Layue is to sell peonies, plum blossoms, scarlet peaches, spring exploration, all flowers are stored in the warm room, baked by fire, the so-called Tang flower, also known as Tang Hua is also. ”
Gradually feel that the east wind is steep and cold, and Artemisia annua yellow leek tries the spring plate. Su Shi, a great poet of the Song Dynasty, said in the poem "Sending Fan Deru" that he felt the breath of early spring in the gradually cold days, and tried to place artemisia annua and yellow leeks in order to welcome the arrival of spring. Meng Yuanlao recorded in "Tokyo Menghualu": "In December, the market sells Buddha flowers, leeks, lettuce, orchid sprouts, ......Lu You also said in the poem "Drinking with the Neighbors of the Village": "The chicken planters should be white, and the pork shoulders are mixed with leeks." This proves that in the Song Dynasty, in addition to cultivating Tang flowers in greenhouses, people were able to grow rare vegetables such as leeks and sprouts. The record of "Tokyo Menghualu" shows that greenhouse cultivation is no longer the patent of a few powerful people, and ordinary people can eat it, so that it is sold in the market.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, farmers generally used the simple and inexpensive method of cellaring and burning for the production of winter vegetables, fruits and flowers. Dig the soil into a cellar, transplant the crops to be cultivated into the cellar where the wind does not shine, and burn horse manure to keep it at room temperature. At the same time, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was also a greenhouse that was most similar to modern times - a greenhouse with an earthen wallpaper and window structure. The greenhouse is built with loess walls, and the south side is a paper window slope, which not only increases the room temperature, but also enables the crops in the house to photosynthesize. The house is also equipped with heating facilities such as stoves and ondols. In terms of structure alone, it is very similar to the solar greenhouse in the modern north of China. And this kind of cellar-style or semi-cellar-style house is also called "warm cave".
Ming Zhao Qian recorded in "Five Miscellaneous Quirks and Things" that "there are yellow sprouts and leeks in the middle of winter in Beijing, all of which are cultivated in the fire pit of the cellar of Fujia. The people of the Qing Dynasty called the vegetables, melons and fruits produced in this kind of warm cave "cave goods". During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many varieties of vegetables and vegetables produced in the warm cave, including cucumbers. Cucumber is also called king melon, "School Garden Yu Shu" said: "King melon out of Yanjing is the best, planted in the fire room, forced flowers and leaves, in early February that bears seeds." Regarding Wang Gua, Emperor Qianlong said in the poem "Twenty Songs of Shengxia Still Use Yuanwei's Shengchun Poetry Rhyme": "Where is the summer early, in the summer lettuce garden." The king gourd is raw and dewy, and the bitter herbs are showing. The decoration frame hangs well, and the stacking plate is melting. Shabby has a true taste, don't ask about eating a single bush. ”
It is worth mentioning that even if you are the emperor, for Qianlong, cucumbers in winter are also rare. He said in the poem "Cucumber": "The best dishes on the plate are the most Yanjing, and it is not a sure comment to taste the new in February." The pressure frame is partial to the fence, and the scenery of the Tian family is painted with true feelings. "February of the Qianlong Dynasty is the lunar calendar, and according to the current solar calendar, it is March. Qianlong excitedly recited a poem because he had eaten cucumbers in March.
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