Vuon Nha Minh

What kind of outdated custom is this? There are only four people in the house, but we always have to divide the food. My grass cutter has been broken these past few days, so I have to cut grass by hand. It's not like I'm doing this to make a fancy video. Cutting grass like this is really tiring. After adding water seven, seven, four, nine times, this is my pot of corn that's been cooking all day. Usually, my mother-in-law cuts a lot of grass, but I don't really know how to cut much, so I'm just cutting a little for the buffalo and pigs to eat. Back when I lived with my birth mother, she rarely let me do these kinds of chores. Now that I'm married, my mother-in-law does everything herself, so I'm quite clumsy. (I only get to do things when she's too tired or comes home late from work.) My mother-in-law is very hard-working, so she goes to work and comes home late, very tired. There's not much to cook, so I'm just boiling water first and washing so...

This is our lunch today at the field. I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, and it was already very bright, everyone. My mom had already woken up early to cook the rice. I just got up to cook instant noodles for the whole family for a simple meal. Then today, we're going to spray weeds at the Cinnamon Field. After preparing the food and driving here, I also bought 10 snails with tofu. We'll eat lunch here at the field later. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from my house to the Cinnamon Field. When we got here, I saw that many people were growing cucumbers, so I stopped to film for everyone to see. This year, people here are growing a lot of Hmong cucumbers to sell. I hope traders know to come to Bac Ha to buy them, which will help alleviate some of the burden of growing and caring for them. After a while, my parents-in-law and I arrived at the Cinnamon Field. Today, my task is to fetch water for them to spray. Luckily, it just rained heavily, so we don't have to go far to ge...

Tonight, join me in the kitchen to cook dinner. As soon as I start the fire, I'll wash the pot first. This pot is a bit big, and since there are only a few of us, we don't use it much. After washing it clean, I'll add some water to boil the vegetables. Tonight, we're having cabbage. I bought this cabbage almost a week ago. Since my parents have been going to feasts, no one has been eating it. For boiled cabbage, I won't use a knife to chop it; I'll tear it apart with my hands like this. My parents say that doing it this way makes the boiled cabbage sweeter. My cat always jumps in to help whenever I'm doing something, everyone. With this foggy weather, I don't have enough clothes to change for her. This is the piece of meat left over from when we butchered the pig last time. Since my parents are home today, I'll take it out to cook. After slicing the meat, I'll slice some ginger too. My mother-in-law is also trying to wash the dishes from lunch, e...

We're beating the seedlings to remove the dirt, then we'll bring them back to plant. This is spring water, but it only flows to our fields after a few days of heavy rain. After sleeping, it's almost 11 a.m., so we'll go home for lunch. There's not much for lunch, so I'll cut this melon. Then, I'll use a scraper for the two of us to eat. I'll add a little rice and mix it all together. Eating like this in the late morning is very refreshing and comfortable, everyone. I'm also tired from work, so a simple meal is fine. After resting for a bit, it's time to go back to work. The field we planted with my parents a few days ago is already very green. The small field down here was planted with corn by my parents, so we're only working on it now. By the time I arrived, my mom had already planted a bit. These seedlings are quite grown now, so we plant about 3-4 plants per hole, everyone. We don't have enough seedlings, so my mom and I are going to ...

Tonight, are we having cải mèo greens for dinner? Since it wasn’t dark yet after work, I took the chance to run up to the garden and pick some plums to send to my younger brother. Our plums have just started to ripen. Sending them at this stage makes them extra delicious. (If they ripen too much, they tend to spoil when sent far away. While picking, whenever I found a nice, crispy one, I ate it right away. After a short while, I had already filled a whole basket. After picking plums, I gathered some cải greens. Next to these greens are super-fruiting squash plants that my mom bought at the market and planted. The little one has been so well-behaved and even knows how to help wash the dishes now. "Mom, is this clean enough?" See, washing dishes while constantly asking mom questions. The water is boiling, so I put the greens in. The past few days, the weather has been a bit chilly. Cooking over a wood stove makes it less cold. I put some cherry tomatoes on the fire and grilled ...

I've cooked dinner a lot, so today let's cook breakfast together. It's market day today, so my parents have all gone to the market. My child and I slept in until 6 o'clock. It's very cold here now, so I'm quickly starting a fire to warm us up. Our stove is just concrete, so it's very dusty every time I sweep. There's firewood on top and dirt underneath. Plus, with the fire going, I have to sweep several times a day, but it's never clean. It's very foggy, and the clothes don't dry in the machine, so I'll leave the socks here.  They'll dry faster, and I can wear them. It's almost Tet, so my parents have sold all the pigs. There are only two left, so there's not much to do. The baby is very hungry and wants to eat instant noodles, so I'll make some for her first. I'll pour hot water and blanch them once first. Then, I'll add the soup and oil. Add a little more hot water and let it sit for a while, and it's ready t...