トマトとイチゴと麦畑
カフェ閉店後、今日も「きまぐれ市」に向かって「気まぐれ散歩」に出ました。Nさんの美味しいブロッコリーを狙って行ったのですが残念ながら自販機の中は売り切れで空っぽ。でもトマトが２００円、いちごも安くなって３５０円（４００円入れたら５０円がイチゴケースにくっついていました）。
帰り道、麦畑で麦の穂を見ている農家の方がいらしたので「そろそろ収穫ですね」と声を掛けたら、おじさんが今年の麦の生育具合を教えてくださいました。暖冬と３月に突然降った雪のせいで地中からの栄養分の吸い上げが充分でなく中身のないカスカスの穂が多くなったそうで、私がよく分からないでいると麦が入った穂とカスカスの穂を手にとって比べて見せてくださいました。一見どの麦もしっかり実ったように見えるけど気候の影響を敏感に受けるのだと納得。政府の減反政策で水田だったところを一部麦畑に変えたとのこと。前は水田ばかりだったのに…と不思議に思っていた私の疑問が解かれました。
麦の行方が小麦粉になるのかビールになるのかというのも気になっていたので尋ねると、これは小麦粉でビール麦ではないよとの返事。やさしいおじさんに自己紹介して’お礼を言った後足下を見ると夕日が私を長～い姿にしていました。
After closing the cafe, on a whim, I took a walk toward “Kimagure Market (lit. whim market)”. I wanted to get fresh broccoli but it was sold out and inside the vegetable vending machine was empty. I got tomatoes for 200 yen and strawberries at a discounted price of 350 yen (actually I put 400 yen into the machine and a 50 yen coin was stuck to the strawberry case). On my way home, I saw a farmer in his wheat field, so I said to him “it’s harvest time, isn’t it”. He came to me and talked about the growth result of his wheat. He said that due to the warm winter and the sudden snow in March, the wheat couldn’t suck up enough nutrition from the soil, and as a result there are not many fruits in the head of wheat. Since I couldn’t get the meaning of what he said, he let me show the difference between fruitful wheat and empty wheat. I really understand how the grain’s growing is sensitive to weather conditions. When I was a child, there were all rice paddies but now I see many wheat fields among rice fields. According to him, because of the rice production adjustment policy by the government a few decades ago, he has been growing wheat in some rice fields instead. I also was curious about whether these wheat will become flowers or beer. He said all of these will be flowers not beer. After I introduced myself to this kind farmer and thanked him, I looked down the way. There was a long slim shadow of myself cast by setting sun.
2020/06/07
