Hua Hong Ice Factory : Vegetable Growing

The soils found in the Hua Hong Ice Factory at Pulau Kerto, were very fertile and my aunts and uncles and Grandmother planted a lot of vegetables in the family garden in the 1930's right up to the Japanese Occupation. 

It was the normal thing for every Foochow family to grow their own vegetables and be very self sufficient in food.  Pork was probably the only food the family would buy during the week. The family also had their own pigs and other domestic animals which they slaughtered only for the festive seasons or when an important relative came to visit. Cash was saved and hardly used.

When my aunts were younger, born in the 1930's,  they were tasked to carry their night chamber pots to the vegetable gardens. As the family was quite big, there were many plots of vegetables. In their memory, the night chamber pots really provided a lot of fertilizer for their vegetables. Grandmother would then mix the urine with water and fertilize the vegetables.

According to my sweet Goo Poh who told us lots of stories about her childhood at Hua Hong Ice Factory, the girls never complained about their daily chores and all were very obedient in whatever they were told to do. 

Goo Poh (Chang Yuk Ging), our grand aunt was the precious aunt and sister of my grandfather. She too enjoyed growing and tending to the vegetables. And all the girls enjoyed making baos, kuih etc. Grandmother and Great Grand mother got along very well in the big company house. Great Grandmother being a small feet (bound feet) was loved by all and all her grand daughters were very helpful to her.

In the years before the Japanese came, the family had a very peaceful and harmonious life with plenty to eat.

Fertilizers also came from burnt soil and rice husks. The compost from any left over vegetables, grass, and other matters were carefully collected by my grandfather and the older children. As the rice milling business continued the family had a lot of rice and rice husks. Sometimes the rice husks were sold to the Melanaus in large bags for sagu making.

Because of the fertile soils in Pulau Kerto or Hua Hong Ice Factory, the family was able to plant plenty of vegetables. Thus the family was never short of good vegetables. Long beans especially were plentiful and salted dried long beans preserved in jars. The preserved long beans were served with a meal made of porridge, peanuts and other salted vegetables. Chinese brinjals were also grown.

Chives were cultivated and Grandmother would make baos and other kuihs with chives as part of the fillings. In fact Grandmother was so good in making kuihs that the employees always bought what she made. She saved a lot of money from her small business and used the savings to buy textile which she liked. 

Grandfather having come from Minqing, China, was really good in tending vegetables too. He and grandmother were very careful gardeners. An uncle used to say, " There was plenty to eat in your grandfather's kitchen because he could just grow anything!!"

When we were children, we enjoyed eating preserved long beans at our Grand Aunty's flat in the Methodist Primary School. Probably she remembered her childhood at Hua Hong Ice Factory and how she and her nieces grew long beans and other vegetables. 

I remember a few times Goo Boh (Grand Aunty) drying long beans on the clothes line and she later made the preserved long beans with ern jou (wine lees) and some salt. I just loved  the smell of the preserved long beans.