A Poor Farmers Life: Gathering Palay Seedlings

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3.

I feel so exhausted already due to the two consecutive days of walking up and down the mountain trail. I can feel fatigue from every nerves of my weary body. However, the farmer had to get out of bed despite of the condition she's feeling. There's still much work to done.

________________________

The uprooting or the gathering of the palay seedling is a process wherein one gather up the seedlings by uprooting it.. It seems like a little easy task but it was an arduous one.

In Pangasinan, I have seen how women do it. They simply sit on the mud and work their hands on the seedlings. They didn't care when their pants or undies get soak on the muddy water. They worked on a very swift motion because they were paid 2php with every bundle they gather (that was more than a decade already. Idk if how much they were paid today).

Compared with us, we uproot those seedlings squatting or sitting down very careful not to let our buttoms get even a little wet. Some old women prefer to have their buttoms up like in a position on planting rice. 0thers also would bring along a small foot stool to sit on or any can big enough so that it won't get submerged completely on the muddy water.

________________________

This time, I had to go alone and have the palay seedlings ready for transplanting. My mother-in-law didn't do it which she used to do every year when the fields are being plowed. I am alone today as she is going to town to attend a hearing regarding a lot.

As usual, me and and my husband left the kids on their own. But my sister called and asked about our field works and she asked who was baby sitting. I just told her that it's my eldest and she said why I didn't even bring them at their house.. It would only waste time to bring the kids at their house because we live from different sitios and it will take 30 minutes walk to reach them. They're living along the highway while we are below the road. However, tricycles are not available in our village because it's not necessary.

My parents and other siblings are living in town that's why we are all alone in times of field labors. In the past, it was only my husband who's doing everything and we pay for other people or my sister and mother will do the planting of the rice. Today, I feel like overly stressed out from just staying in the house so I keep insisting of going to the fields to at least sweat out.

The area where the palay seedlings were grown was just some 7-minute walk from our house. It's near.

By 1pm I was able to gather 30 bundles. I lost track of time that I hadn't noticed the time ticked off not until I felt my tummy grumbling.

I head home and found the bunso and ate asleep while kuya was playing with his playmate. I asked them if they ate lunch yet. "We did," Kuya replied.

I ate alone and reminded again my eldest on what to do. Kids need to be reminded always because they forget things when they have playmates and their thoughts will be lost in playing.

I went back to the fields. But by pass 2pm the heavens started to shower drops of rain. Good thing I brought with me a plastic cover to prevent myself from getting wet.

My in law came to help me that late afternoon just as she came home from town. Gladly, we finished one area though there's more that needs to be gathered. But the time was already near evening so I fixed the seedlings at the tambak to drain off excess water. Then, it will be good for tomorrow to carry.

We were able to gather 36 bundles this time.

No photos taken this time because I was running out of time so I just go on with the work at hand.