Grandma's Roof Garden by Tang Wei

Author:Tang Wei
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Levine Querido

The last bag of veggies, Granny keeps for herself.

Chop, dice, mix and swirl,

Spread them out to dry on a bamboo trough.

Peppery pickles that will tickle the tongue,

And spice up the breads and buns

when breakfast comes around.

Finally, Granny sits down to take a break,

At the end of a long and busy day.

Funny or strange—we don’t really care,

All of us love her just the same.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The character of Apo (阿婆, aka Granny) in this story is inspired by an elderly relative of mine. She is now over eighty years old. The rooftop garden started off as her little retirement project.

In her younger days, Apo traveled across China and worked a variety of jobs. After retiring, she decided to settle down in Chengdu—the capital city of Sichuan province. Even in her retirement, Apo was not idle. Since she lived on the top floor of an apartment building, she wanted to make use of the empty space on its roof to grow some vegetables. And she continued to do so for the next fifteen years.

Except on days when the weather was too windy or wet, Apo would climb up to the roof and work in her garden for several hours a day. Whenever she had guests over, Apo would take them for a tour up on the roof and proudly show off her “masterpiece.” Friends and neighbors would receive gifts from her throughout the year: cherry tomatoes, red chili peppers, cucumbers, pears, oranges.… Sometimes, a neighbor would borrow a handful of green onions or other herbs from Apo when they had run out.

Apo has so many brilliant ideas. On hot summer days, she would slice up some cucumbers and stick them all over her arm to cool down from the heat. In the neighborhood where she lives, there is an old Sichuanese restaurant. Every few days, she would walk over and ask the restaurant staff to give her the vegetables they were planning on throwing away. She would take these home, wash them, and either compost them to make fertilizer for her garden or feed them to her chickens.

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