Sunshine on the sedge field

In most coastal communes of Nga Son district, such as Nga Lien, Nga Tan, Nga Thuy, etc., people mainly live by growing sedge. Each year, sedge has 2 main crops: one from June to July (Vu Chiem) and one from October to November (Vu Mua).

The sedge harvest usually takes place on sunny days, so it is very strenuous, but smiles are always on the faces of the farmers.

To avoid the scorching hot sun, people often go to the fields to harvest sedge from 3-4 a.m. The farmers work hard until the sun rises above their heads. They only stop for a few minutes to drink water, then continue the work of cutting and drying the sedge.

According to the people here, growing and caring for the sedge is hard work, but harvesting the sedge is not only hard but also takes a lot of time. After being harvested, the sedge will be gathered into hand-sized bundles to shake off grass, trash, or dry dead sedge, leaving only fresh green sedge.

After sorting the different long and short sedges, they will split the sedge. After being split, the sedge is often dried right on newly harvested fields or on mudflats, field edges, etc. When it reaches the necessary dryness, the sedge is sold to dealers. After preliminary processing, the sedge is woven into mats, or handicraft products such as buckets, hats, bags, souvenirs, etc.

The photos by Hoang Linh about the vast sedge field like a "giant green carpet" creating a peaceful scene in Nga Tan commune, Nga Son district, Thanh Hoa province are shown below.