Her Father's Wife

chapter 10

The third month is the on set of farming season in Ngodo. Strong farmers were making their way to (Ikpa). Ikpa, is where the forest farms are located. These are farm lands that have been allowed to lie fallow for years. Some of them have not been cultivated for over seven years. This is the local way of ensuring soil fertility. The result is that, they have become thick forest. Clearing such farms is a  very tedious job. Only the strong can dare it. However, the advantage of these farms at Ikpa over nearby ones is that, the years of lying fallow,  give the farms time to regain it's fertility. They are more fertile than the village farms which are  cultivated yearly. In fact, this is the secret of Nwokeforo's bountiful harvests. He was a seasoned farmer, he was always the first to head out to Ikpa, at times, as soon as the first rain  falls. The youths were always available to help at time like this. They divided themselves into groups and took turn working for each family. The young men had their own group, while the female had theirs . The young men do the clearing of the  farms lands, making yam mounds and staking yams. These are  the most tedious part of farming. The female group, do the weeding, though at times, they  make mounds too.  For as little as a meal, a keg or two of palm wine, they will come and work. However, some rich farmers like Nwokeforo and Akukalia, augment this token by giving them some  tubers of yams to take home. They are in great demand this period. Farmers like  inviting  them early enough because like an Igbo proverb said, when you hurry, you avoid unforeseen circumstances. All the groups like working for Nwokeforo.  They compete  amongst themselves, to work for him. This is because, he was a good host. Being a butcher as well as a farmer, he makes sure that his wife puts something substantial in the soup for them. Stories of Obidiya's  soup which does not pour even when you turn the plate upside down goes about for weeks on end. This is to show the thickness of the soup. Moreover, they said, it is difficult for you to access the soup, because of the things in the soup.  Nwokeforo always added extra, the take home yams he gives were always in surplus quantity. Akukalia was another good host. They look forward to working for these two men. They are big yam owners. The kind that new yams meet the old ones in their barn. It was very early in the morning when Nwokeforo woke up, he woke Ona up, the two of them were going to the farm. It was a long distance to Ikpa. A distance of more than seven kilometers.  The reason most people don't like this far away farms is that, the distance alone will wear you out. Before you get to the farm you are already tired. The rest of the family will join them there later . Ona,  like her father, does not eat breakfast. They eat late in the morning. By that time, they will have accomplished a day's worth of job. They said, eating in the morning makes them lazy for the rest of the day. The youths have  notified Nwokeforo that, they will be coming to work for him in two day's time. They do this so that, their host will make adequate preparation for them.  They will be coming on Orie market day. The day before that will be Eke, nobody in Ngodo works on Eke day, it is a day of rest. Prior to the notice, Nwokeforo has already started clearing part of the verse area he wants to farm that year.   There is nothing wrong in starting the job ahead of them . It is only a lazy man that will put his two hands in between his laps and wait for his neighbour to do everything for him. He will clear as much of the farm land as he can today, Ona's duty is to gather those brambles, leaves and branches together for burning. Nwokeforo was inside the thickset hacking away at the thick trees and shrubs, while Ona was pulling out the straight branches and arranging them at one corner of the farm. They will be used to stake the yams when the time comes.  Obidiya and the rest of the children arrived just before noon. Nnanyi Jisie ikeoo, Obidiya greeted the husband. He answered from the heart of the thickset. Nne nno, Ona greeted the mother. Obidiya responded. They brought down their farm basket, inside, were the food stuff they brought for their lunch. Since Obidiya does not particularly care for farm work, she carried her  kitchen chair, they always bring one along for her, she took it under a tree. There, she sat down and made fire. Then she started roasting the yams they brought from the house for their lunch. Her duty in the farm has always been to cook for the workers. The rest of the children joined their elder sister in gathering the debris for burning. Nkechinyere, their second daughter discovered some budding mushrooms at the part of the farm where she was working. She called out to her mother to come see. In seconds Obidiya was there. She does not slack when it comes to things like this. They used cocoyam leave to cover it. This is to protect it from the scorching sun. They will gather the mushrooms when they are ready to go home. This specie of mushroom that comes out during planting season is one of the sweetest. Very soft and tender. It has long root and is coloured white and brown. It needs to be handled with care as it can easily squash. The ones Nkechi discovered were still budding. They go well with uha soup made with tiny cat fish. This is just one of the many benefits of going far into the forest to farm.
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