January 8, 2024 11.39pm |
Updated: January 9, 2024 00:49
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Collect the cloves using a bamboo ladder. Source: doc. personal
After more than ten years of not picking cloves, the opportunity finally came back into my life. Armed with the fact that the clove tree near the village house had proven itself ready to be harvested and no one would harvest it, I had the opportunity to harvest the cloves.
On Sunday afternoon, around three o’clock, once the light rain had stopped, I immediately prepared the equipment for harvesting the cloves. I chose one of the four stairs ready in the courtyard. My choice is a bamboo ladder with 30 rungs. The ladder I chose was made of bamboo, quite old. It’s a little heavy but it will give me a sense of security later.
I attached a 40 meter long rope to the ladder. I wrapped this rope around the 24th step from the ground. This rope position will allow the ladder to stay securely and not sway if hit by strong winds. I attached an additional 10 meter rope to the 6th step from the ground. The function of this rope is to strengthen the position of the ladder so that it does not slide backwards when the 40 meter rope is pulled from both sides. The safety of the ladder for collecting cloves is in the rope that we commonly call repeat Garonto’ (stem chord).
Clove climbing ladder model in Toraja. Source: doc. personal
Once the ladder was ready, I made a stand for the ladder so I could hold it up easily. The location of the clove tree near the farm road and the relatively flat terrain made it difficult to climb the ladder. My energy is also not the same as when I was 27. Even the stairs about 15 meters high were difficult for me to bear. Twice I was unable to get up, fortunately I wasn’t crushed by the stairs. On the third attempt he was successful.
Clove fruit starting to turn red at the top of the tree is clearly visible from below. I immediately climbed the stairs until I came to the steps towards the top of the clove tree. Since it had been a long time since I climbed the ladder to pick cloves, I felt a little anxious. Furthermore, his body weight reached 76 kg. This is very different from the body weight of a 27 year old when he still weighed 55kg.
The clove tree I climbed this time was one of three older clove trees remaining from the borer attack. This is one of the historic clove trees in my village. One of the oldest trees left. This clove tree is a tree planted by my late father around the early 1980’s. This means that the tree I’m climbing is older than I am now. He is over forty years old. Its current height is around 15 metres, but is dominated by young stems. In fact, I have cut it several times to rejuvenate it. Especially if treated against borer attacks.
This clove tree was instrumental in supporting my education expenses, especially when I was in college. Currently, the three remaining old trees are thriving again after surviving decades of attacks by stem borer pests.
The feeling of picking cloves at the top of the tree made me forget the weight of my body for a moment. The pride of us clove pickers is the action at the top of the tree picking cloves. The left leg rests on the ladder rung while the right leg is wrapped around the ladder bar with the help of the thigh gripping a rung that supports my body to comfortably start picking cloves. The occasional strong gust of wind didn’t bother me. It’s quite annoying, but I try to concentrate and enjoy it.
The yellowish, green and red colors of the clove fruit seem to fight to be held back. Several sucking bees also compete with me. Their voices can compensate for the blowing of the afternoon wind.
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2024-01-08 16:39:26
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