===Hi everyone! This page is about crops and wild foods in Khumjung while in the 1970's. We got all of our information from Through a Sherpa Window by: Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa. We hope you enjoy reading about growing foods, wild foods, and the tools used to harvest food. Thanks for reading! - Lily, Cici, and Kerry
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Sherpa peoples harvesting/working in the fields
Planting Potatoes
===Since Potatoes were such a popular food for the Sherpa tribe, everyone had to be a master at planting them! First, they had to prepare the soil. Since potatoes only grow in the summer, the potato fields remain empty through the winter, so they had to loosen the soil before planting. Next, they had to spread compost (or yak dung) over the loosened fields so that the soil is then fertilized. Then after the preparing and fertilizing of the soil, they started to plant, planting potato seeds is done by two people working together, one digging and covering the holes and the other throwing in seeds, the seeds are not actually seeds though, they are the eyes sliced out of larger potatoes. The potatoes were not planted in rows but in mounds. To keep the potatoes growing you have to weed the fields of any unwanted plants growing there. When the potatoes are ready to be harvested a family and their neighbors would go and start digging. After the potatoes are harvested they then go into storage. Potatoes are usually stored in pits where they are kept until they are needed to help prepare a meal. (Lily Giordano)
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Planting Tools
In Sherpa tradition, there were many planting tools. The most used tools were the sickle, which was used to harvest both wild grass and hay from fields. The weeding tool that looks like a cobra head, was used to weed in the potatoes fields. The digger is mostly used in the mountains for hand digging, planting, and harvesting potatoes. The last mostly used tool is the wooden plow set. This was pulled along with animal power to slice through the hardened soil. They also used to make different sized baskets. The mainly used one was the large bamboo basket which was used to carry the potatoes, and was carried on the head. (Xiomara Lozano- Torres)
Wild Food In traditional Sherpa culture, wild food was a main part of the Sherpa diet. There were cobra plants, mushrooms, potentilla roots, rambu, wild garlic, and Chinese pepper. Cobra plant was known as tho in Khumjung and was eaten as a green vegetable and was also dried to be eaten later. Mushrooms would grow on the forest floor and each family gathered just enough for themselves and did not use them for commercial purposes. Pontilla root is a sweet tasting tuber that is served fried. Rambu was used to make flour that could be made into a tart tasting porridge. They also ha d wild garlic called zingbu which was used to add flavor to food. Lastly Chinese was used to add spice to food and had a slightly addictive quality. Wild food was very important to the traditional Sherpa diet. (Kerry Hanrahan )
Sherpa Culture Today
Question 1: What tools are used for planting and harvesting today?
Please Ask: man, preferably older, and a farmer
Question 2: In how many ways can you cook potatoes? Name them.
Please ask: A woman
Question 3: Has their diet become healthier?
==Please ask: Someone who has lived in Khumjung for over thirty years
==
This is a traditional Sherpa kitchen, If you look slosely you will see the storage places, and the pots tfo cook the food. All of those appliances are used to help prepare all of the different foods such as, potatoes, mushrooms, barley, and many veggies! The person in this video is standing over the stove and probably cooking dinner for her fsmily. This relates to our topic because it shows where after you would harvest the foods in the field, you would have to prepare them! So in this room is where it would take place.
TOPIC: Crops and Wild food
===By: Lily, Cici, Kerry=
===Hi everyone! This page is about crops and wild foods in Khumjung while in the 1970's. We got all of our information from Through a Sherpa Window by: Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa. We hope you enjoy reading about growing foods, wild foods, and the tools used to harvest food. Thanks for reading! - Lily, Cici, and Kerry=
Planting Potatoes
===Since Potatoes were such a popular food for the Sherpa tribe, everyone had to be a master at planting them! First, they had to prepare the soil. Since potatoes only grow in the summer, the potato fields remain empty through the winter, so they had to loosen the soil before planting. Next, they had to spread compost (or yak dung) over the loosened fields so that the soil is then fertilized. Then after the preparing and fertilizing of the soil, they started to plant, planting potato seeds is done by two people working together, one digging and covering the holes and the other throwing in seeds, the seeds are not actually seeds though, they are the eyes sliced out of larger potatoes. The potatoes were not planted in rows but in mounds. To keep the potatoes growing you have to weed the fields of any unwanted plants growing there. When the potatoes are ready to be harvested a family and their neighbors would go and start digging. After the potatoes are harvested they then go into storage. Potatoes are usually stored in pits where they are kept until they are needed to help prepare a meal. (Lily Giordano)=
Planting Tools
In Sherpa tradition, there were many planting tools. The most used tools were the sickle, which was used to harvest both wild grass and hay from fields. The weeding tool that looks like a cobra head, was used to weed in the potatoes fields. The digger is mostly used in the mountains for hand digging, planting, and harvesting potatoes. The last mostly used tool is the wooden plow set. This was pulled along with animal power to slice through the hardened soil. They also used to make different sized baskets. The mainly used one was the large bamboo basket which was used to carry the potatoes, and was carried on the head. (Xiomara Lozano- Torres)
Wild Food
In traditional Sherpa culture, wild food was a main part of the Sherpa diet. There were cobra plants, mushrooms, potentilla roots, rambu, wild garlic, and Chinese pepper. Cobra plant was known as tho in Khumjung and was eaten as a green vegetable and was also dried to be eaten later. Mushrooms would grow on the forest floor and each family gathered just enough for themselves and did not use them for commercial purposes. Pontilla root is a sweet tasting tuber that is served fried. Rambu was used to make flour that could be made into a tart tasting porridge. They also ha d wild garlic called zingbu which was used to add flavor to food. Lastly Chinese was used to add spice to food and had a slightly addictive quality. Wild food was very important to the traditional Sherpa diet. (Kerry Hanrahan )
Sherpa Culture Today
Question 1: What tools are used for planting and harvesting today?
Please Ask: man, preferably older, and a farmer
Question 2: In how many ways can you cook potatoes? Name them.
Please ask: A woman
Question 3: Has their diet become healthier?
== Please ask: Someone who has lived in Khumjung for over thirty years==
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Woman Planting Potatoes from Justin Allder on Vimeo.
Beautiful Kitchen from Dream Flag Project on Vimeo.
This is a traditional Sherpa kitchen, If you look slosely you will see the storage places, and the pots tfo cook the food. All of those appliances are used to help prepare all of the different foods such as, potatoes, mushrooms, barley, and many veggies! The person in this video is standing over the stove and probably cooking dinner for her fsmily. This relates to our topic because it shows where after you would harvest the foods in the field, you would have to prepare them! So in this room is where it would take place.