"Picking lucky branches" on the summit of Hoanh Son Pass

Hoanh Son Quan is a high mountain range located between the provinces of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh . Due to good protection, the forests here still retain many valuable resources.

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Packed with rice and other food, people trek across ravines and uphill towards the summit of Hoang Son Quan. All it takes is stamina for climbing, keen eyesight, and quick hands to pick wild berries, and they can earn money. At a selling price of 25,000 VND per kilogram, a day of picking wild berries at Hoang Son Quan brings in an income of 250,000 – 300,000 VND.

Weighing the wild berries she had just picked to sell to traders, Ms. Tu Thi Hoa from Hamlet 2, Quang Kim Commune, shared: “The wild berry season coincides with the farmers' downtime and the children's summer vacation. My daughters and I take advantage of this time to go up the mountain to pick wild berries to sell and earn a little extra money to prepare clothes and books for the children for the new school year. We go early and come back late, but this job provides a decent income; my daughter and I earn about 500,000 dong a day.”

"The first to go gets to eat," as the elders used to say. The job of picking wild berries also starts very early. At 3 a.m., Hoa and her children, along with other people from Hamlet 2, Quang Kim Commune, have to leave their homes to head up the mountain to earn a living. With sacks of berries and rice balls, the group crosses the ravine and climbs to the summit of Hoanh Son Quan to begin picking them.

In August, the sim fruit on the summit of Hoanh Son Quan is in full bloom. The slender branches of the sim tree seem to have concentrated all their essence into this ripening season. The sim fruit, the size of a fingertip, ripens in the sun, becoming dark and juicy, hanging heavily on the branches. On average, each person can pick 10-15 kg per day, with traders buying it at 25,000 VND per kg. Although not a high-paying job, picking sim fruit requires no skills or capital, so it attracts many people to participate.

The peak season for ripe sim fruit attracts many people seeking a livelihood on the Hoanh Son Quan mountain range.

Since ancient times, ripe sim fruit has been a simple yet delightful treat in the markets of districts and mountain towns. The sim fruit ripening season has become etched in the memories of generations of young people born and raised in the highlands. Today, ripe sim fruit has many other uses, quickly becoming a highly sought-after commodity, carried by traders to all corners of the country. Thanks to this, many people who make a living from the sim fruit season have additional income to buy nice clothes and new books for their children before the start of the school year.

Renovating houses, buying cows…from "forest bounty"

The sim fruit ripening season lasts for two months (August to October). Not only do Ms. Hoa and her children, along with other residents of Hamlet 2 in Quang Kim commune, participate, but the sim fruit season in the southern part of the Hoanh Son Quan mountain range also attracts many people from other communes in Quang Trach district, such as Quang Hop, Quang Luu, Quang Trung, and Quang Phu, who come to earn a living. The majority of those who trek up the mountain and across the streams to Hoanh Son Quan to pick sim fruit are women and students taking advantage of their summer vacation. Perhaps due to their stamina and quick hands, sim fruit picking is more suitable for women and children.

Those who participate in picking wild berries are mainly women and children.

Nguyen Thi Hien (a 11th-grade student at Quang Trung High School) in Quang Phu commune said: “Picking wild berries isn't hard work; you just need to be diligent and hardworking to earn money. Each berry-picking season lasts two months, and I earn 5 million VND. That's a lot of money for us. Thanks to the wild berries, for the past few years I haven't had to ask my parents for money to buy books and clothes for the new school year. My parents also have less of a burden. That's why every year we eagerly look forward to the berry-ripening season so we can go picking them.”

After the season of wild berries comes the season of strawberries, wild plums, acacia berries, and chestnuts. Each season brings its own bounty, and many people have "clung to the forest" of Hoanh Son Quan to make a living. Like Ms. Hoa, Ms. Pham Thi Lien (Quang Kim)'s main occupation is working as a construction laborer. But when the fruit season arrives, Ms. Lien "clung to the forest" to pick fruit. Years of relying on the fruit seasons in the Hoanh Son Quan forest have helped Ms. Lien's family buy breeding cows and renovate their house, making it sturdy both above and below ground.

Sharing her joy, Ms. Lien said: “Last year, during the strawberry and myrtle harvest season, I earned over 30 million VND. Thanks to that money, I was able to buy a breeding cow and contribute some funds to renovate my house.”

Traders travel all the way to the foot of Hoanh Son Quan mountain to buy sim fruit at a price of 25,000 VND per kilogram.

During his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: "Forests are gold; if we know how to protect and develop them, they are very valuable." Following his teachings, the people of Nam Hoanh Son Quan (Quang Trach, Quang Binh) have protected the forest safely for many years. And today, the by-products from the forest provide a sustainable source of income for many families living near the forest.

Furthermore, many households in the communes of Quang Luu, Quang Kim, and Quang Hop have brought wild myrtle berries to their gardens and forests to cultivate and protect. Besides the income from the main fruit, the flowering season on these cultivated and protected myrtle hills opens up opportunities for experiential tourism, helping many families to legitimately prosper.

Bon Pi Nao creates golden harvests on the swampy land.