Peach and kumquat capital in Hanoi is bustling to prepare supplies for Lunar New Year.

Although storm No. 3 caused heavy losses to peach and kumquat growers, in the last days of the year, people are busy preparing for a 'honey making season.'

Tu Lien kumquat growers are busy taking care of the trees that survived the storm to supply goods for Tet.

After the severe damage caused by storm No. 3, peach and kumquat growing villages in Nhat Tan and Tu Lien (Tay Ho, Hanoi) are making efforts to restore their gardens in time to supply the Lunar New Year market. Despite the urgent time, farmers are still taking care of and restoring flooded and fallen peach and kumquat trees day and night, hoping to bring a complete Tet season.

'Sighs' after the stormAccording to estimates from some garden owners in Nhat Tan, Phu Thuong, Tu Lien, Quang An (Tay Ho), after storm No. 3, about 30 to 40% of peach and kumquat areas here were flooded, with estimated damage of about 90 billion VND.

For many years, the family of Mr. Nguyen Sy Hung (Nhat Tan, Tay Ho) has been living off the Tet peach blossom crop. But this year, the bonsai peach trees and peach branches that were carefully tended to prepare for the Tet holiday were almost completely lost when submerged in floodwaters.

The storm has passed for nearly 3 months, but Mr. Hung still sighs when talking about the days of saving trees after the storm to have a Tet season like every year.

Mr. Hung said that as soon as the Red River receded, every household quickly pumped water and cleared mud from each peach tree root. People who grow ornamental plants take care of the branches, so they go through each root, cutting off any waterlogged parts to save the parts that can be revived.

Households meticulously care for peach trees "like caring for a baby" to prepare for the 2025 Tet crop.

“With such flooding, the roots are severely damaged. When it dries quickly, we can add root stimulant and continue to add nutrients to help the tree grow, trying to save it,” Mr. Hung shared.

According to Mr. Hung, people in the area have had to rush to Xuan Mai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa to buy peach trees to plant. Due to the need to replant peach trees after the flood, the price of trees has skyrocketed, 7-8 times higher than previous years. The price has increased but many people still cannot collect goods because of limited supply.

Households growing kumquat trees in Tu Lien also share the same hardship. Ms. Tran Thi Quynh expressed her sorrow: 'Seeing the heavy rain and rising river water, my family mobilized all forces to save the trees but could only save a part. I just went to the end of the garden to check and when I came back, the water rose up to my neck.' There were about 3,000 potted plants, her family had to swallow their tears and watch the water submerge them, the damage was estimated at several billion VND.

Since the flood, every day, Ms. Quynh has had to hire workers to dig up damaged trees to plant seedlings. The kumquat trees that escaped the flood and were left on the dike are currently being transported back to the garden by Ms. Quynh, who is pruning them for sale during Tet.

Spring colors return to the "capital" of kumquat and peach trees. Visiting peach and kumquat gardens at this time, people are patiently taking care of the flower buds and fruit buds that are sprouting, signaling that Tet is very near. Although the area planted with spring-colored trees in the capital is not as covered as before, the vitality is still in the peach and kumquat trees that have been saved and cared for by garden owners.

Since the end of November, gardens in Nhat Tan have been busy stripping leaves and 'changing clothes' for peach trees to prepare for the stage of growing buds to supply the Tet market.

Mr. Hung said: 'There will still be peach blossoms this Tet but they are expensive, I don't know how the market will sell them.' He predicted that this year the weather will be colder but that will not affect the flowers much because most people in the area have many years of experience in caring for them.

The remaining peach trees in Mr. Hung's garden have grown and bloomed like previous years, promising that Nhat Tan peach trees will still be on the streets this Tet holiday.

Tu Lien kumquat garden is dark green with leaves and yellow kumquats waiting to ripen, anxiously waiting for Tet.

According to some kumquat growers in Tu Lien, kumquat growing is as hard as peach growing, and requires a lot of care, so growers must be dedicated to having beautiful kumquat trees. Currently, the gardens are in the final stages so that the kumquats can ripen in time for Tet. As for bonsai kumquat trees, because they are grown in pots, they require more care.

On this occasion, Ms. Quynh hired 2-10 workers to take care of and shape the surviving kumquat trees in time for Tet. The gloomy gray-brown color of the kumquat trees that died from flooding in the days after Typhoon Yagi is still faintly visible, but the green of the leaves and the yellow of the kumquats waiting to ripen are also waiting for Tet.

According to Ms. Quynh, despite the heavy damage, her family still has about 2,000 large and small kumquat pots to serve the 2025 Lunar New Year. The remaining old trees in her garden are still sold at the same price as every year, without increasing the price due to the general economic difficulties. Moreover, most of the customers coming to the garden are regular customers from many years ago, so the selling price has not changed.

After the natural disaster, thanks to the perseverance and hard work of households in the "capital" of kumquat and peach blossoms, people still look forward to this year's Tet when the peach and kumquat trees will still be blooming on the streets of the capital and neighboring areas.

(Source Vietnam+)

Source: https://baophutho.vn/thu-phu-dao-quat-o-ha-noi-ruc-rich-chuan-bi-hang-cung-ung-tet-nguyen-dan-224238.htm