In the market all the chives were being sold with roots attached.  Like the iceberg the biggest part of the plant grew below the surface of the garden.  After all these years of using chives to enhance the flavour of the most delicate dishes I learned that the more delicate flavour came from the roots.  Roots cut into one inch pieces and mixed into salads or fish dishes not only used more of the edible part of the chive plant but also expanded the flavour repertoire.

The ox leading the plough and the farmer across the ever turning fields.  Ground exposed for planting.  The scene a Van Gogh landscape.  The potatoe crop harvested yesterday.  The lone farmer surveys the field determining readiness. Dirt farming is easy!  The floating fields created in the sub-climate of Inle Lake are an agricultural marvel. A product of traditional knowledge shared with the next generation.

On the web of weeds severed from the shallow lake bottom the farmer stacks soil and roots and another layer of weeds  blending natural ash with nutrients harvested in the lake.  Garden plots up to 100 feet long and six feet wide are laid across the lake.  Plots yielding crops for three years with chemical food, for four years when left alone and up to ten years when nurtured with natural ash, compost and soil.

In the rows it is easy to see the new crops.  In the floating beds the new seeds begin to germinate.  There in the roots of a chive plant is the mystery of life.  Use every good gift creatively. Do everything for the next generation.