Needle Grass Sprouts

Needle Grass Sprouts

　　Needle Grass Sprouts. These are the slender, tender shoots that emerge from the center of cogon grass, tightly wrapped by a few young leaves, resembling fine needles. When you peel back the leaves, you’ll find an inch-long tender sprout that is soft and delicate. Chew it gently in your mouth, and it tastes slightly sweet with a hint of fragrance. After the Qingming Festival, as several spring breezes blow and spring rains fall, the cogon grass growing on sunny slopes, riverbanks, and ditches thrives lush and vigorous, quickly spreading into a sea of green. Clumps of cogon grass soon sprout leaves and form buds. If you wait a little longer, the tender buds will shoot out from the leaves, bloom, and produce grass seeds. Therefore, picking needle grass sprouts, peeling them, and eating them is only possible within about a month after Qingming. Back then, a handful of fresh needle grass sprouts was the favorite free snack for rural children in spring.