MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – As the spring begins to make everywhere green, women of Amed have already begun to collect beets and herbs on hills and mountains to eat or sell in order to earn a living.

Every spring, Beyaz Sökmen goes to Hevsel Gardens with her daughters to collect beets. Stating that they begin to collect beets and herbs in the Hevsel Gardens along with women after the last rainfall, Beyaz Sökmen said that they begin to collect beets at this time every year. “We take a knife and bag and come to the gardens to collect beets. There are different types of beets in these gardens. We collect what we find.”

Women earn a living by selling beets and herbs

Beyaz Sökmen collects beets and herbs for themselves and sells them in order to earn a living. Stating that she knows all types of beets because she has collected beets for years, Beyaz Sökmen said, “I generally collect them to cook and eat them. But when we collect a lot, we keep some for ourselves and then sell the rest. Many women come here to collect beets and herbs in order to earn a living. Women get tired, but they receive a recompense for their work.”

They work in fields after collecting beets

Beyaz Sökmen learned how to collect beets and herbs from her mother and now she teaches her daughters how to collect them. She told us that she feels happy when she touches the soil. Emphasizing that men cannot do what they do, Beyaz Sökmen said that after they collect the beets, they go to the field to work.