Time to get dirty
Get your hands dirty. This is the best cure for September blues. The rains just stopped and the typhoon just passed. I think this is the best time for planting. There is a hope in seedlings and in seeds that they will grow, that one day they will produce a crop. The produce is so clear. It is guaranteed.
You know that when you plant seeds they will grow. In Korea there are two good times to plant seeds. The first time is in early Spring and the second time is at the end of the summer. The frost comes late here so plants grow until November.
How does your garden grow?
We plant the seedlings in rows like this and in just a couple months they will be so full of life. We will enjoy this cabbage with our lunch.
"Moo" like a cow
The rows of dirt are filled with seeds for Korean radishes called "Moo" like a cow. These radishes are yellow and huge. There is a saying in Korea that if a girl has legs that are swollen they are "Moo Tari" which means radish legs.
In November will make radish kimchi called "Kkakdookie" or as I call him Doogie Kkak. It will be an awesome harvest in just 3 months.
And pretty maids all in a row
We also planted rows of lettuce. They are tiny seedlings now but they will grow real quickly into full heads of lettuce. The months of rain have past and the sun is shining today.
The autumn in Korea is warm and the sky is blue and deep. At night the stars come out and the air is crisp.
Next to the lettuce we have sweet potatoes we planted inthe spring. These sweet potatoes will be ready for harvest soon. The Leaves are full of life, but I wonder how the roots are growing. It has been raining so much I'm afraid they might have some problems.
The bugs are increasing and it is hard to keep them from infestation. You can see some of the leaves already have holes in them and some slight discoloration. Anyway, it will be a few more weeks before they are big enough for us to eat.
Sweet potatoes are almost ready. I can't wait!
There are so many things we can do with sweet potatoes but one of my favorites is to make sweet potato fries in the air fryer. It has been so warm and humid lately I forgot that autumn is so close. I can't wait.
In our garden we also grow some mint. Did you ever just want to chew on something? Well, this is the best leaf to chew on. It smells great like a breath of fresh air.
Refreshing Mint
In the picture I caught some of the flowers. You can see how green everything looks. In spite of the constant rain everything has been growing nicely. I think I will take a handful of this now and wash it and put it in my afternoon tea.
Finally are the grapes. Although we do have a grapevine, our grapes are not as good as the ones in the picture. These are a special grape called "Gobong" or as I call them, giant grape.
Usually Koreans don't eat the skin, because it is kind of thick. There aren't many seeds in this kind of grape and the inside is super juicy.
Korean super grapes
These super grapes came with my lunch today at school. I am really thankful that I have a place to go to work and can enjoy lunch together with other people even if we do have to follow social distancing rules.
Autumn is the best in Korea
I'm so glad I could enjoy these days. Times like this are worth a million dollars. I'm so thankful to be alive and breath fresh air and plant with hope that there will be a harvest. This is the joy of gardening.
The wisdom of gardening
Gardening opens your mind to the secrets of life's wisdom. What is planted is a seed or a seedling. What grows up doesn't look like the seed at all. From outside we see leaves, but under the ground is the sweet root that we eat.
Most importantly what is planted takes time to grow and bear fruit. It may be a month or three months but it does bear fruit. There is not much the gardener can do but keep the bugs off and give it some water every now and then.
Happy Gardening,
These were all grown in beds in a place you wouldn't expect a garden to be.