Farming Update

Was really inspired to read dad's post the other day about all his crops...thought I should share a brief update of my plot(s) over here. With the extreme heat of Korean summers, we had to do a scorched-earth policy and rip out everything down to the roots last weekend. Basically nothing survives all the way through August here...I still had some eggplant flowering, and looking like peppers and tomatoes might grow a few new veggies...but everyone here rips out everything, turns over their plot, and this time of year everyone is planting cabbage and radish in preparation for kimchi making season, which is usually in the winter, late November to December. So I cajoled Jihye into joining me, she REALLY didn't want to...but we got out there this past Sunday, and after about 3 hours of me nearly over-heating, and incredibly as the first drop of a fierce thunderstorm fell, we put the finishing touches on planting 46 heads of kimchi-making cabbage. Wow...really a strenuous workout...I had to stop and sit down for about 15 minutes during it out of sheer exhaustion and some fears I might pass out. It's still hot here, and the ground is wet from all the heavy rain, so it was like ripping out veggies, shoveling and turning over, and creating planting beds out of modeling clay. Thanks for the blisters Mother Earth...I owe you one...or 4!!

Here are a couple photos of some of the last veggies we harvested before ripping it all out. Excited for next year already, to get an earlier start, to know what the hell we are doing, and to experiment with organic fertilizers and perhaps some different and new veggies. We lost all our spinach to the heat this year, missed harvesting them by a week...so, next year could be much more bountiful. Happy growing!! And welcome to the self-sustenance way of life April...hope we can trade some notes on what works and doesn't...it really is a wonderful hobby.