Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

Does anyone else have a garden?

I had one two years ago in Jinhae...but my plot was on top of a cement slab. That presented certain technical problems.

But now I'm working in a rural high school that used to be an agricultural high school (whatever that means) so behind the volleyball court is about 1/2 an acre of garden space. Several of the teachers have plots and there is a gardening club for the high school boys. I asked for and got a plot. Only about 2/3's are taken, so if anyone else wants to drive down in the evenings, I'm sure you can use a plot or two.

Anyway, in spite of it raining all day yesterday and me having to work up to my ankles in mud, I got 'the back 40' plowed tonight after school. Jin-Wook helped in an ajoshi kind of way. I was out hoeing the weeds off the top when he showed up with his spade. He dug out the drainage spaces on the sides of my plot and dumped the mud on top...along with the weeds. Then he went back through and pulled the weeds out of the mud. I liked my way better, but at least it is done.

The plan is to buy fertilizer during the day tomorrow and spread it right after school. Then get the planting done before the rain starts again.

My projected crops:

Snow peas!
Sweet peas!
(Iowa) sweet corn!
Some basil and dill in case they don't do well in the pots on the balcony

[HapKi]

[endofthewor1d]

last year (on a whim) i started a balcony garden which quickly grew out of control:



it consisted of cherry tomatoes, a kiwi plant, lots of gget nip (that minty flavored leaf that comes with the galbi) and coriander. but the main attraction was the enourmous hyacinth bean which was a novelty gift from a student the year before:



this year i'm going to try to keep it a little more simple on the inside (it was a real chore chopping up all of the overgrown tomato plants) and so this past sunday i planted all 25 of the beans which i harvested from last year's single bean. also, a friend of mine visited with two avocados, and so i planted the seeds from those as well. after doing a bit of reading on the internet, i learned that the avocado comes from a rather large tree. so if those actually sprout, i'm going to need to transplant them outside before too long.
also, last halloween i bought a pumpkin to carve into a jack-o-lantern, and i saved all the seeds. i didn't think it wise to try to grow a pumpkin vine inside, so this coming weekend i'm going to scout out around my place and try to plant them outside somewhere. does anyone know if pumpkin vines will grow well on a slope? i'm thinking of just planting them all on a nearby hill. i've got a few hundred seeds, so i'm figuring that even if i don't weed the area or anything, at least a few of them will grow. anyway... happy gardening!

[Ya-ta Boy]

Pumpkins will grow just fine on a hill. I've seen them growing on roofs around here. I forgot mention it, but I have the seeds for special GIANT pumpkins. I tried growing them two years ago, but something out there loves to eat the leaves. I'm hoping Jin-Wook will know what to do to kill whatever it is. You might watch out for something eating yours.

[endofthewor1d]

[canuckistan]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Jin-Wook is this pretty cool character whose desk is next to mine. He's published two travel books and a text book. Didn't speak a lick of English last fall when I arrived but gets along pretty well now. He lived on a farm till he was 14 and has been gardening ever since he moved to town. That is except for the time he ran away from home when he was 13 to become a monk. Shaved his head and everything. Ended up going home when he found out monks get up even earlier than farmers. He says he may retire from teaching in a year or two and try the monk thing again. He has an apple orchard (maybe 2) and just bought more land and is starting a persimmon orchard. He's the sponsor of the gardening club at school. Best of all, he speaks pretty decent Korean and I can ask him questions about gardening and get trustworthy answers and gardening advice.

And yes, I have a few more seeds than I will need. Want some?

[canuckistan]

[endofthewor1d]

[Ya-ta Boy]

He's Korean. He's the Korean Lit and Chinese character writing teacher. Years ago I started telling Koreans who said, "My English is poor"/"I have a short tongue" that their Korean sounded excellent to me.

Thanks for the offer of seeds, but I have all I need. I made sure to stock up when I came last fall. My balcony doesn't look like yours did, but I have my herb garden out there. I moved in last Sept. and had fits all winter--my balcony gets only a little direct sunlight in the morning. I'm hoping it gets more as the sun gets higher in the sky. Only my rosemary and sage survived the winter. I replanted a couple of weekends ago, but so far, nothing much is happening. I may have to settle for planting outside.

My seeds are in a drawer at school. I'll check on my supply of pumpkin seeds and get back to you.


canukistan:

You are really going gangbusters. I saw your thread on your giant flower box. Very impressed.

I have relatives in Colorado. One of them rents a plot of land for a garden. You might ask around if you need more space.

[krats1976]

I was so excited to get my garden started. I put some herb seeds in pots and when they started to grow I got even more excited & put some bean & squash starts out on the balconey, and... nothing. I think the seeds rotted in the dirt. I have no idea what the mistake was: wrong dirt? too little light? too much water or too little?

Either way, I have my plot all set up outside. This year it's roped off with a sign in English & Korean so we don't have anyone 'accidentally' ripping up my nearly ripe plants.

So Ya-ta--my gardening guru--where do I get some fertilizer? And corn seeds for that matter. I'll pick some up in the States when I go home, but by the time I get back it'll be too late to plant this year. I'd like to plant some Korean stuff.

[endofthewor1d]

canuck... sure, my garden last year was pretty cool. about as wild as one can get in an indoor balcony, but from what you're saying, your garden kicks my garden's ass all over the place. how about some pictures?

[canuckistan]

[Ya-ta Boy]

krats, my dear gardening �л�, the word you are looking for (fertilizer) is ��� or... �Ÿ�. MY gardening guru said I can buy big (dark green) bags for W2,600 per--and it says in big black letters: ���. And he said to go to ����...not the bank. If you see a store with seeds and bags of 'stuff', ask if they have ���. If not maybe they can guide you. I'd say go to a traditional market area. I can tell you exactly where to go in Jinhae, if that's any help. The ajuma there will even carry the stuff to your car.

I brought my seed corn from home. I can't stand Korean corn. I am sure that stuff is field corn. Fine for cows and pigs, but I'm neither.

For Korean seeds, look for: ���...����...Jin-Wook says that means Agricultural and Chemical shop.

[canuckistan]

Ya-ta-Boy wrote: