Gardening

Korean Sweet Potatoes are ADDICTIVE!! When I first moved to South Korea I thought the Korean obsession with sweet potatoes was rather odd. But once I cleaned up my diet and freed my palate from processed sugar, I began to appreciate the natural sweetness of the Korean Sweet Potato, 고구마. Then I moved back to America and life was not the same. The orange sweet potatoes cannot hold a candle to the Korean Sweet Potatoes….

One of the mistakes a new gardener often makes is not being prepared for pests. I was no different. I knew I was not prepared in that department, but decided to wing it. I wanted to keep the garden 100% organic, so conventional pesticides were out of the question. I read up a little bit on pests, (like the dreaded Tomato Hornworm), and did plant some Borage to prevent an infestation, but that was the…

One of the disadvantages to having my garden plot at the community garden is the limited irrigation options. There are 2 large rain water storage tanks, which is where the gardeners draw their water from. It is not as easy as using a hose. My daughter and I water our garden by filling up 5 gallon buckets of water, and using a wheelbarrow to transport them from the storage tanks to our garden. In the…

The gardening endeavor I was most excited about last year was growing a pumpkin on a trellis. One of the advantages of having a plot at a community garden is you have an unintended audience. There are the other gardeners who tend a plot there, and my community garden plot is located at a public park. There is a farmer’s market held there weekly, and people sometimes wander over to check out the gardens. So…

Spring is here, and it is time for Lily and me to start playing in dirt again. It is hard for me to believe that last year was the first time I had a garden. Prior to last year, the only plants I grew for food was a small basil plant, (which I managed to kill), and a Kumquat tree, (that my husband managed to kill). I was not sure how last year’s experiment was…

It has been over a month since I have posted in this blog. My daughter and I have been busy learning a new skill, and this takes a lot of time. This might be one of the most important skills we have ever learned and I am surprised it is not taught in most schools. What is it? Growing food. I wanted to do this when we lived in South Korea, but we didn’t have…

You don’t need a big yard or a lot of land to grow food. All you need is good soil, water, sunlight, and determination. Oh and time, you have to water them regularly and weed a little too. In the past few months my daughter and I started a small patio garden (in addition to our plot at the community garden). So far it has been a success, the plants on our patio are doing…