By Cheryl Rice
One of the first things we noticed about Korea was how deeply ingrained the farming culture is.
Not only do family vegetable gardens take precedence over lawns and grass, but it is also common to come across patches of farmland in the strangest places. From the median in the middle of the road, to the strip beside a river in a city park, every walk we take is an enticing adventure past mysterious leafy greens and tilled rows covered with plastic.
Therefore, when a Korean friend invited me to spend a day planting sweet potatoes at her friend’s farm, I eagerly jumped at the chance to experience for myself such a vital and integral part of Korean culture!
Cindy and her husband Alejandro planned to pick me up at the disgustingly early hour of 9 am. (Because of our generous hagwon schedule, my boyfriend and I don’t usually wake up until 10:30!) Bleary-eyed, I stumbled to the car, more than a bit apprehensive about a grueling day in the hot sun while so tired. However, the weather was perfect… overcast and cool, and we would soon find, a nice surprise awaited us ahead!
After winding our way through lovely back roads past a flowing river, we arrived at the field to meet Cici, Cindy’s friend, and her mother, Mirami, the head of the local village. I immediately noticed a field of bushes nearby that looked, to my Alabama eyes, strangely familiar. The mystery of the bushes was soon cleared up as we sat down to the lovely surprise breakfast that Cici and Mirami had prepared. I was greeted by delicious, homemade, organic blueberry jam… straight from some of the only blueberry bushes in Korea!
After a relaxing meal of jam, bread, Korean melons, and German coffee, it was time to farm!
Cici and Mirami lent me a hat to protect my face from the sun, and some gloves. Then, we started in on the sweet potatoes.
To plant sweet potatoes, you crouch between rows, plunge your spade sideways into the dirt through the plastic (put in place to keep weeds out and moisture in… another mystery solved!)
You then lift a section of dirt up and plunge the stem of the plant in parallel to the ground, putting dirt on top of the sheet afterwards to stand it up.
It was grueling work, especially walking along the rows in a crouch! However, I couldn’t help but feel happy, knowing I was helping to create something I could eat one day! Afterwards, we continued on to seed plants… beets, radishes, and broccoli.
It was a lot of fun, chatting with Cindy and the others (with Cindy’s kind translation help.) Mirami and Cici were relaxed and fun, yet I was amazed at how much work they accomplished so easily!
Mirami was very impressed with my trowel-work, and wouldn’t believe that I hadn’t gardened before!!
After watering the plants and cleaning ourselves up a bit, we hopped in the cars to travel to a nearby town, where Cici had another blueberry field. Our eyes were greeted by a bustling construction site, surrounded with beautiful blueberry bushes, stonework, and azaleas.
Cici and her husband are very excited about their blueberry business, as they are such a rarity here. At this second field, they plan on building a distillary to make blueberry wine, and a coffee-shop to showcase their products. The entire complex will overlook a scenic lake ringed with flowers. Look for a new must-see tourist destination in tiny Daeso in a year’s time!
After a hard days work, Cici and Mirami decided we should relieve our exhaustion, Korean-style, and took us all to an amazing resteraunt for “Don gaas” (fried pork), “Cuream Supaghetti,” and oodles of friendly conversation.
All-in-all, what a wonderful day! We feel like we made life-long friends… Adam and I are even helping with the publicity photos for their coffee shop.
We’re excited to be a part of something so neat… and we can’t wait until our vegetables are ready to harvest and eat! Sweet potatoes and radishes and beets, oh my!
