My parents-in-law’s kiwi plot is not near their house, but on the other side of the village where most of the kiwi plots are. With help from others (hello to Jenny and Olivia who came and helped ^^) the kiwis are harvested over 2 days. Kiwis here are a once a year crop so now is the time to buy the freshest kiwis! Everyone wears an apron with a pocket to put the kiwis into and then when it’s full, the bottom of the apron unzips so kiwis fall easily into the crates. Kiwis are later sorted into sizes and shipped out.
Category: Korean Countryside (Page 3 of 10)
Our rice was recently harvested so Hugh filmed a little bit on the combine harvester and then later we filmed our neighbours harvesting.
You may have noticed that there were young farmers in the video. I mean younger than the average age of 70 here… It’s quite unusual to have young guys farming in the countryside. The majority of young people move to the cities and the only ones left farming are old people. These guys however, are making a documentary and have traveled the world researching farming techniques and have come back to the countryside to farm. We all wish that younger people would start moving back to the countryside and are hoping there is a movement where better techniques are used so that people can have a more comfortable life in rural Korea.
This video shows the farm getting ready for strawberry season (November to May). While other produce is dying off as the weather gets cooler, the strawberry plants are getting ready to produce super sweet strawberries.
Strawberries in Korea are very sweet but my parents-in-law’s strawberries are particularly sweet because they put a lot of effort into making sure they are extra sweet. Some other farms choose quantity over quality so their strawberries are not as sweet: be careful! The strawberries from our farm end up in department stores in Gangnam, but of course the middle man takes a big cut. The strawberries go to market first before department stores. It would be great if there was a way to sell directly and get a bigger profit but it’s not really that possible, because strawberries expire quickly and it’s a whole other business, on top of working on the farm, to do that. We may be selling some directly to some cafes and restaurants who order a lot, but the majority go to be auctioned off and then sent to department stores. The boxes usually have my father-in-law’s name on them too. Sancheong (our region) strawberries are now known to be the best in Korea, sometimes cafes have signs boasting that they have desserts with Sancheong strawberries.
We had just come back from Seoul when he said this. I was so disappointed that there wasn’t little piggys on the farm. But it’s funny because I start to make mistakes too. After being in Korea for so long, in English I do have problems with some sounds that should be natural for me but are difficult for Koreans. I find it harder to differentiate between B and V now. F and P is still okay for me, but for Hugh, even speaking English every day, it still trips him up.
This happens a lot. I decide to go for a walk and get bombarded with fertilizer smell! Remember that when you see some of the photos I post on Instagram. It’s not something that just happens in the countryside either. I remember several times in Sydney when they fertilize all the lawns in parks and there is that fertilizer smell in the city!
Twice a week the Soondae Ahjussi visits nearby with his soondae truck. Now I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like soondae, but I’ve had a change of heart and now I quite like it! I don’t like eating it at open markets where it can have a strong smell and looks like it’s been sitting there for a while…haha, I can still be picky. I only started liking it after trying it at this soondae truck because it’s so fresh and there are different flavours. Hugh has always loved it though and it’s one of his favourite foods.
Soondae can also be romanised as “sundae” but I think that spelling can cause some problems for foreigners who are expecting ice cream…
I like frogs but I have this paranoia about accidentally kill them. The feeling of stepping on a frog and crushing it is a big fear of mine. Unfortunately there are lots of frogs at the moment because the rice has been planted so many of the fields have water on them. Great habitat for frogs, but makes for terrifying walking at night.
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