We have been busy on the farm lately. Strawberry season has ended but strawberry plants are being planted for the next season. Hugh has been doing a lot of the fertilizer stuff…. and then not telling me until after I’ve cuddled him.
Tag: korean farm (Page 1 of 2)
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.
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.
I noticed our neighbours had called in extra help to get the onions harvested. Luckily my inlaws were just harvesting potatoes in a green house so the rain didn’t bother them.
These types of rainy days can be quite nice. The rain is light and there is no wind, so I can walk around with an umbrella and not get drenched. It’s nice and peaceful.
We’ve been quiet this week because we’ve been super busy getting ready to go to Australia, as well as dealing with some health problems (everything is fine, don’t worry) and we had some visitors!
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(Click captions for English subtitles)
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