Growth of my vegetables: Daikon radishes,Black chilis

-- from iPod touch

BUG'S FECES ON MY CABBAGES

 It's my most unpleasant moment when I've found bug's feces in my vegetables.

 One of my cabbages had a beautiful and intact heart inside till last Friday when I had saw no bugs there. But today many poos of young worms of a moss were found on the heart and inside of the cabbage with big holes on its leaves. Those many poos and big holes show big grown bugs might live inside the cabbage or in the soil around it.


I believed and decided to seek and hunt the bugs, searching for them turning over its leaves one by one. And at last, I found it! A middle-sized young worm was found between the heart and a leaf!


Eventually, 3 more bugs were hunted today.

After I "said good-bye" to the poor worm, I rinsed the poos off the cabbage not only because I want to keep my vegetables clean but because I can see other bugs might live if new poos are found.

-- from iPod touch

Bugs thriving in my Chinese cabbages.

Today I found many bags like young worms and herds of aphids in mu Chinese cabbages.
I have dealt with attacks by young worms and caterpillars and today ten young worms were picked up and removed out of the cabbages.


I'm astonished with the fact that many aphids live inside my Chinese cabbages! The proliferation of aphids have never been found in my garden.
I wonder how and when they came to my cabbages from where. Anyway, they have to be removed immediately for healthy growth of my cabbages.


I want to avoid using chemical pesticides as possible as I can. So I tried a new way introduced in a blog by a gardener in Japan. It's a mixture of water, salad oil and kitchen detergent. The gardener said spraying the solution on aphids is so effective since the emulsified oil can wrap around an aphid and choke them off to death. Mixing rate is water/500ml, salad oil/5ml and a few drops of detergent.


I wondered what would happen to the aphids after spraying but I could see the good result. After spraying on them, they stopped moving! They seemed to be suffocated.
I will check the effectiveness tomorrow and see if the aphids are truly killed.


-- iPad

Growth of my cabbages,hakusai cabbages and peas

-- iPad

Harvesting "Chisha"/ leaf lettuces.

-- from iPod touch

Today I harvested "Chisha lettuces" or leaf lettuces which were planted 2 month ago. That kind of lettuce doesn't form a head. I found their leaves are about 30cm/11inch so I believe it's the time to harvest them.





 When I harvest them, I have to be careful because the leaves don't roll inside like cabbages or usual lettuces and they are so fragile that they break and snap easily.






 I and my wife prepared the lettuces with removing dirt, soil, bugs and their roots and,,,,




 Today's dinner was BBQ on a electric heating plate! You can see the lettuces and other vegetables, which were grown in my garden,  beside the plate.

 We rolled a grilled beef and gochujang (Korean red chili paste) with a leaf of the lettuce.
You can eat more vegetables with grilled beefs and expect well-balanced nutrition in that way.

My cabbages start making "balls".

 My 4 cabbages ,which were planted in the beginning of September, start rolling their leaves and making "balls" inside. It shows they've grown faster than my previous cabbages last year. I think the fast growth is due to adding more fermented manure and compost to soil in my garden.
 Insect screens are also effective that no holes by bugs have not been found and no chemical pesticide has not been used.


 My Chinese cabbages (白菜/Hakusai） are also healthy and have become big. They can be harvested in the mid of December, if no problem. A Chinese cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables and my family members are looking forward to harvesting big ones and enjoying dishes of them like hot-pot (Nabe) dishes.


 I can't forget my kid's contribution to the healthy growth of my cabbages.
They have worked harder and helped me in my garden. They also love hot-pot dishes of Chinese cabbages and sliced pork. Letting them know how delicious vegetables is a good way to inspire them to work in my garden, I believe.


-- from iPod touch

What my kids can learn in my garden

I started gardening not only for enjoying vegetables grown by myself but for educating my kids about how our foods are produced.
Now my kids can do some jobs like watering, cultivating and finding and killing bugs.
Today I and my kids found many bugs on my cabbages to getting rid of them.


When they started helping me in my garden last year, they were scared of even small young worms like shown above. But now they can find them and dare to crush them into their hands.

It may sound cruel but I'm very happy that they are my reliable helpers and they have understood we live on sacrifice of other animals, bugs and plants.

We have to kill animals, plants to process and protect our foods. That's I wanted my kids to know through helping me gardening. They feel sorry for killed bugs. My daughter said " If I hadn't killed the bug, it would be a beautiful butterfly in the future." But they love to eat more vegetables than they used to. It's ironic but educational that killing bugs can teach them the importance of life.



-- iPad