Eco-film Night #5 - Dirt! The Movie

Chances are it's been a few years (or decades) since you looked at dirt as anything other than something to avoid dragging into your apartment. As children, we love getting coated in the stuff; as adults, all we can think about is keeping away from it.

But dirt feeds us and gives us shelter. Dirt holds and cleans our water. Dirt heals us and makes us beautiful. Dirt helps regulate the earth's climate. Dirt is the ultimate natural resource for all life on earth. Nonetheless, contemporary agricultural and industrial practices are quickly degrading and destroying this fundamental piece of our planet.

"Dirt! The Movie" offers a vision of a sustainable relationship between Humans and Dirt through profiles of the global visionaries who are determined to repair the damage we've done before it's too late. There are many ways we can preserve the living skin of the earth for future generations. If you care about your food, water, the air you breathe, your health and happiness, come join us!

As always, entrance is free and any and all are welcome. Come early for a meal, stay late for a chat, or both.

Date: Sunday, December 12th

Time: 7:30-9:00PM

Where: Buy the Book, Rodeo Street, Downtown Daegu

The End of the Teot-bat (FOR NOW)

I returned to the field the other day, dismayed to see that the cold had taken its toll on the sesame leaves and basil. All was wilted, and most was eaten by bugs. There were a few pleasant surprises though.

For instance, here we see that as late as late October, cherry tomatoes are still growing.

Being a novice, I didn't realize how much staking and stringing the little guys need, so most of the fruits had fallen to the ground. Nonetheless, it looks like one made it to fruition while on the vine. Success! Even the big tomato plant, which only bore one or two tomatoes throughout the summer, had some big, green fist-sized ones on the vines.

Hrm, something is amiss:

Who is that lurking in "my" garden?

A real live rabbit, enjoying some rotten sesame leaves and my neighbor's fairly healthy-looking pepper plants. I found it odd that the little critter preferred the peppers to my carrots. A true Korean rabbit, I suppose.

Yours truly, hard at work. Speaking of carrots:

I didn't weigh them, but I'm guessing it came out to about 4 kilos. Pretty good for one inexpertly-planted row. Enough for 2 weeks of carrot and cilantro soup!

The weather is cold enough that nothing else will grow - the mint, basil, sesame leaves, green onions, chives, tomatoes, and pumpkins are all on their last legs. Plus, I wasn't motivated enough in the early autumn to plant any winter greens or radishes. Thus, there's nothing left to be done at the Teot-bat until sometime next spring. Rabbit friends, you have my permission to eat any and everything; all I ask is some fertilizer in return.

The Teot-bat Pays Off!

After several months of ceaseful, effortless cultivation, the beloved Teot-bat has finally delivered. Of course, I had snagged a cherry tomato or two and a few fistfuls of mint leaves and basil in the past, but now, apparently, the combination of the late-August rains and the cooler weather of September has led to some truly monstrous growth.

Basil and Sesame leaves, each about a meter high. Some nice green onions on the left, too.

Some truly beautiful Cilantro/Coriander, Chocolate Mint, and Thyme:

!A CARROT ERUPTION!:

Better pick that Okra, too:

(Actually, it was already too late for the Okra. Mathan, my excellent Indian neighbor, tells me I should have picked them when they were still soft.)

Chives and Green Onions:

Harvested: Green Onions, a sickle, and 1/3 of a shoe.

Also harvested: basil, a carrot, and 2 ziploc bags

Daegu NoksaekSari Organic CSA Distribution Complex:

THIS IS THE WHY:

A pumpkin, chive, and green onion pancake.

Thank you, Teotbat.