For the past month I’ve been teaching gardening lessons at the local elementary school and helping 2nd, 3rd and 5th grades start their first school garden. We’ve been seed starting and did a photo project where the class takes a photo of the seed each day and tracks the growth in images which we will then stitch together in a stop action movie project and present to the whole school body (more fun lesson ideas to come!).
I’ve taken over the classes in place of our Master Gardener who is currently traveling Europe, jealous! But the beauty of it is that it has forced me to use my gardening brain (which has been turned off and stored away for years, except for maybe that time i tried to start a rooftop garden at my high rise apartment in S. Korea…) thinking about all things gardening and starting my own little herb and veggie garden at my new wee house! Gardens are definition one thing you cannot pack up and take with you around the world and I intend to thoroughly take advantage of my new rooted state.
These are Korean Perilla 들깨 seedlings, or as it was called in S. Korea, Wild Sesame that is used for its oil (sesame oil yum!) and leaves which are used in Korean cuisine to make kimchi as well as a wrap for Korean BBQ. I fell in love with its flavor in Korean and haven’t been able to find them here in the US, not even in LA’s Korea Town! So I decided to grow the little boogers and make my own Perilla kimchi! I saw an article where egg shells were used in place of plastic potting containers or plug trays and can be plunked in the ground, shell and all because the shell will biodegrade as the plant grows and provide it with nutrients, saving you the trouble of transplanting! And it’s quite cost effective, if you eat as many eggs as I do!
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