Renegade Gardens, part 1

Ryan and I were surprised to find renegade gardens in any open space in a suburb of Busan in the South called Gimhae. I have yet to take photos of the gardens in Incheon, where we live, but it is clear that Koreans love their renegade gardens. True, I don't know anything about them and I certainly don't know enough Korean to ask, but they look pretty rebellious to me. We usually find them in deserted plots, or the space between the street and a fence. There are also small gardens on rooftops and balconies. These small food plots are a patchwork of vegetables, leafy greens and lots of red chilie peppers. We've been able to buy a few items from these little growers on Sunday mornings when they sell their products in a local park. That's great because otherwise a lot of stuff has to be bought at Lotte Mart (worthy of a blog by itself), or Korean Walmart-on-steroids.

My first theory is that with Korea's lightning-fast industrialization and globalization, there are still many people over 50 that remember the time following the Korean War when food was scarce and family vegetable plots were vital to survival. I'm still waiting to see the kids out there. Put them to work I say. I'll keep lookin.
-beth