The Country Mice

You’ll note an agricultural theme with the pics accompanying this little write-up. Behind our hotel in Gumi is a meandering road that stretches up to the top of Mount Geumosan. Packed into every available nook and cranny of arable land is a fruit tree, a patch of vines, an arrangement of onions, a cluster of edibles. Wise land stewardship.

The little paper packets are wrapped around apples — protecting them from the scabs and ravages of a life unprotected by sprays and toxic fumigation. The individually jacketed apples would be labour intensive but certainly worth the non-toxic and unblemished appearance in the end.

The clustered green fruit — fuyu in Japanese, persimmons in English. I don’t know what they’re called in Korea. A few were vermillion as they rotted on the ground — very attractive to the wild bees in the area.