IN THE HEART OF SEOUL -THE GARDEN OF 13 KINGS

A Page from a Korean Garden Calendar titled NOVEMBER

A Korean friend gave me a calendar with a different garden illustrated each month. The one for November was particularly striking and brought back many wonderful memories of my visit to one of Korea's most beloved gardens in Seoul.

Surrounded by a canyon of high rises is the beautiful national treasure, Changdeok Palace, constructed in 1405. In the back of the palace is the Huwon, or Rear Garden, home to 13 of Korea's kings . My visit to this beloved garden really opened my eyes to the amazing simplicity and at the same time, sophistication of Korean garden design.

Unlike Japanese , Korean gardens are natural and unforced. Such features as ponds, rockeries, pine, bamboo, pear, apple , and other fruit trees are popular. You won't see a lot of flowers in bloom yet the textures and colors of the trees and shrubs create interest. And while Huwon is a more refined style of the royal family it has a decidedly natural beauty with its lotus ponds, pavillions and rockeries.

Huwon Garden

A fascinating feature of Huwon is the Ongnyucheon Stream ( Jade Stream ) created by King Injo in 1636. The story goes that the King and his cohorts would float their wine cups to each other and before it reached its destination a poem or song had to be completed. A poem carved in stone and with the King's inscription still exists there.

Ongnyucheon Stream

Animal motifs as well as natives can be found throughout the garden . There are over 40 species of birds, and ancient trees, some a thousand years old, still exist .

The fact that the palace and rear garden exists at all is a miracle considering what it has gone through in the turbulent history of Korea. After being destroyed several times it has gone through many restorations. It is now listed on UNESCO's World Heritage sites and is one of the most beloved and frequently visited gardens in Korea.

The hectic lifestyle in Seoul , which by the way is the 5th most populated city in the world,
( Tokyo is now 11th ) , brings many of its citizens there to seek refuge and tranquility.

MAKING THE DOUGH

My first Parmesan-Herb Bread dough

Another passion of mine, besides gardening and painting, is cooking. I always used to pick up an artisan loaf of olive rosemary bread at the bakery. I just love it and it got me to thinking I can do that ! So I did and it turned out pretty good. Onward and upward with the dough !

So what's cooking in the Sweet Home and Garden kitchen ? Parmesan-Herb bread kneaded personally by moi for 15 minutes ( my biceps are getting a workout ! ) . The aroma of herbs filled the whole house and it smelled wonderful.

To go with the Parmesan-Herb bread I made navy bean soup with a big old hambone from a Smithfield Country Smoked ham I was finishing up.

That' s a huge hunka' hambone in the bean soup

The bread turned out yummy ( the missing piece is what I ate ! ) :

Dinner's ready, y'all ! Anybody hungry ?

AN ARTISTIC INDOOR GARDEN

This is what spending time indoors does to me :







Sonata I

May Day arrangement

Sunrise, May 1

Odie walking in the Garden

Center of Attention

Summer Gold

These are a few of my indoor garden subjects that grace the walls of Sweet Home Chicago.

A CAMELLIA IN EVERY CUP

Camellia Sinensis

An Asian friend of mine, knowing my love of green tea and all the different varieties I've tried in search of the best one, gave me the most delicious one I've ever tasted and I went on their website to check out their entire line of fascinating teas. Well, you could've blown me over with a feather when I read that tea came from the evergreen Camellia Senensis ( Chinese Camellia ) and was discovered accidentally by the Chinese . Seems one of the aristocrats was boiling water near a Camellia and some of the leaves fell in the cup. They not only tasted good but had a great fragrance as well. Another great invention from the very wise Chinese.

You would think that the Japanese and English invented tea since they consume so much of it . However, much to my surprise again, the Irish are the biggest tea consumers in the world.

We've all heard about the great benefits of green tea and they keep adding more as research goes on - an anti-inflamatory with vitamines C & E , lowers blood pressure, aids in preventing skin cancer, helps the aging brain, all sorts of cancer from prostate, breast, liver, etc., prevents tooth decay and freshens your breath. Recent research shows promising evidence that it helps arthritis as well. Green Tea was pitched as a weight loss product but no evidence to that effect has been proven, although the Chinese Ooloong Tea was shown to be effective in this regard. The Chinese and Japanese have 80 per cent lower rates of cancer than we do and they attribute that to drinking 3 to 4 cups a day of green tea.

Anyhoo, as an avid green tea drinker I am very impressed with the taste of Hoji-cha Roasted Green Tea made by a California Company http:www.yamamotoyama.com

It is available in some Asian grocers but is difficult to find so the website online shopping is a convenient way to order.