Homiclub

Homiclub — Urban gardening, one pot at a time

Health

When Your Fruit-Syrup Jars Keep Turning Slimy: Thyme and Oregano

A new study found that a blend of oregano and thyme essential oils reduced how much yeast stuck to surfaces more than either oil alone. Here is what that means for your kitchen, and why boiling water is still the way to sterilize your jars.

Homiclub EditorsSep 194 min read
Health

The Cabbage That Never Closes: What Bomdong Does All Winter

Bomdong is Korean spring cabbage sown in autumn and harvested at winter's end, spreading flat rosettes instead of packing a head. The cold is what makes it sweet — and a quick hand in the kitchen is what keeps it that way.

Homiclub EditorsSep 135 min read
Growing

AI Comes to Farming, Right Down to Your Garden Bed

Researchers at the University of Missouri are using AI to work out how densely to plant each part of a field, so the same land produces more. The same idea works in a backyard garden, too.

Homiclub EditorsSep 183 min read
Dongui Bogam

Okra: Health Through the Eyes of the Donguibogam

Okra reached Korea too late to appear in the Donguibogam, so instead of inventing an old remedy for it, we look at the plant the way the old texts looked at vegetables — and find that its slick mucilage lines up neatly with what modern nutrition says about soluble fiber.

Homiclub EditorsSep 24 min read
Growing

Can Good Soil Carry Your Garden Through a Drought?

Soil rich in organic carbon produces bigger harvests in normal years, but research from Colorado State University found that the advantage disappears in severe drought. Here's why compost still matters, and what else to do when the rain doesn't come.

Homiclub EditorsSep 183 min read
Health

Gobagi: The Bitter Leaf That Makes It Through Winter

Sow gobagi in the beds your summer crops leave empty. It lives through winter and gives you leaves again in spring. We compare what a 400-year-old Korean medical text said about this bitter green with what modern nutrition science shows.

Sep 214 min read
Dongui Bogam

Minari and Health Through the Eyes of the Donguibogam

Minari, the fragrant water dropwort of the Korean spring table, gets a detailed entry in the Donguibogam, Korea's 17th-century medical classic. Here's what that old text said about it and how it compares with modern nutrition.

Sep 214 min read
Health

Kochia, the Yard-Broom Plant: From the Donguibogam's Jibuja to Today's Table

Korean households once got both food and yard brooms from kochia. This column follows the plant from its entry in the Donguibogam to modern analysis, then explains how to grow it, harvest it, and cook its young leaves and seeds.

Sep 204 min read
Health

What an In-Season Pear Really Does for Your Body

Crisp Asian pears are more than 85% water and contain sorbitol, a sugar alcohol that can upset a sensitive gut in large amounts. Here's how the trees grow, what we can and can't say about their health effects, and how to enjoy them.

Sep 204 min read
Health

Horopa in an Old Medical Classic, Fenugreek in Tonight's Pot

The 17th-century Korean medical classic Dongui Bogam described fenugreek seed as warm and bitter, and modern chemistry traces its maple-like scent to a compound called sotolon. Here's where the old record and today's science meet, plus how to grow, toast, and cook with the seed.

Sep 204 min read
Dongui Bogam

Butterbur Through the Eyes of the Dongui Bogam

Butterbur comes back to the same shady corner of the garden every spring. Here's how traditional Korean medicine viewed this bitter green, what modern science says about it, and how to prepare it safely.

Sep 204 min read
Growing

Growing Peach Trees and Handling the Pits: Leave the Kernel Uncracked

Peach trees need winter cold, dry summers, and well-drained soil to bear fruit. Here's how to grow them from saplings and when to harvest, and why you should throw the pits away without cracking them.

Sep 194 min read
Cooking

Tart Neunggeum Shines with Sugar, Rich Meat, and Cinnamon

Neunggeum is a small, tart apple that Koreans ate long before Western apples arrived. It's too sour to enjoy raw, but it's very useful in the kitchen: steep it into syrup, roast it with pork or duck, or simmer it with cinnamon and cloves.

Sep 194 min read
Health

Chestnuts, the Dongui Bogam's First Among Fruits: A Fresh Look From Today's Garden

The Dongui Bogam, a 17th-century Korean medical classic, ranked chestnuts first among fruits. We compare that old record with modern nutrition data and share ways to harvest, store, and cook chestnuts this fall.

Sep 194 min read