Soseo (小暑), Minor Heat

소서풍경 이억영 그림과, 화성의 모심기 광경

"Landscape of Soseo" by Lee Eok-yeong	Planting Rice in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi-do

"Soseo (小暑)" is the eleventh of the twenty-four seasonal sub-divisions, or solar terms, of the lunar calendar. It falls in June of the lunar calendar and on around July 5 of the solar calendar. It literally means "minor heat" and from this day the weather starts to get very hot. They say rice planting in Hasin-ri, Banpo-myeon in Gongju city is customarily done "three days before Haji and three days after Haji," so the period around "Soseo" is good for planting rice. In the olden days, when farmers organized "Dure," or community groups, all farms planted barley in the paddies, so planting was done much later and was usually completed by "Soseo." Weeding started about 15 days or one month after planting. Pre-planting for harvest was done after "Haji" and "Soseo."

제주도의 호박꽃과 장흥의 복분자

Pumpkin Flowers in Jeju Island	Bokbunja, Native Korean Raspberries in Jangheung County, Jeollanam-do

Around this time the weather gets very hot and fruits and vegetables are available in abundance. Wheat and barley are eaten from around this time. Since June in the lunar calendar is a relatively slow season on the farms, people eat a lot of food made with flour.