Changes in delivery dates over holidays:
- During the week of Rosh Hashanah: There will be no Monday deliveries. Wednesday deliveries will be moved to Thursday, September 20.
- On the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: Monday deliveries as usual. Wednesday deliveries will be moved to Thursday, September 27.
- During Chol HaMoed, there will be no deliveries, i.e. you will not be receiving boxes on Monday and Wednesday, the 1 and 3rd of October.
- The week after Simchat Torah, Monday deliveries move to Tuesday, October 9. Wednesday deliveries as usual.
If you wish to increase your vegetable boxes before the holidays, please let me know as soon as possible.
Subscribing to our weekly newsletter
The best way to receive messages and updates is via our weekly newsletter, which is published on our website and arrives directly to your email inbox. Those who do not receive the newsletter and wish to do so, please advise. If you prefer to receive a hard copy along with your box, please notify me.
Open Day at Chubeza:
In keeping with our twice-yearly tradition, we invite you for a Chol HaMoed “pilgrimage” to Chubeza to celebrate our Open Day.
The Sukkot Open Day will take place on Wednesday, October 3, the 17th of Tishrei (second day of Chol HaMoed), between 11:00-16:00. The Open Day gives us a chance to meet, tour the field, and nibble on vegetables and other delicacies. Children have their own tailor-made tours, designed for little feet and curious minds, plus activities and a vast space to run around and loosen up. (So can the adults…)
Driving instructions are on our website under “Contact Us.” Please make sure you check this before heading our way.
Wishing you a Chag Sameach and Shana Tova from Chubeza. We look forward to seeing you all!
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A Brand New Year
The past season posed many challenges in the field, as reflected in your boxes. On one hand, there’s been a relief from the excruciating heat, which is easing up at last (or at least decreasing to fewer hours each day). On the other hand, many of the crops have already been vanquished by the heat of summer and the diseases and viruses ravishing the poor crops, leaving the field more or less bereft of its summertime glory. A host of small autumn greens are growing in straight, proud lines, but they’re not yet ready for your weekly boxes. So over the past few weeks, we have been supplementing a bit more than usual with produce from other fields.
And each year we learn, unsurprisingly, that even the supplementing isn’t easy, since other farms are in a state similar to ours. The greens are not yet completely here, and the summer vegetables are thinning out. In the hothouses, too, there is a deficit. It is hard to lay hands on cucumbers and tomatoes, but usually we can get at least one (last Wednesday and this Week we have no tomatoes)
Interestingly, this is happening during the month of Elul, a time for personal introspection where we strive to improve our acceptance and respect for others, to concentrate on repentance and forgiveness for mistakes made over the past year, and to face the coming year with more understanding and a more positive attitude. And at just this time, the end of summer is putting us to a true test for all the pretty words we have been putting out these weeks. Perhaps this is no coincidence, for Jewish tradition sprouted from the Israeli climate and landscape, and during this season the acceptance, understanding, positive outlook and appreciation of “the other” are put to the test that may be the most critical and closest to us: our food plate.
I’m always surprised (and happy) to see this happening in the 21st century as well, despite technology and the (ambitious, impressive/haughty and presumptuous – choose your own adjectives) human attempts to “defeat” nature and subdue it to his/her needs and will. It turns out that at the end (and beginning) of the day, there is something greater than us, deciding for us and guiding us. I find this consoling. It is great to let go of your need to control, direct and take charge. It’s nice to make requests from Heaven and hope for an abundant year.
And with it all, our vegetables are trying valiantly to ripen in time to adorn your Chag table with the traditional symbols: the pumpkin, to pump up your spirits, the black eyed pea (lubia) to bring us lub and understanding, and the leek, coming to make you feel leek a million dollars. And, of course, the Swiss chard is making herculean efforts to be ready for the Wednesday boxes, to be there to chard the holiday light brigade.
This year, Rosh Hashana is early in the season, but Helaf’s pomegranates have ripened and will be placed in your boxes this week to add happiness, hopes and sweetness as abundant as the pomegranate’s seeds. Only the dates from Samar could not make it, maybe to remind us there is always something to look forward to.
In honor of Rosh Hashana, I send you these traditional, heartfelt Chubeza blessings:
Dates (Tamar): May it be Thy will, that the dates and timing of our planting be acceptable and proper for this region, this season, this political and spiritual climate, and this year’s daylight savings time.
Black-eyed Peas (Lubia): Peas, may the Mighty One blacken the eye of all who may blight our crops, especially the lesser pumpkin fly that could wipe out our cucurbits.
Leeks (Karsi): May the heavens leek abundant rainfall upon our earth, but all things in moderation…No more cloudbursts or three-day washouts, please.
Beets (Selek): May the good insects beet out the bad ones & be blessed to continue doing their part to preserve the balance of nature, so essential for our wholesome organic ecosystem.
Gourds (K’rah): May the Almighty protect and gourd our crops from pestilence and from all harm that may come to them at every stage of growth, from seeding to harvest.
Pomegranate (Rimon): May the Lord bless the work of our hands to be as bountiful, sweet, delightful and beneficial as the fruit of the pomegranate.
Apples and Honey (Tapuach b’dvash): May sweet–-and tart, delicious, piquant, energizing, and fresh–- products of our farm flourish, all the days of each and every year.
Fish Head (Rosh ha-dag): May the Good Lord bless us with the wisdom to know how to work from both the head and from the heart, without confusing which to use when…
With best wishes for a New Year blessed with happiness and growth, Alon, Bat-Ami, and the Chubeza team
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WHAT’S IN THIS WEEK’S BOXES?
Monday: Leeks, cilantro, lettuce, pomegranates, green cowpeas (lubia) or Thai yard long beans, eggplant, cucumbers, a slice of Provence pumpkin, red bell peppers, potatoes, carrots
In the large box, in addition: Butternut squash, okra or zucchini, thyme
Wednesday: Red bell peppers, Swiss chard or lettuce, a slice of pumpkin, carrots, leeks, arugula or parsley, cucumbers, green cowpeas (lubia) or Thai yard long beans, pomegranates, potatoes, oregano or nana or basil
In the large box, in addition: okra, eggplants, butternut squash
And there’s more! You can add to your basket a wide, delectable range of additional products from fine small producers: granola and cookies, flour, sprouts, goat dairies, fruits, honey, crackers, probiotic foods, dried fruits and leathers and organic olive oil too! You can learn more about each producer on the Chubeza website. On our order system there’s a detailed listing of the products and their cost, you can make an order online now!