Aley chubeza #214 September 8th-10th 2014

Preparing for the holidays…

Changes in delivery dates over the holidays: • During the week of Rosh Hashanah:  The Wednesday delivery will be moved up to Tuesday, September 23rd.   (Monday deliveries as usual)

The ordering system for Wednesday delivery will close on Sunday, September 21st at 12:00

• The week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: All deliveries as usual. • During the week that Sukkot begins: The Wednesday delivery will be moved up to Tuesday, October 7th.  (Monday deliveries as usual.)

The ordering system for Wednesday deliveries will close Sunday, October 5th, at 12:00

• During Chol HaMoed Sukkot, there will be no deliveries, thus you will not be receiving boxes on Monday and Wednesday, the 13th and 15th of October. If you wish to increase your vegetable boxes before the holidays, please advise 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, in most cases, 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—date changed! 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 Monday, October 13th, the 19th of Tishrei (fourth day of Chol HaMoed), between 12:00-17:00 (and not as previously announced). 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 special 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 all of us at Chubeza We look forward to seeing you all!

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The skies, they are a-changing

So I haven’t encountered a wagtail yet, but the citrus fruits growing in our landlord Moshe’s small orchard are already becoming rounder and riper. There are a few squills here and there, and even an occasional cool breeze… Autumn is peeking from behind the scenes, and together with the winds of change and the turning of the seasons, our vegetables are encountering some challenges. Before we describe these in detail, we’d like to turn over the stage for an update on what’s happening with some of our associates who provide you with wonderful organic products alongside our vegetables:

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The first are Puah and Oded from Meshek 42 in Tal Shachar, who send you goat milk products. This is what Puah has to say about what’s going on in their business these days:

Dear Chubeza clients,

Over the past milking season, we’ve added our milk products to your vegetable boxes. Many people consider milk products as a year-round commodity, but not with us. Here, working with the goat herds is seasonal, and so is the milk. These days we only milk some of the mature goats. One group of goats is no longer milked, as they are reaching the end of their pregnancy and the beginning of whelping season. As a result, we have less milk in our dairy. The milk is also prone to seasonal changes. End-of-season milk is “weak” and thus hard to work with, hard to curdle, more diluted, and its flavors vary. Therefore, your supply via Chubeza will be undergoing some changes. It’s difficult to know exactly what this upcoming period of time holds in store, but expect changes in supply and quantity.

In all events, you are more than welcome to visit our pen on Thursdays at 4:00 PM to see and experience the special world of goat milking at Meshek 42.

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 In honor of the holidays and the upcoming fall season, Helaf, our organic fruit farmer and neighbor from over the hills in Karmei Yosef, is offering various opportunities to purchase several specific types of fruit in your boxes. Currently available are orders of 4 kg apple (80 NIS), 5 kg mango (75 NIS), 5 kg pomegranate  (55 NIS). You can add those to your order via our order system.

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 For some weeks now we have been in contact with Hillel from Ein Harod in the Jezreel Valley to discuss the progress of this season’s crop of excellent organic almonds. We are all anxiously awaiting them, and we’ve been getting requests from many of you to order right away. But… we need to remain a bit more patient, as the almond delivery is a slightly delayed due to problems in the shelling factory. However, very soon, hopefully as early as next week, we should be receiving the long-awaited almonds. Watch our order system for the latest updates.

And there are also some new goodies from Ein Harod. You may now purchase their dry organic hummus grown in the valley, and organic olive oil of the Barnea variety (extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed and maximal sourness 0.8%) produced from their olive grove. These additional products are now on hand, and you are welcome to order delectable almonds, olive oil and hummus via our order system to be added to your next box.

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And how are the Chubeza vegetables doing?

The end of summer-beginning of autumn season is a difficult one for field vegetables, primarily because of the oppressive heat. In the Arava, for instance, vegetables have not been growing in their hothouses for some weeks now. The cucumber and peppers harden in the hothouse during this season, and their lack is evident in all the organic market these days: cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, even tomatoes. We, too, are dealing with monotony in our boxes, a lack of vegetables that forces us to purchase vegetables from other places to supplement the homegrown Chubeza fare. (Only a few vegetables, it’s true, but after such a long time that the boxes contained only our very own produce, it’s still a change…) We try to supplement with vegetables which we don’t usually grow, like potatoes or carrots. Fortunately, the cucumbers in our net house are still yielding, albeit not in the major quantities of several weeks ago. Still, we harvested a few hundred kilo over the past few days, which most of you will be receiving. We will not be able to purchase supplementary cucumbers due to the major shortage in the organic market, so those of you who will not be receiving cucumbers will get carrots instead.

Our peppers, however, grow in the open field as opposed to the hothouses, and this is their time of glory. They were planted in May and June, and grow under a tall shade net which protects from the foliage damage they’re sometimes prone to. As you will see in your boxes, they are beautiful and juicy and so yummy. We grow two types: the big square, dark green peppers that turn bright red with a relatively thick flesh wall, as well as smaller, green-yellowish peppers that are sweet even at their young green stage of harvesting.  Usually, we attempt to send you a mix of the two.

An autumn change beginning this week is the return of fresh, delicious lettuce. They grew under the careful protection of a mesh net in order to keep away pests. Plus, over the net cover, a little higher up, another shade net was spread in order to relieve the summer heat. We spoiled and pampered them so these vegetables can turn bright green and brighten up our autumn. Lettuce give them a warm welcome!

And… autumn changes in the offing: cute orange sweet potatoes that we will soon start to dig out. So far, the yield looks promising. Let’s hope we don’t encounter any sudden pest or other hazard. Keep your fingers crossed for the sweet bulbs hidden under the dirt. The dill and coriander who went on strike in the major heat will also soon be back, as temperatures drop.

We hope the change of seasons makes you as happy as we feel, bringing to you the welcome relief of crisp mornings and the chance to breathe again in late afternoon…

May we have a fine week!

Alon, Bat Ami, Dror, Maya and the Chubeza team

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WHAT’S IN THIS WEEK’S BOXES?

Monday: Acorn squash, corn, lettuce, tomatoes, pumpkin, leeks, parsley/mint (nana)/thyme, carrots/cucumbers, red and green bell peppers, scallions/chives, potatoes

Large box, in addition: Eggplant/zucchini, Thai beans/okra, New Zealand spinach

Wednesday: parsley, potatoes, cucumbers, slice of pumpkin, red peppers, butternut squash, lettuce, leek, corn, green onions.

Large box, in addition: okra/yard long beans, thyme/New Zealand spinach, carrots/eggplants/zucchini.

And there’s more! You can add to your basket a wide, delectable range of additional products from fine small producers: flour, fruits, honey, dates, almonds, crackers, probiotic foods, dried fruits and leathers, olive oil, bakery products, pomegranate juice and goat dairy 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!

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