The Weekly Newsletter of Chubeza Farm
THANK YOU!!
So, over the past few weeks you've surely been pondering the profound question: What additional uses for butternut squash can there possibly be? (Paperweights? bowling pins? bookends?) Indeed, our Chubeza boxes during transitional seasons get less varied from week to week, with the vegetable list tending to repeat itself weekly. This present season brings mainly the “basic" vegetables – more lackluster and less exciting than other times we know. There’s the routine onions, potatoes, pumpkins and butternut squash, along with other veggies who have all been with us for a good many weeks.
A transitional season is a challenge. Perhaps some of you are a bit disappointed or bored with your latest Chubeza boxes, sensing that they're a little emptier, or they're just not very exciting. But it’s not just us - the entire organic market awaits the arrival of autumn.
So, I thought I'd explain what's happening in our field during such a season. Actually, it's a lot like what’s happening with us. Remember how joyfully we welcomed the summer, when the days grew longer and warmer and the sun sent out her radiant beams? And now, aren't we all tired of the heat, the humidity, and the summer? That’s more or less how our field feels, too. Early in the season, the plants were thrilled by the nice springtime and summer and the speed at which they could grow, given all that stimulating light and heat. The seasonal diseases and pests were still in their winter stupor, as the plants burst into energetic, robust growth dances.
As time passed and the thermometer climbed, the pests arrived together with diseases, and some of the vegetables checked out: the zucchini, corn and soy. Other vegetables did cope, but like us, with diminished energy and beauty. They’re mature shrubs by now, and their pace has changed. More and more beds have now emptied their summer crop load, as they begin to fill up with fall and winter crops.
This fatigue is evident in your boxes: part of the box is comprised of vegetables harvested over the summer and stored in our warehouse: onions, pumpkins, and butternut squash. The fresh, field-picked vegetables have dwindled to those that have survived till the end of summer: okra and beans, red bell peppers, eggplant, herbs, lettuces. And still there are some late-summer newcomers: the popcorn you met last week and the sweet potatoes just now harvested fresh from the soil.
In Chubeza’s field, new energy is in the air. After weeks of empty beds and mature crops, we have now begun the new seeding and planting. The field is filling up with sprouts and young seedlings that dot the beds in green rows, rejoicing in the autumn. It will take time before they reach your boxes, but the hope embodied in a field-turning-green is delightful and exciting – a clear sign of change and abundance.
The bloom of the chatzav sea squill flower, a sure sign of autumn, reflects the season’s gradual transition: the squill doesn’t bloom all at once. Each day, a few flowers open, as others remain closed within their buds. The next day, those flowers that bloomed will wilt, and a new group will bloom — and so on, along the tall, proud flowering stalk. If you look at Chubeza’s field or at the squill, you’ll catch a glimpse of all stages of the process together: buds (first sprouts), bloom (vegetables ready for harvest), and wilting (plants that have finished producing and are drying out).
As I see it, these seasonal changes are part of the essence of Community Supported Agriculture. Long-time clients know this rhythm, while newer ones may sometimes be surprised or even disappointed. We try to explain and understand. Sometimes it seems like we are just another vegetable delivery service, but during these seasons the difference becomes clear – In our eyes, it’s the strength of a community which supports the field and small-scale farming. We’re not offering a “deal” for cheap organic vegetables. We’re inviting you to take part in accompanying us and the field throughout the year. There are times when this means a box overflowing with abundance, while other seasons have their more monotonous moments till change and renewal arrive. Such is the field, such is life, such is the food on our plates
Enjoy these late-summer days!
May we see a speedy end to the war and the return home of all the hostages — before Rosh Hashanah!
Alon, Bat-Ami, Dror, Einat, and the entire Chubeza team
