Every Time You Say Goodbye…
We are now bidding two longtime friends a warm farewell: Danny and Galit, who started with us and were one of our first colleagues to offer “extras” to your vegetable boxes. They began by making excellent homemade granola, then added cookies, crackers and other delectables. Since beginning in their private kitchen in Kidron, Danny and Galit have established a small family business in Ashdod where they continue to joyfully prepare their pastries and granola, with their contagiously positive attitude.
As they grow, our ways part, but you can find their excellent products in health food stores and various specialty stores across the country. To Danny and Galit, best wishes from Chubeza family. May you continue to sweetly and lovingly produce, create and sustain. Good luck!!
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At the end of this month we must also say goodbye to Rona of Yotav Dairy, who is off to a new start. If you would like one last taste of Yotav’s amazing goat cheeses and yogurts, you can still make an order this week and next.
To Rona, Nir and the whole family- Much luck!
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A Midsummer Box…
The vegetables in our boxes have announced that it’s midsummer. We’ve said goodbye to the fakus, the green beans and zucchini, and happily welcome the red peppers, okra, and the Thai yard long beans and the short lubia cowpeas. The potatoes, too, are reaching the end of their season, and soon we will be able to collect the onions from the field. This is the peak of the season: the tomatoes are hastily ripening, as are the eggplants, corn and various pumpkins and squash.
In past years, this was the time when our selection of greens became sparse, but this year we are conducting an experiment to grow some of them within a net house or under a mesh net in the field. To our great delight, we were able to harvest arugula last week! It feels quite strange to meet arugula in our boxes in midsummer, and its sharp pungency reminds us that it grows in the heat. But man, is it delicious, and adds a lovely green touch to the fiery red summer boxes.
This experiment, growing veggies under a dense net, is also allowing us to grow our very own cucumbers at a time when we usually must purchase them from other organic growers. In the open field, the cucurbits are already suffering from viruses and other foliage diseases, and we’re having trouble keeping them healthy during this season. But under the protection provided by the net house, we have a built-in advantage: most of the viruses are transmitted by insects, but when they cannot reach the plants, the crops remain healthy. This requires some getting used to on our part….Like harvesting rounded cucumbers and treating them as our biological offspring (till now we’ve only raised open field cucumbers, with sharpened edges and a nostalgic flavor), but we are learning a lot about changes and adaptation from our net house project.
I know I promised the full story, and I promise to tell it to you. Soon. Till then, some reminders regarding summer boxes:
The ants go marching one by one: Corn attracts ants, which is why you find them crawling in your boxes. We usually harvest the corn a day before you receive it and attempt to keep it refrigerated as long as we can. But eventually the corn must make its way into the boxes, and it is then that the ants remember it. Do not be startled, just clean the vegetables to rid them of the unwanted guests. If you absolutely cannot get used to the ant arrival with your box, you can opt to forfeit their hosts, the corn.
Pumpkins and squash: You will be receiving many pumpkins now and in the near future, usually at least two per box. This is because pumpkins need ventilation, and when they live in our warehouses by the dozens, they suffer from the heat and stuffiness. They will live better on your home counter. You are welcome to treat them as a decoration– no need to devour them upon arrival. This is their advantage: they can keep up to a few months, on the condition that they are well-ventilated and cool.
May we celebrate a happy Tu B’Av, of friendship and closeness!
Shavua Tov,
Alon, Bat Ami, Ya’ara and the Chubeza team
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WHAT’S IN THIS WEEK’S BOXES?
Monday: Lettuce, red bell peppers, pumpkin, tomatoes, New Zealand spinach, okra/Thai long lubia (cowpea), cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, arugula/radishes, corn, small boxes only: leeks
In the large box, in addition: Eggplant, butternut squash, parsley, onion chives
Wednesday: leeks/chive, nana (mint), cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, New Zealand spinach / Swiss chard, lettuce, corn, okra/yard long beans/edamame (green soy), eggplants, pumpkin, tomatoes.
In the large box, in addition: butternut squash, parsley/thyme, peppers