THE RETURN OF THE BLUEBERRIES!
Summer is just around the corner (Israeli spring is so short…), and Tamir’s blueberry patch in Tekoa is beginning its sweet, beautiful ripening. We’ve been waiting patiently since last year, and now the amazing blueberries are returning at last!
Blueberries need special conditions to best grow, including acidic soil and beneficial cold spells. To maintain an optimal level of acidity in the soil, Tamir’s blueberries are grown on detached beds inside large containers, receiving (non-organic) fertilization, but never sprayed.
Blueberries are rich in antioxidants, Vitamins C, K, and various other minerals. They are known to prevent inflammation in blood vessels and to lower cholesterol. Blueberries are recommended as a fruit portion for diabetics, as they can lower sugar levels in the blood. Not to mention their delicious, tantalizing flavor…
Price: 16 NIS per 125-gram package; 60 NIS per half-kilo package
The blueberry season is short! (Only two months, and then followed by the raspberry season, inshallah). So, hurry and add blueberries to your boxes now via our order system.
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This week we mark the first of May, today known primarily as International Workers’ Day, but this date commemorates an age-old traditional holiday for the workers, primarily the women. The Roman goddess Maia (AKA Bona Dea, the “good goddess”), the goddess of Spring, of fertility, healing, and growth, gave her name to the month of May. The literal meaning of Maia (and consequently the month of May) is “greater,” apropos for Spring – with greater daylight and higher temperatures that transform nature into a bevy of green. Every blade of grass and every tree begins to thrive, bursting with the energy of growth. May 1st and May 15th became major pagan celebrations honoring the goddess Maia, revolving primarily around plants, flowers and water sources. These celebrations were strictly For Women Only, with no men allowed. Surrounding her temples, Maia’s priestesses cultivated gardens of medicinal plants with which they treated the sick.
In the contemporary 19th and 20th centuries, May Day (May 1st) became adopted by Socialists, Communists, and labor parties and constituents as an International Worker’s Day. As a symbol of the struggle for workers’ rights, May Day was celebrated with parades in the streets and picnics in parks. This new expression of workers’ rights was spurred by the mass demonstrations staged in Canada and the USA in the 1870-80s demanding an 8-hour limitation to the working day. Over the years, the holiday has expanded to numerous countries round the globe. Even in today’s capitalist realm, workers worldwide mark May First as Workers’ Day, where they remain home from work, hold assemblies and parades, and raise contemporary workers’ rights issues to the public agenda and awareness.
Even in our own everyday routine, we highly value our workers and appreciate their importance and great value in this project called Chubeza. Yet his year, following October 7th, we experienced their passion even more intensely as nearly every worker remained at our side, continuing to work with dedication and professionalism. All this despite the alarms, the rocket attacks, and the sound of explosions in the air. The horrific events of this black Sabbath touched us all – the Israeli workers, of course – but also the Thai workers who lost acquaintances murdered on this terrible day, and our Palestinian worker who has been prevented from coming to work ever since and can only send us his concern and his sorrow.
In honor of May Day this year, and in honor of the spring month of the goddess Maia, we salute Chubeza’s workers (both men and women) who are willing to rise for work in the fields, planting, sowing, weeding, fertilizing, harvesting and packing all year round – in rain, wind, and blazing sun. We thank them for their hard work, willingness and efforts, and for the initiative and responsibility they take. We know that without you, there would be no Chubeza. Thank you all, and happy May Day!
May this year’s month of May bring along with its natural growth and increased daylight an expansion of the soul and the light as well, with the return of our hostages to their homes and the welcoming arms of their families and friends. May this week bring the precious news of homecoming and peace!
Alon, Bat-Ami, Dror, Einat and the entire Chubeza team
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WHAT’S IN THIS WEEK’S BOXES?
Tuesday: Onions, bag of carrots/bunch of mini-carrots, Romaine lettuce, red beets, Swiss chard/kale, turnips/potatoes, zucchini, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage/celery/sweet potatoes/fennel. Special gift for all: coriander/dill!
Large box, in addition: Garden peas or snow peas/red sweet peppers/eggplant, Lalique lettuce/New Zealand spinach, acorn squash/slice of pumpkin/fakus.
FRUIT BOXES: Banana/red apples, oranges/clementinas/pomelit, avocados, loquats (shesek).
Wednesday: Onions, bag of carrots/bunch of mini-carrots, Romaine lettuce, red beets, Swiss chard/kale, potatoes, zucchini, parsley, tomatoes, cucumbers, turnips/cabbage/celery/fennel/kohlrabi. Special gift for all: coriander/dill!
Large box, in addition: Garden peas or snow peas/red sweet peppers/eggplant/sweet potatoes/fakus, New Zealand spinach, acorn squash/slice of pumpkin.
FRUIT BOXES: Banana/red apples, pomelit, avocados, nectarines/loquats (shesek).