A New Year now stands at the threshold, awaiting its grand entry.
In Jewish tradition, there are, in fact, four new years: (Nissan, Elul, Tishrei and Shvat) with each ‘new year’ serving a different aim: The month of Tishrei is our very own Rosh Hashana – for the farmers growing vegetables in the fields.
While the start of the schoolyear is a very special time, it can sometimes be scary and hard as well – entering a new framework, facing unfamiliar academic challenges, trying to find your place in a group of kids you don’t (yet) know…..This takes time, trust, and the knowledge that you need lots of patience and hope for the “new” to become familiar and wonderful.
This week’s Newsletter is devoted to that hard, shrunken corn that you received in your box (or will receive in the coming weeks), the popcorn that proves that if you give even the hardest, most rigid beginning a little warmth, patience and trust, it will bounce, burst forth and find its very own inner softness.
The tomato holds a proud place in your boxes all year long, but in summertime she’s in full glory and flavor. As a hot season bonus, she is now joined by her sweet little cousin, the cherry tomato. Sometimes her banality makes us take the tomato for granted. Thus, this fruit of love, which marks the close of the trilogy of our summer Selenium family tale, takes the starring role in this week’s newsletter.
One hot summer day this week, I started thinking about summer. With so many folks out gallivanting the globe, the thought struck me that there are so many components of your summer boxes which started out around the globe as well.
One of these migrants from the American continent is the pepper, which takes a starring role in your boxes these days. The honorable pepper has now come for a long visit, scheduled to stay all the way till autumn.
It’s been such a hot week. While we complain and sweat and drink and try to cool ourselves off, there are actually those who are elated by the heat and humidity. One of them is the star of this week’s Newsletter!
At this very time, our eggplants are making their debut at Chubeza (to stay with us till autumn), as the sweltering outdoor temperatures remind them of their birthplace
Somewhere within the onset of the Great Heat, the middle of summer break, and the ideal moment for a family getaway, I had the chance to reflect a bit on the paradox of Family Vacations. My conclusion: they’re like summer itself – sometimes lots of fun, and sometimes sticky and crowded (and nearly unbearable). So in this vein, I thought I would tell you of some ancient families ties that accompany us throughout this scorching summer.
Two messages regarding Chubeza veggies: Our baladi eggplant has grown this year to really big dimenentions. It’s not because it was picked too late, it’s
Okra likes to prance around using her fancy name “Lady Fingers,” indicating that she must be treated with gentle respect. Before cooking, the tip must be gently cut off, taking care not to hurt the pod. In olden times, when a groom’s family wanted to “check out” a bride, they handed her a knife, a pile of okra, and put her to work. If she was able to properly slice it, this was a sign she was gentle and skilled.