These weeks before Passover are days of heavy-duty cleaning and a scrutinous inspection of every item accumulated at home to determine what to toss. To the contrary, this brings me to the concerted efforts we make in Chubeza in how not to throw away the growths of the field, but rather to take full advantage of our crops, in creative ways as well. The passion to use vegetables to the fullest, and to utilize every crop that emerges from our plot of land, stems from the respect we have for the land that grows the produce. We are aware of how much energy and effort is invested in growing vegetables – not only human, but also a great deal of work and activity by all our partners in growing vegetables: the soil and its microbes, the cows that produce the manure, the basis of our compost, the beneficial insects that pollinate and prey on the pests.

Love is Like a Cabbage

My love is like a cabbage
Divided into two,
The leaves I give to others,
The heart I give to you.

(Author Unknown)

Cabbages are a phenomenal creation of nature. From the start, the cabbage plant grows “normal” open leaves for a good while. When it reaches the precise, certain moment – as if heeding an internal biological clock – the cabbage leaves suddenly begin to grow folding inward, forming a loose ball. In time, more and more inner layers of leaf-upon-leaf grow, compressing the round head from the inside, forming a perfectly tight sphere. Truly incredible! I never fail to be fascinated as the flat leaves once again perform their acrobatic feat to curl up into ball… 

This year’s Purim celebrations were not easy at all. It’s hard to paste a smile on your face, and hard to dance and rejoice. Yet despite it all, these actions bring with them a fervent hope for change, a potential to reverse this difficult situation from sorrow to joy – as in the days of Mordechai and Esther, as their sorrow was turned to joy and their mourning to a day of celebration.

May we soon be blessed to hear good news, to the speedy release of our hostages to their homes, and to the war’s end with the granting of security and peace to all residents of Israel and the region. Halevai!

Often kohlrabi is likened to an alien, perhaps due to its green color and outreached arms. Indeed, our friend sports a rather exceptional shape, perhaps because he is an unconventional phenomenon in the vegetable world. Our kohlrabi star is a stem. It never grew underground and is not a root. Rather, it is the lower part of the plant’s stem that has thickened and rounded.

Kohlrabi is the son of a prominent, longstanding family, the Brassicaceae.
At the start of its growth, the kohlrabi plant resembles a cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli or kale plant. It sprouts lovely green leaves on an upright stem. But upon maturity, the kohlrabi searches for its own individual identity. Suddenly its stalk thickens, and becomes ball-shaped until a round kohlrabi sits upon the earth (not under it!), light green (or purple, depending upon the variety), sweet and juicy.

Around two months ago Yemima joined us to help with the daunting task of weeding the field. At the close of the day, she showed us a beautiful caterpillar she found when weeding the garlic bed. This was an unusual caterpillar, not one of the familiar ones in our field. It didn’t resemble any of the gluttonous caterpillars that love to nibble on our vegetables. Determined to investigate, we began searching for pictures resembling this caterpillar’s distinctive appearance. Finally, we determined that it was…