V’Nahafochu…
Next week we will be creating minor havoc in your delivery schedule due to Ta’anit Esther which falls on Wednesday (the nerve!), and other scheduling issues. Hence, deliveries will take place as follows:
Monday Deliveries Tel Aviv– deliveries as usual, except for the following neighborhoods: Florentine/Shapiro/Kiryat Shalom/Jaffa will receive their boxes on Tuesday, February 27. Deliveries to Rehovot, Nes Ziona, Rishon L’Zion, Mazkeret Batya, Mevasseret Zion and neighboring communities will be as usual.
Wednesday Deliveries Tel-Aviv, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Gush Ezyon – as usual. Beit Horon, Ramot, French Hill, Sheich Jarach, downtown Jerusalem – as usual. Ein Kerem, Kiryat Hayovel, Beit Hakerem, Rechavia, Nachlaot, Kiryat Moshe, Malcha, Katamonim, Katamon, Bak’a, Talpiyot and Armon Hanatziv – will receive their boxes on Tuesday, February 27.
We hope you will cheerfully accept these changes in the true holiday spirit. If you are not certain about your delivery date, just ask.
Chag Sameach! _______________________
As has been our tradition for the past few Purim’s, Melissa of Mipri Yadeha is offering a sweet mishloach manot of her own – fruit leather “Scrolls of Esther,” handmade and deliciously natural, with no additives. The “scrolls” are available in various flavors and majestically packaged just for you.
Only 10 NIS per scroll – order via our order system.
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In the Purim spirit, only smile-invoking news this week:
Oh how we waited, and he’s back at last! Ido, the bread-baker par excellence of Beit HaLechem, has concluded his renovation project and is back to work! Beginning next week, you will be able to resume your bread orders via our order system. For those of you with a standing order, your delivery will automatically pick up.
Ido prepares excellent organic sourdough bread made from wheat, spelt and rye. In addition, he offers amazing gluten-free bread and great granola.
Check out his bountiful array and add your choices via our order system.
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An Agricultural Vegetable Salad
Last week we hosted a group of farmers from small, medium-size and tiny organic farms across the country – from Kibbutz Lavi up north to Be’er Milka far down south. We came together to meet, share our experiences and discuss the various challenges we encounter. All of us are CSA farmers – i.e., deliver seasonal produce from the yields of our fields, making it our business to not only supply vegetables, but also to form an agriculture-based community and cultivate it.
And we had a marvelous time chatting, consulting, debating, arguing… Although we’re all in the same field (so to speak), we mostly come from different backgrounds and motivation, and we each have our own quirks, styles and paths. This too was fascinating. One may wonder why we bother to meet in such congenial circles. We are, in fact, competing against each other in the same market, aren’t we?
Actually, we’re not. The partnership and equanimity were very evident at this get-together. We shared our successes, failures, strategies and ideas, with the overriding impression that we are all working together to fulfill a shared vision in its host of variations: offering nutritious, healthy food brimming with vitality and authenticity; maintaining and cultivating the earth entrusted to our safekeeping; actively encouraging a different economy – direct, transparent and mutual, communicating truth and fairness between manufacturers and consumers.
Historically, the idea of Community Supported Agriculture stemmed from the community –consumers seeking their very own farmer – who wished to experience a different, small-scale agriculture, a vegetable garden comprised of a variety of vegetables, thus sustaining the balance of nature where rarely is seen a patch of earth with only one type of tree. There will always be bushes and shrubs and weeds and flowers, surrounded by a constant buzz of insects and animals, with millions of various microbes going about their lives underground.
This type of vegetable garden cannot survive in the “vast economy” where a wholesaler signs a contract with the farmer, who in turn must provide tens and hundreds of products from a specific yield. Vast commerce loves comfortable, uniform and organized service, the exact opposite of the joyful chaotic vegetable garden where so many things happen at once, and so many crops thrive in the same patch of earth at various stages of growth: a sprout, plant, flower and fruit. There is always something happening at any corner of the field, with something entirely different happening right beside it. Kind of like life itself…
And just like life itself, these vegetable gardens, specifically the CSA’s, require a little help from their friends, and thus we each create a community to surround us. A community that is a group of clients who purchase the outstanding products and consequently support the field. But more than that – the community built around the vegetable garden is a partner in so many other ways, asking questions, responding, complimenting, requesting, directing us, wondering, remarking, embracing. These are all crucial components of growth.
Our new website is the fruit of your response and requests, specifically one client who took the initiative and over a very long phone conversation helped me map out the needs of our clients as she perceived them, what is important to include in the website and where it should go. (Thank you so much!). The agricultural get-together mentioned above took place thanks to Liran, another Chubeza client, who instigated and organized and pushed for it to happen and then led it. Once again, he was motivated by a wish to connect (read about this in his blog to see the portrayal from the client’s point of view and not mine). Liran, many many thanks! Your input and feedback are very important to us, as are your comments and insights which we cannot know unless you share. We encourage you to remain our partner in our unique, helpful and beautiful way.
Over the past year, there has been a decline in the Chubeza clientele. To date, we have never advertised publicly because we feel our message is complex and unusual (contrary to the very short, simple mass-media message). Our growth has always taken place through our clients – a dinner guest at a meal comprised of Chubeza vegetables or someone who tripped on their neighbor’s box at the doorstep, etc. In short, by word of mouth. We believe this is the correct way to spread our story and grow. There have been years in which we had so many requests for new members that we had to require a waiting period or even turn some down. We now have room for more members, and we urge you to spread the word. If you have friends or acquaintances who would like to receive a fresh, natural, joyfully colorful box of vegetables, by all means, tell them about us. (Either give them our phone number or send them to our brand new website where they can read all about us and sign up.)
If you have family or friends who live in the north or south or cities we do not deliver to, do not despair! There are other small farms similar to Chubeza spread across the nation, and we will gladly direct folks to their friendly neighborhood farmer. Let us expand the circle of happy vegetables and fields blooming in verdant hues.
One last community invitation for now – in just over a month during Chol HaMoed Pesach, we will hold our traditional Open Day at Chubeza. Over the past years we have enjoyed workshops and activities led by our very own Chubeza members. These included cooking workshops, tours of the fields, drumming circles and more. We invite you to put your own talent or idea into action to liven the atmosphere this year. Let us know soon!
Wishing everyone pleasant days of costume-making and holiday fun. Enjoy this week’s after-rain (and pre-rain?) sunshine,
Alon, Bat Ami, Dror, Yochai and the Chubeza team
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WHAT’S IN THIS WEEK’S BOXES?
Monday: Parsley/dill/coriander, broccoli/Jerusalem artichoke, leeks/onions/scallions, cucumbers, cabbage/cauliflower, tomatoes, potatoes, kohlrabi/baby radish, lettuce, beets, celeriac/fennel
Large box, in addition: Garden or snow peas, carrots, Swiss chard/spinach/ kale.
Wednesday: Parsley/cilantro/dill, broccoli/cauliflower, cucumber, peas, cabbage, tomato, potato, daikon/white turnip/radish/kohlrabi, lettuce, beets/fennel. Small boxes only: kale/Swiss chard/spinach.
Large box, in addition: Carrots, Jerusalem artichoke/fava beans, onions/leeks/scallions, celeriac.