A short message this week:
This week’s weather is appropriately fickle and complex, much like these days in Israel. After long weeks of dry skies, this week started out sunny and nice, only to swerve midway into a wintery, rainy mode.
The vegetables in our field are making the transition from winter to summer. We bid our broccoli, cauliflower, peas and fava beans farewell till next fall. Their colleagues the kohlrabi, fennel, celery and daikon have returned for a spring round, but with more modest spring dimensions that enable them to require less water and to better tolerate the heat. The summer vegetables which have been growing in the field for two months now are beginning to arrive in your boxes: the garlic (nice and big by now), the fresh onion which is drying up as we speak, and even the zucchinis, which carry with them the promise of summer.
We are vigorously working to set up a mesh-covered greenhouse. For the first time at Chubeza, we will attempt this summer to grow some of our vegetables in a structure covered by a dense net to prevent insect pests from entering. This is to protect those vegetables who are particularly vulnerable to the diseases and viruses of the summer heat, most of which are transmitted by various insects. We will expand upon the subject sometime soon.
Wishing you a week of good and calm days,
Alon, Bat Ami, Ya’ara and the rest of the Chubeza team
WHAT’S IN THIS WEEK’S BOXES?
Monday: Green or red lettuce, fresh garlic, parsley, tomatoes, beets, Swiss chard, celeriac, cucumbers, carrots, zucchini, cabbage
In the large box, in addition: Fennel/kohlrabi, fresh onions, potatoes
Wednesday: beets, green cabbage, cucumbers, parsley/cilantro, green or red lettuce, zucchini, celery or celeriac, fennel or kohlrabi, carrots, tomatoes, green garlic – only small boxes.
In the large box, in addition: fresh onions, parsley root, Swiss chard, daikon
One recipe this week…
After last week’s newsletter, Ruth from Jerusalem wrote me: “I hope your husband reads the newsletter and changes him mind. This recipe might help win him over. We love it:
1 head Romain lettuce cut thin (yes, with a knife but it’s OK cuz gets eaten pretty quickly — and mine never turns brown even when it’s leftover – perhaps because it’s almost marinated) 2-3 Diced scallions Fresh lemon juice – I would use about 1-1/2 lemons for a head of lettuce A tbsp or so of some kind of mild flavored oil – not olive S&P 1 tbsp of sugar Mix well and let stand for a while before eating (20-30 minutes should do)