Observations about life in Israel from a Canadian immigrant's perspective.
Come September, the Israeli landscape is parched, crunchy, yellowed, and prickly. It is as if nature is spent and experiencing symptoms of advanced old age; plants are skeletal, withered, grey, their stems fractured bones. They are exhausted, save for seeds that many will spread to ensure a future generation. For the next big event in… Continue reading Weed Whacking
We lost a good friend last month. We mourn our comforting, cozy, loyal and affectionate friend TJ. Our golden retriever, who turned 16 in January, was part of our family since he was a tiny pup.Our kids still remember the day we came home with this tiny white fluff ball. We were in Tzfat and… Continue reading Missing TJ
The heat is beyond belief. As I am new to this part of Israel, I am not sure whether this is normal or whether the whole world is burning up. To do any work in the garden, we must now get up before 5am, a time when the chickens stir, the roosters cock-o-ri-coo, and both crickets… Continue reading Don't Count Your Chickens (or Melons) Till They're Hatched
Our day now begins at cockcrow – the sound of our roosters. They like to wake up around 4:45, which is actually a perfect time for me to rouse these days. The song birds are also twittering and the light is soft and gentle. Best of all, there is a slight chill to the air;… Continue reading The Crow of the Rooster
The little rain we had this winter has ceased. The clouds have dissipated, revealing pure magenta skies. And the temperature is soaring. Our colorful meadow has dried to a crisp. There are still a few Queen Anne’s Lace, hollyhocks, and thistles bravely dancing in the hot wind. Surprisingly, we have some wild sunflowers that popped… Continue reading Here Comes the Sun!
The most beautiful surprise this spring was a profusion of wildflowers. After the rains, the garden was transformed into a symphony of colors with its peak being April. One year ago, the property could barely support a few prickly weeds so this was a true tribute to organic gardening techniques.We had raked thick mulch all… Continue reading The Meadow
“They too have to eat.” These were Yuval’s compassionate words regarding sharing our organic greens with other critters. As we stand over buckets of water, dunking and swirling heads of lettuce, our feet in mud and our hands covered in caterpillar refuse and aphids, I keep trying to remember these words.Last Thursday, we were up… Continue reading They too have to eat
Our market garden has flourished in the warm sunshine. We had an unseasonably dry January. It was hot and sunny with cloudless blue skies, and we kept praying for precious rain. This small garden of seedlings quickly transformed into a sea of shimmering green; we had deep green dinosaur kale, curly green and red lettuces, rocket… Continue reading Does this mean we are farmers?
January marked a complete transformation of the market garden, as it turned from brown to shimmering green. With the help of super friendly people in the community, we planted over a thousand seedlings. The brown no-dig beds were soon filled with tiny organic seedlings of kale, lettuce, Swiss chard, beets, arugula, coriander, and parsley. The first… Continue reading The Market Garden
December is dedicated to the dump truck. With land excavations mostly done, it was time for the filling to come. The large bulldozer left and the dump trucks arrived, leaving pile upon pile of compost and mulch. Meanwhile, a small bulldozer ferried pile upon pile of mulch and soil across the property. For most of the month… Continue reading December is Dedicated to the Dump Truck
Life in Israel 