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
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
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
It has been an active month in the food forest-to-be. Yuval, our food forest expert, calls this the infrastructure phase. I call this a mess. This work looks more like highway construction than forest development. A large bulldozer was joined by a small bulldozer and together, they gathered large rocks onsite to create terraces for the… Continue reading Our construction site
This year, I've been volunteering at a gardening club in an old age home called Beit Protea Village. This is not a standard club where people gather to talk about their begonias. This is a serious permaculture club. Under the guidance of the volunteer coach Ellen, who comes every Thursday morning, we've been learning about… Continue reading Chop and Drop
Life in Israel 