Green Coconuts

Date: 08/30/2015

Shavua tov!

Important notices:

Holidays – This year, the High Holidays come on weekdays and greatly interrupt our normal weekly routine. Please pay careful attention to changes in delivery days and deadlines for ordering, which are sometimes very much earlier than usual.

What a mess!! Please read carefully and pay special attention to the deadlines for making orders. Sometimes the date is changed and sometimes the hour is changed.
Planning will be complicated and it will be a challenge for us to organize.
Further, Tal will be on vacation. So we would greatly appreciate your making your orders online.
	Your regular delivery day	Will be changed to	Order should be made by	Comment
Week of Rosh Hashana – Deliveries on Weds-Fri, 16-18/9/15
	Monday – all routes	Weds, Sep 16	Thurs, Sep 10 by 12:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Tuesday – all routes	Thurs, Sep 17	Weds, Sep 16, by 12:00
	Weds – Jerusalem	Wed, Sep 16	Thurs, Sep 10 by 12:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Wed – Center	Thurs, Sep 17	Weds, Sep 16 by 12:00
	Thurs – all routes	Fri, Sep 18	Weds, Sep 16 by 12:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
Week of Yom Kippur – Deliveries on Sun/Mon, 20-21/9/15
	Mon – all routes	Sun, Sep 20	Thurs, Sept 17 by 12:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Tues – all routes	Mon, Sep 21	Sun, Sep 20 by 12:00
	Weds – Center	Mon, Sep 21	Sun, Sep 20 by 12:00
	Weds – Jerusalem	Thurs, Sep 24	Sun, Sep 20 by 12:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Thurs – all routes	Thurs, Sep 24	Sun, Sep 20 by 12:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
Week of Sukkot First Hag and Hol Hamoed – Deliveries on Tues-Thurs, 29/9-1/10/15
	Mon – all routes	Tues, Sep 29	Thurs, Sep 24 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Tues – Ma’aleh Adumim, etc.?	Tues, Sep 29	Thurs, Sep 24 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Tues – Tel Aviv	Weds, Sep 30	Tues, Sep 29 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Weds – Jerusalem?	Wed, Sep 30	Tues, Sep 29 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Thurs – all routes	Thurs, Oct 1	Wed, Sep 30 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
Week of Sukkot Hol Hamoed and Second Hag– Deliveries on Tues-Thurs, 6-8/10/15
	Mon – all routes	Tues, Oct 6	Thurs, Oct 1 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Tues – Ma’aleh Adumim, etc.??	Tues, Oct 6	Thurs, Oct 1 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Tues – Tel Aviv	Weds, Oct 7	Tues, Oct 6 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Weds – all routes	Wed, Oct 7	Tues, Oct 6 by 10:00	Order must be made earlier than usual
	Thurs – all routes	Thurs, Oct 8	Weds, Oct 7 by 12:00

End of the month – We are working on billing for the month and wish to remind you that you will receive two invoices for your purchases throught August: one invoice for fruits, vegetables, and sprouts that are not subject to VAT, and the second for delivery fees and dried goods (if you received any) that are subject to VAT. The sum of the two invoices is the total due for payment. Details can be seen online on the orders/payments (דו"ח הזמנות/תשלומים) tab. Please zero out your balance at the end of each month.

If you have given us your credit card details and payment was made, you will receive two invoice/receipts. If you haven’t received any sign that payment has been made, please contact us.

And now, to the garden – Green coconuts have arrived!

The coconut is the fruit/seed of the coconut palm. There are fossils that prove coconuts existed 15 million years ago. The origin of the coconut palm is unclear because the seed of the tree (the coconut) has an amazing floating ability. It can float on the sea for a long time, just like a boat, and when it arrives at a place with favorable conditions, it sprouts and grows into a tree. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient humidity in Israel and therefore the coconut chooses to live in more tropical areas. The coconut is rich and well-balanced in nutrients, thus its ability to grow.

Its richness and nutritional balance, ability to float, and the wide range of uses of all its parts long ago made the coconut palm a basic crop in most tropical areas. In such areas, there are many stories about the coconut palm and humans’ dependency on the coconut palm.

The name that we know – kokus or coco (monkey in Portuguese) – was given by the Portuguese who ‘discovered’ it in the fifteenth century and thought it looked like a monkey, brown, hairy, and having eyes. The eyes are the openings in the hard husk through which roots can break through and set into the earth.

The Hebrew name is nargil, but in many tropical countries the tree is called ‘Tree of Life’. In Sanskrit, its name is kalpa vriksha, "the tree which provides all the necessities of life".

And, in fact, about one third of the world’s population depends on the coconut for nutrition and as a raw material.

Nutrition – The juice of the coconut contains electrolytes in amounts similar to those in our blood. It increases vitality, concentration, and energy levels. It contains lauric acid that is found in mother’s milk and strengthens the immune system and protects against infection. It also contains other anti-fungal and anti-bacterial acids.

The coconut changes and gets rid of poisons. It is rich in anti-oxidants and minerals, increases exhange of materials and helps to reduce cholesterol. It helps the digestive system and prevents heart disease and urinary tract problems, especially in cases of kidney stones. It helps reduce pressure in the eye (glaucoma) and weight loss by burning fats and exchanging body materials. Coconut also fights candida. Its anti-aging properties protect the skin and improve its appearance. It is rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride.

Young coconut plants are edible and called cabbage palm. Palm hearts are located in the middle of the highest part of the tree and considered a delicacy. Nectar from the coconut flower is used to produce coconut wine.

And if being a balanced, whole, and protective fruit is not enough…it is also an important raw material:

The trunks and leaves are used for building houses,