Rain, rain from heaven… We want more 🙂
Today is the 29th of Tevet and tomorrow is the first of Shvat. The name Tevet comes from the Akkadian word tebitu and means to sink in it… yes, the mud J. A short stroll through the garden and the reason for the name of the month is clear. Actually 240 mm of rain fell here, despite the high temperatures for the season. A really good combination for crops. When it gets really cold the growth in the garden is very slow, so that it sometimes feels like the crops are taking a pause in growth.
Tomorrow begins the month of Shvat, which means in Akkadian "hit" as the rain is supposed to come, or to hit us. A lot of rain, even without hitting us, is good… we want it to come steadily and for a while!
The astrological sign now is Aquarius, so the relation to water is obvious. It Hebrew it means a bucket, or pail, one that is filled with sweet rainwater falling from the heavens or rainwater pumped from cisterns. Towards the end of the month we celebrate Tu B’Shvat, the 15 of Shvat, and soon after that we celebrate Mother’s Day / family Day on the 30th of Shvat.
How nice that they come together 🙂
It is a period full of opportunities and hopes – hopes and opportunities of growth both in the garden and in the family, the realization of ideas and emotions. The rain makes the air into something material that can actually be touched and it mixes with the soil. It's time to turn seeds to organic vegetables, and remember that ideas can also grow to become actual experiences… worldly thoughts and feelings into real actions.
The holiday of human families and of nature, growing together. To me it makes sense. You cannot have one without the other… and yet it's nice to have two special days.
The Family day (previously mother's day) was celebrated in Greek mythology as the day of the Greek goddess Rhea, the daughter of the titan gods Uranus, god of the sky, and Gaia, goddess of the earth. Again mixing heaven and earth into something material… Rhea was the mother of the first generation of Olympian gods: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia.
On Tu B'Shvat families go out together into nature, in order to contribute to it and to enjoy it. And on family day families usually do something similar and celebrate with meals of the fruit of the land.
Happy Family Day to all the garden community and your families! With rain providing fulfillment for the vegetables, turning potential and ideas from small seeds into food, abilities and actual things.
To your health!
Yours, Maggie
I expect in our organic vegetable baskets (draft only):
cauliflower
broccoli
Kale
lettuce
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
sweet potatos
onions
dill
Larger organic vegetable baskets, too :
Parsley
Peppers
Celery
Organic fruit baskets;
Oranges
Clementines
Sweeties
Larger baskets also:
grapefruits
Carambolas
