What perfect and joyful days!
Indeed they are accompanied by fixing up here, sealing up there and running to "save" things from the perfect showers that descended on us from heaven. But the rain came, after all your prayers and dances, and came down with a lot of blessing. Quenching and irrigating thoroughly, in the precise doses and strength that we needed 🙂 Thank you! Thank you!
The changing colors in the sky, the droplets that land on our hands, our hair and nose (on the back of the neck it really wakes you up!). The clear taste of the drops and the fresh and addictive smell that fills us with a sense of freshness. Of course, there is also the discomfort of the beginning of winter, until we get used to the cold fingertips, to the mud that accuulates on our boots, to the big jackets that protect us from the rain but still heat us too much … But we accept it all with love 🙂
The smell that precedes the rain and declares it’s arrival is the smell of ozone, the winds carry with them the fresh ozone molecules that go directly to our noses.
After the rain comes down, our sensitive nose is exposed to additional odors: the main smell after the rain is called Petrichor. The name is composed of two Greek words: Petra, meaning stone, and Ikur, which is the essence of life, the blood-like fluid that flows in the veins of the Gods in Greek mythology. The source of some of the pleasant odors we sense after the rain is the oils and chemicals that plants secrete. Frequently, this fragrant oil accumulates on stones near plants and is carried to us in the small bubbles created as water drops hit the ground.
Another odor is a soft, earthy smell that is enhanced in areas of natural flora and originates from soil bacteria that thrive in moist, warm soil. The source of this smell is the geosamine (“the scent of earth”), which contains anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory and antifungal ingredients. Geosamine resides in the earth, dormant until it gets wet and blesses us with its virtues. Camels have an excellent sensitivity to geosamine and can smell it from dozens of kilometers away and thus find water in the desert.
Rain fills the potential of the magic circle in the garden. It has a great presence and influence on everything we do. It comes down from the sky and influences and transforms and renews and grows everything. We need rain in many aspects of our lives: for the garden, for our noses, for family time and for taking a break from activities in order to renew… The rain is a source of inspiration for mythologies, myths and folklore, which includes a great accumulation of rain dances and prayers. We would love to hear about more if you know any!
And the garden? So much happiness. Full of mud. I can easily visualize how small seeds, no matter where they were placed in the garden, whether by a dripper or not, are soaking in the mud and beginning to awaken and sprout. How small and large plants can simply eat and drink, synthesize and fantasize all day and grow without any effort. I am sure that if I measured the size of the plants before the rainy days, and measured again after, I would discover a huge growth spurt, which you can actually see with your eyes. It feels as though if I sat and watched for long enough at this time, I could see all the plants grow with my own eyes. This wonderful thing is happening right now because of the special combination of the abundance of sweet water everywhere and the relatively warm temperatures.
However, it is hard to weed the garden during the rain. The mud clings to the weeds and also to the roots of our organic root vegetables. It also splashes on the leaves and is everywhere… so some of the vegetables in your boxes will come with some mud. But remember, my dear vegetable lovers, that organic mud is not dirt !!! Mud is the earth, when it is wet. It preserves your organic vegetables at the height of their freshness after drinking rainwater with lots of love. From these vegetables you can prepare an organic roots and hummus stew, which is wonderful for the winter, and one of the many winter recipes in our recipe archive.
Finally, in honor of the new week and the hope for more lovely rain that will come with it, I’m sending you Gene Kelly`s immortal song: I`m singing in the rain
Have a good week, wet and green and warm inside (in the home and body).
For health!
Yours,
Maggie and the garden team
We can expect in our organic vegetable baskets: (draft only)
lettuce
Rocket
Green onions
radishes
broccoli
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Leeks
turnips
beets
Potatoes
In the large organic vegetable baskets also:
Curly lettuce
sweet potatoes
pumpkin
parsley
Organic fruit baskets:
Oranges
sweeties
Clementines
Pears
in our large organic fruit baskets also:
annonas
More clementines
And grapefruits
