Hשפפט-Hשמםםלש18-12-11

Happy holiday!
Messages:
Here is a link to an article in "The Marker" on the prices of organic produce that indicates that it may be cheaper than conventional produce at this time. The quality of organic produce is certainly greater than conventional produce. With respect to try to convey to you the prices without profit in order to provide good service.
http://www.themarker.com/consumer/prices/1.1589982
It is possible to order a fraction of a kg. Simply list how much you want when making the order. To get less than a full kg, write in the order form a decimal point with a 0 to the left of it and the desired amount to right of it (Ex. Half kg - 0.5, quarter kg - 0.25, etc). Note: make sure the decimal point was properly received since there are several options on the keyboard. There are different keys in English and in Hebrew for the period.
When you are done with the order, and you hit "אישור הזמנה", the screen will display your entire order. This is your confirmation. Look at it closely to see if the decimal point is there. If you do not see a display of your order, it was not properly received.
This week we're offering latkes (pancakes) made of sprouts and greens. The recipe is at the bottom.
New products from Eco-friendly, made in Israel:
• Natural shampoo, bathing gel and hair conditioner, user & environment friendly. Do not contain SLS variations, pharabens, formalin, formaldehyde, ptalat, ammonium or synthetic colors.
• Natural deodorant
• Liquid dish soap in packages of 2 & 10 liters - less plastic, even better!

With the end of the olive picking and before Hanuka, I'd like to propose latkes in the maccabi spirit. In the maccabi days, the potato has not yet reached this region so they probably, as appropriate for an agricultural family that just finished picking the olives, celebrated by eating lentil latkes (better if they're sprouted, of course) of their own growing.

Their latkes must have had a variety of the greens available in the wild, and also those that were connected to other crops in their garden. Also, there are among you those that request that we leave the leaves on the beets and radishes, because they are definitely nourishing and healthy and you could and should use them.
This reminds me of another children's story I like a lot called "Tops and Bottoms" by Janet Stevens, about a bear and a rabbit that made a deal. Some claim this story originated from African American slaves stories, at which time these green leaves actually did save people from malnutrition.
Once upon a time there was a very lazy bear. His father was a successful business man. His legacy to his son was all of his properties and assets. So this bear was very wealthy and owned lots of property but wanted only to sleep and lounge about all the time, also not during the winter. also living nearby was a rabbit, who was very poor due to a certain unsuccessful bet with a turtle. Something about a race. But that's a different story.
The rabbit offers the bear an agricultural partnership. The rabbit will work the bear's garden, and they will share the produce. The bear agrees and gets to choose between the produce above ground and below it, Tops and Bottoms (hence the name of the story).
The bear chooses the Tops and the rabbit plants carrots, beets, radishes and turnips. When the harvest arrives the bear feels taken advantage of because he got only the "garbage". So the story continues with the bear next choosing the Bottoms - and so the rabbit plants tomatoes, corn and lettuce. Again the miserable bear was taken advantage of...
Too bad our bear was not part of a project like ours. If he had been, he would know that those leaves he called garbage have lots and lots of good healthy nourishing stuff in them.
Maybe this is the link to African American slavery.... which alludes to the great value of these leaves. So, to continue from the previous week's celebration of leaves and their excellent pigments and other nutrients, I'd like to now add folic acid, of which leaves are very rich (no prepositions at the end of our sentences!). The name "Folic" is derived from the Latin word folium which means leaves. The folat, vitamin B9, is essential in the creation of new body cells (hence recommended as a supplement for pregnant women) and maintains the health of existing cells.
The green leaves are also full of nutritional fibers, and indeed do require some effort to chew . But it is worthwhile labor. Most toxins in our body, including that from dead body cells, arrive to our intestines. There they manage to make their way out via bowel movements by hitching a ride on these nutritional fibers, that simply carry them along as they travel through our bodies. If these toxins remain in our body they may cause harm, so leaves help in this regard. Accordingly, do not be alarmed by the amount of leaves! Not only are they not garbage, they help by taking out the real garbage.

A basic recipe for latkes - you can and should add sprouts and leaves of radish, turnip, beets, etc. (based on a recipe by Phyllis Glazer)
Ingredients (for 4-6 servings):

• 2 cups greens, or 1 cup sprouted lentils or mungbean, or of course potato or sweet potato
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 flat teaspoon salt
Preparation:
1. Heat half the oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion. Fry on small flame till transparent.
2. In a bowl mix all of the other ingredients and add the fried onion. Heat the rest of the oil and using a small cup or a spatula, create little pancakes, fry on both sides.
Happy hanuka, wishing us all a lot a lot of light in our souls.
Yours,
Maggie and the garden and market

In our baskets this week:
regular boxes:
sweet potatoes, small and sweet
Ettinger avocados
potatoes
Lemons
lettuce
cucumbers-less
tomatoes-less
sprouts or a bundle of greens appropriate for latkes
Celery
Turnip
Dill
Large boxes also get:
Parsly
Mustard greens
Radishes
Peppers

Fruit boxes also get:
Bananas
Apples
Pomegranites