Transition season and Equinox

Shavoa Tov,

What spring, how pleasant, today the sun is shining, yesterday it was freezing, and three days ago rain glorious rain ......Happy to declare Israeli spring is here, although it's always a little sad to know the wet season is coming to an end.
ANNOUNCEMENT: THIS YEAR WE ARE NOT WORKING DURING HOL HAMOED PASSOVER, so there will be no box delivered that week!
Accordingly, Dear veggie lovers, if you wish to order additions for the holiday, or because we are skipping a week's delivery, please let me know as soon as possible, so we can accommodate your requests. This is a great opportunity to try out our online ordering system to see how well it works, if you have not done so already.
Have a happy and fun holiday.
Wednesday this week, the 21st of March, will be the spring equinox. On the day of equinox, the sun shines exactly in the east, and exactly 12 hours after then, sets in the west. During the days of equinox the axis of the earth is lined up with somewhere near the north star, so almost everywhere on the planet there are 12 hours of day light and 12 hours of darkness.

During the winter the days were shorter. We are accustomed to begin to work on our packing days at 5:00 in the morning. Each year in winter, we rise up early and wonder whether it is really 5 am, because in the winter it feels and looks like it is still the middle of the night. In the recent weeks, however, the sunlight has snuck its way in fairly quickly after we started.
The spring equinox is also the official beginning of spring. In our country spring is characterized by fickle weather, just as it has been in the recent weeks. Have you noticed that: 3 weekends ago it snowed here in Nataf! 2 weekends ago it was very dry and we even thought of maybe driving to the beach. Today, I'm writing to you on Friday, it's quite grayish, rained cats & dogs and is now wet and cool outside. Somewhat fickle I would say!
The beginning of spring is also a busy time for farmers and in many cultures the equinox day holds many meanings. To many it symbolizes a time of balance and a meeting point. A kind of calm and balanced point in time, for paying attention and learning, and possible change and transition between situations because the border between contrasts is almost non-existent.

Most areas in Israel have already gotten over 100% of the average annual rainfall - whenever I think of this I cannot stop myself from pointing out what happiness and wealth! In our garden, because of this abundance and the warmer weather, everything is awakening and beginning to move more quickly. Crops are growing faster, the warmth is pleasant for them, the sunlight allows good nutrition and their roots are deep in saturated soil. Also the weeds have shifted gears into growing. The blooming, the abundance of light and warmth invite various insects to emerge from their winter hibernation and begin fulfilling their destiny. There is also an abundance of singing birds in the garden, enjoying the many bugs and seeds that have sprouted, including those that we have sown.
All senses are active. The garden is as green as it gets, with a variety of colored leaves -- greens and also purple (cabbage) and brownish-red (lettuce) and all are bursting with new activity.
We are waiting for the summer crops to grow beside the last of the winter plants in our garden. We weed, fertilize, weed, sow, weed, plant and weed some more.... diligently! This gradual transition season, the slim meeting between seasons and vacant patches that are at rest, always call for attention and much learning.
An Israeli spring, as Naomi Shemer said in her song "spring march": "because here the spring is a couple of days old, here the spring dies young..." So enjoy it!
Have pleasant fickle days, enjoy the diversity!
Yours,
Maggie and the market & garden crew.

And we expect in this weeks baskets:

Tomatoes

Cucumbers - not for sure

Lettuce

Celery

Coriander

 Green Fava beans - 0.5 kg

Spinach

Potatoes

Carrots

And beets

In Larger ones also:

Parsley

Half a pound broccoli

Green Garlic

Lemons

And avocado

Fruit baskets

Bananas

Oranges

Avocado

And pomelos