Here Comes the Sun!

The little rain we had this winter has ceased. The clouds have dissipated, revealing pure magenta skies. And the temperature is soaring. Our colorful meadow has dried to a crisp. There are still a few Queen Anne’s Lace, hollyhocks, and thistles bravely dancing in the hot wind. Surprisingly, we have some wild sunflowers that popped up, thriving in the parched, heated ground. 

It is sad to move on to summer, an intense season of brown here in Israel. But I am collecting the wildflower seeds and spreading them in hope of seeing these beauties again next winter. Those sweet peas, nasturtiums, and lupins have dropped seeds where they stood, promising more abundance after the next rain, but we will have to wait another eight months to see a serious downpour. 

We have covered most of our vegetable beds with a black sheeting to protect them from the scorching sun. The summer crop of tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, carrots, cucumber, and basil soak up the full sun and are thriving. 

We will now have to harvest on Thursdays at 5:30am to pick for our market day, as by 6:30 the heat is already intense. It is a rush against the fiery sun. We now have so many zucchinis, we have to pick them every other day to prevent them from becoming giants. This means there is a surplus. 

Out comes the recipe book in search of zucchini ideas. We have made zucchini soup, zucchini pickles, zucchini bread, roasted zucchini, zucchini pashtida, and zucchini chocolate cake. They are added to everything we make and serve, be it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Of course, the chickens are enjoying the zucchinis daily. Unfortunately, we lost a chicken last week. It was the Legbar and she was my favorite – I even made a mistake of naming her. Her name was Sophie and she was a loner, right at the bottom of the pecking order. She showed signs of fatigue and would sit alone with her eyes closed and hop into the coop early at night. The chickens would trample on her to get to their food. No one cared. And one morning, she was no longer. 

I was afraid that she may have had a contagious avian flu and have become extra vigilant with the other chickens, not that I would know what to do to help them. I sit in the yard with them as they eat their zucchini and eye them carefully. 

Two just started laying eggs: a silkie and a Rhode Island Red. This is very exciting news around here. Maybe I have become an over-vigilant mother hen, but I am becoming attuned to the egg-laying squawk. These are not brooders; they lay the egg and then abandon it, running back to the yard to scratch for bugs. This makes it easier for me to sneak in and take the prized egg, which I do with guilt. 

Out front, my organic sweet corn is actually forming, tucked inside a silk pocket. I am fascinated by the growing process of each plant and was in awe to learn that corn is wind pollinated; the pollen is on the male tassels on top and must travel to the female silks below in order to form an ear – and every silk tassel represents a single kernel on the cob. As soon as these two parts of the stalk were visible, I gently shook it to release the pollen.

The glorious sunflowers are now opening and each seems to have a different face! One has a black center, one a light yellow and one is ringed. I planted them from seed late February and they must be over eight feet tall! Gorgeous, graceful, and awe-inspiring! 

I also have organic Jerusalem artichoke growing in our front yard bed. I bought organic tubers, planted them, then waited and waited. They are now flourishing and are also about to flower. Apparently, they are part of the sunflower family so will feel right at home with their towering relatives! 

From a freshly laid egg and majestic flower bloom to delicious organic produce, every day brings a new and exquisite surprise. And I am here to observe this, grateful to witness such blessed abundance.