News from the Farm 2

The eco-educational center to be has a roof now!

I'm back at the farm and it feels like I never left. There are many more flowers, and a washing mashine with a tank that can be conected to fill the WC, and one hen less (but one rooster screaming his lungs out everyday), and carrots, potato, calendula and garlic growing on the old sand seedhouse, and yet everything is as small and beautiful as it was before. There is still hard work, financial need and abundance of resources and great people (it's truly amazing the amount of fantastic people that pass through here).

After many plans, many mistakes, many solutions, I am proud to announce that our composting toilet is now in use and I was the very first one to take a shit (sorry but I had to say it like this) and it feels great! I am no longer polluting perfectly clean water when instead I can create compost.

Here is Ilai, doing the things that would take me hours or months in no time. Here you can see the little ethiopian-style house he built.

This is the sand greenhouse with root crops.



Our carrots and peas are sweeeetttt azzzz

Idan and Lara are working on the taboon

Lara, Renato and Maya were our guardian angels during winter and part of spring (taking care of business and of Merav while I was gone)






After months hoping to have a grey water system, we got one and not without a story, when digging the hole to have our little constructed wetland we found a hand grenade from the period before independence. This is our very own constructed wetland, it cleans our greywater an will irrigate a tropical tree area.

Something new also happened while I was away, Yeshmeain started its first Permaculture course, it is a diverse, smart and fun 8-people group, and it's led by Shai which is a pleasure to listen to everytime. For me it's also an opportunity to keep on learning and to increase my eco-freako-hebrew-vocabulary

A 'moving' for our chickies was also planned, so one afternoon we decided to give it a go and now the chicks are sooooo happy under the mish mish and the pomegranate looking for bugs all day.

love thy neighbour

Two weeks ago our neighbour was killed in a car accident, it took me a while to reflect on it and write. Chemik was a kind, quiet man who gave us a hand with whatever he thought could be of help to us, be it cow dung, straw, tree branches, ropes, you name it. Sudden deaths are sometimes harder to accept, and yet somehow we have to believe that people who leave have somehow fulfilled their mission here among us, otherwise we could stay angry or sad forever. It brought back memories of people I loved and passed away and of how difficult it was at the time to accept.
I guess it is also a reminder of the fact that every moment is precious, that we should live in the present and enjoy as much as possible. It is also a reminder of how dangerous roads are in Israel (more people die on them every year than on wars or any other cause) and again to be present, especially when driving.
Here are some pictures of the Jezreel valley and Nahalal, the place that saw Chemik be born and pass away.