Weed Safari

I knew that if I didn’t go out foraging today, the nettles would be past their prime. I called up my Mom.
“Want to go out for a walk in the sun? I’m going out to pick nettles.”
Any other lady of 87 would tell me to get lost. But I know Mom. She immediately said,
“Let’s go.”
I [...]

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Rice with Nettles

The first green wild plants start poking their heads up at about this time of year. Our rains have been sparse, but that moisture was enough to release the energy in the seeds of wild plants. Out foraging and taking pictures, I see clumps of nettles standing in neglected street-side corners, and remember how good [...]

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Take Your Pick

All around my town in Central Israel, the trees have put forth luscious fruit. My own building’s yard has a lemon tree that gives more fruit than we neighbors know what to do with.
This year’s fruit is under Shmitta law still, so I haven’t harvested any. All the same, it’s a pleasure to walk around [...]

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Walk Around the Neighborhood

On a ten-minute walk around the neighborhood today, I counted 23 medicinal or culinary plants. Some were cultivated and some were wild. One, a huge old eucalyptus, is an historic landmark. Others, like the citrus fruit and many varieties of hibiscus, are so common around here that nobody notices them.  Most of our native wild [...]

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