How to Brew Your Own Apple Vinegar
Making your own apple vinegar is a very satisfying city farming project because: It makes magical use of waste scraps of fruit – rather than throwing them away It produces a useful, expensive-to-buy product that is great for food flavoring, home remedies and for cleaning (See my recipe for homemade citrus-infused all-purpose cleanser) Since this […]
Pure and Scrumptious Homemade Apple Sauce
Don’t you love it when a SINGLE natural ingredient can be transformed into the most delicious spoonful? Homemade apple sauce is like that. So simple, so pure, just the delight of freshly harvested apples attaining their delicious perfection. It’s one of my ultimate winter comfort foods. *Step 1 Peel and core apples. As many as […]
Vegetable Gardening Workshop this Wednesday
Want to experience the delight of watching vegetables grow on your balcony or yard? Want to see your family pick and eat homegrown organic vegetables? Want to get your hands in the soil and be inspired by the wonder of Creation? Hands-On Winter Vegetable Gardening Workshop When: Wednesday, December 23 – 10am – 11:30 Where: […]
How to Grow a Loofah Sponge in Israel
Today was a big day nine months in the making. Today we picked and processed the loofah sponges that we planted back in April. Anyone who wants seeds to plant their own loofahs next summer should be in touch. I want to turn Ramat Beit Shemesh into the Loofah Capital of the World! (Yes, I […]
My Chicken became a Ba’al Teshuva!
This chicken is perfect in every way – except for one problem. The problem is that this chicken is a boy! We bought him as a chick back in July – as written about here. He’s a purebred Buff Orpington. He used to be tiny and docile, and that’s how he earned his name – […]
Making and Lighting Olive Oil with Kids
In honor of Chanukah, I just ran a hands-on olive picking and pressing workshop for the family’s of the Community Garden of Arnona, a neighborhood in southern Jerusalem. The first step was to pick the olives off the branches that I brought in. Then we had to crush the olives. Then we pressed the crushed […]
VIDEO TOUR: Our Winter Vegetables + Hydroponics
This is an early December tour of my vegetable growing beds. Winter vegies such as kohlrabi, onions, fennel and snow peas are getting established. Some of the summer vegetables are still going strong, including sweet potatoes, eggplants, peanuts and ground cherries. We get a glimpse of my hydroponic lettuce too! You can read about our […]
Wild Edible Mushrooms – To Eat or not to Eat?
A lot of these cute mushrooms have been popping up in our peanut bed. With the help of an Israeli Mushroom group, we identified them as White Dapperlings, which are edible. Did we eat them? NO WAY!!! We don’t mess around with mushrooms. But it is a topic I would love to become more knowledgeable […]
Live Workshop: Olives and Oil
You’re invited! Presenting the First Mornings on the Farm Workshop for Women! Right here at Bloomah’s City Farm in Ramat Beit Shemesh A. Hands-on Harvesting and Making Workshop: Olives and Oil When: Tuesday, December 8 – 10am – 11:30 Where: Bloomah’s City Farm on Nachal Lachish in Ramat Beit Shemesh A What’s in the Workshop? […]
Adventures in Olive Picking and Pressing
Recently, here in Israel we were blessed with the first rains of the winter. You know what that means, right? It’s Olive Picking Season! Over the past two weeks, I spent five mornings picking olives and pressing olive oil in a picturesque ancient olive grove on a hillside right outside my hometown of Beit Shemesh. […]