Summer plants again!

I sure do love the sound of the birds and the smell of the plants.
Summer is here!


Baby Grapes on the vine.

Lots of lemons on the tree.

Really looking forward to olives in the fall.

Roses, of course.

 

Summer 2012 winding down

Some images of late summer in Tsfat.

The pomegranites are ripening.

The grape leaves are turning color.

Evenings are cool, with occasional clouds in the West.

As evening comes in on the Metsuda.

 

New Yard -- fruit trees

I moved, and am delighted to have a yard that is not the dumping ground for a 13 story building.

Pomegranites growing.Alsothe lemon tree next to it.

Grape vines!

Another perspecitve, with the lemon tree on the right, grape vines on the left.

Peering through the lemon tree to the porch.

Funny little tyos in the ivy.

More plants and flowers I have known in the Galilee

Common Mallow flowers. Good to harvest in spring, dry, and save for use in home made cough syrup in the winter. Leaves and roots are also helpful.

Next few shots are of "Ox Tongue". Someday I'll find the latin name. I found out about the edibility of these plants one day from a local Arab harvesting the flower bud clusters (see below). The clusters are battered and fried. When I harvested them, my harvest bag was alive with bugs, so I didn't eat them. Very young shoots are also edible.

Ox tongue in a different light.

Ox tongue bud cluster.

Poppies!

More poppies among other friendly plants.

Come hither, Dorothy!

Mustard blooms among wild wheat, oats, and a blooming olive tree behind them.

Yup, I took this pic on my walk to work. Oh thank heaven for living close enough to walk to work!

Pointing out the wild geranium leaves.

Earlier this spring, wild nettle, plantain, and more common mallow. 

Love how the April showers have increased our green and the variety of blooms!

Spring Time in the Galilee - Tsfat is in Flower

This is the type of beautiful late afternoon view I get while walking home from work. How wonderous are Your works, oh Creator!


This lovely patch of varied flowers and greens is on my way to and from work also. There's noplace as lovely as the Galilee in the spring!


Caught this view from a cab one day. The view is looking south from the eastern edge of town. The haze sort of hides the Sea of Galilee behind the forest ridge. On a clear day you can see forever.

Green Olives in the Holy Land

“But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. (Psalms 52:8)”

May everyone's year be fruitful and blessed.

Olives are an amazing fruit. While bitter and almost inedible right from the tree, when pressed their oil is prized around the world. When soaked and rinsed and then cured, their fruits can be as varied as black salty olives to tart green olives.

How great the wonders of the olive.

Adar in Tsfat and Jerusalem

Oh, just too busy to blog.
This last weekend we were in Jerusalem, so a pic of the soldiers at the Western Wall.
Then back up to the Galilee for the green green green that only happens in the Hebrew month of Adar.

Spring is springing in Safed

Signs of spring plants are springing up.I snapped these pics on the way to work.

This is Shepherd's Purse. The heart shaped leaves are the source of its name. Shepherds often went about their day with pouches shaped like these leaves.

Shepherd's purse is good for what ails your blood system, and for lots of female troubles. The activity dies quickly, so if you pick it, tincture it up the same day. Put it in a brown glass bottle with 45-50% alcohol (I get that nasty 95% cooking alcohol and dilute it in half with distilled water), and let it sit for about two weeks. Then filter off the tincture to a clean brown glass bottle. Helps with stopping bleeding.

This is plantain, plantago lanceolata. Edible, mucilageonous. Great for skin abrasions, also for homemade cough syrup, oil infusions against pain, and more. Infuse it in olive oil with garlic for homemade ear drops.

Plants around Tsfat

You can tell that this picture was taken earlier in the season. By now the grasses are brown among the herbs and shrubs, the thistles also brown and full of fluffy white seeds.





The calendula in my garden is a wonderful self seeder. It withstands the hot dry summers, and with a little water always offers up some blossoms.


In my herb garden I grow a number of medicinal and ornamental herbs. This one is sage. It was in bloom recently, among my mint, jasmine, and other plants.