Protests in Jerusalem

For the past several weeks there have been Haredim protesting the opening of a parking lot near the Jaffa gate of the Old City.  Finally today I went to go witness first hand these “violent” protests.  There were maybe a few hundred people there, 2/3’s Ultra-Orthodox in robes and fur hats and the other were secular with their cameras, tank tops and shorts.

While I believe I am looking at this through a different lens, I found myself divided – I support anything that involves reducing traffic in a country that is slowly strangling itself in smog – but at the same time I support a country where people can have any level of Shabbat observance that fits their spiritual needs.

We can only pray for peace, amongst Jews and Jews, Jews and non-Jews, and all everyone else who deserves to park themselves where they like.

Shavua Tov

shabbat in a nutshell:

Chicken, praying, sleep.

Praying, chicken, banana grams, sleep.

Sleep, protests, tofu, sleep.

Jerusalem Farm

Jerusalem Farm, originally uploaded by swimfast.

City Tree: Cracker Making

Tami juices a lot, everything really.  Waste not, want not, she then takes the pulp from the juice, combines it with some nuts and sprouted seeds, and puts them in the dehydrator.

The end result is a delicious and healthy cracker that is always different.  Sometimes she clumps the pulp to create granola.  Spread some organic, free-trade techina on the crakers for a great mid-day snack.  I highly recommend if you have a juicer.

Organic Dairy Farming 101

I spent the past week at חלב עם הרוח (Chalav Im HaRuach – Milk with the farm), which is an organic dairy farm in the Jezreel Vally in Northern Israel, near Yodfat.  I milked goats for the first time, moved rocks, built a floor, tended the garden, fed the animals, and met some amazing people.  The farm was built over the past sixteen years by the family and volunteers, gathering small stones from the hillside and turning them into an amazing place to just “be”.

There are about 150 goats which require milking twice a day, several cows, some sheep, guard geese (don’t cross them, trust me), several loud roosters, and a pack of dogs to keep everyone in order.  It was my first time learning how to interact with all of these animals and it’s amazing how much life they each have.

This was my first step in learning how cheese is made.  The goats actually smell a little bit like goat cheese and the fresh yogurts, cheeses and milk was amazing.  The goats are completely free range and they seem happy and content providing creamy goodness for their owners.  Like a dog coming back to it’s owners, they know to come back to the farm around 4pm everyday for milking.  They stare with this cockeyed smile while waiting to push and shove to be first in line for milking.  Maybe it’s the fact they also receive food, but I think they look forward to the experience.

Pictures will be forthcoming when I get back to my computer, but for now just imagine a peaceful place without the roar of traffic where life stops for the gong of a bell and there is more cheesy goodness than you could every possibly imagine.

כל העולם כולו

Kol HaOlam Kulo, originally uploaded by swimfast.

מעוד

What 250 Shekels will get you on Levinsky St.

DSC_3492.NEF, originally uploaded by swimfast.

This is my bike. (Currently with a flat tire, but I’ll forgive it).

It’s a Theory

“Instead of focusing on how slow I am compared to automobiles, I try to concentrate on how fast I am compared to pedestrians. Even at a comfortable pace, the bicycle multiplies a pedestrian’s speed and reach by a factor of four”

I have to say, in Tel Aviv, where my option is walking or the bus, I completely subscribe to this idea.  When I was in LA, I end up competing with cars and think about how much longer it takes to bike.

Biking allows us to either slow down, or speed up, depending on our starting point.

Relativity via: EcoVelo

Make your own Soap – CityTree tip #1

I’m volunteering at Eitz BaIr, lit. Tree in the City, but in English it’s called City Tree.  To read more (all in Hebrew), the website is www.citytree.net.  It’s on the corner of Bialik Square, named after the famous Israeli poet, in the heart of the city.  I have learned a lot since being there and it is time to start chronicling everything that I am doing.

The first lesson (without pictures at the moment), comes courtesy of cleanliness.  In order to make the soap that Tami uses to clean her dishes and food containers, we took fermented lemons, boiled lemon peels, baking soda, vineger and borax and blended them all together.  Borax is a naturally occurring cleaning agent and is generally believed to be safe for the environment.  For now I’m taking that at face value, as the recipe only calls for a little bit.  The real cleaning comes from the baking soda and the acids in the lemon.

The fermented lemons are homemade of course.  After using the lemons, squeezing them for their juice, they are placed in a jar, filled with a little bit of water.  After the jar is filled, it is sealed and placed on a shelf for several weeks, which begins the process of fermentation.

Simply take all of the ingredients and put them in a blender, and blend until smoothie consistency (but don’t eat it).  If you remember back to the science fair in fifth grade, you might recall seeing a volcano erupting with a frothing white substance, a result of the chemical reaction of vinegar and baking soda.  Therefore it is necessary to only use a tiny amount of vinegar and to “burp” the mixture every five-to-ten seconds of blending.

Results:
It’s not pretty, and it doesn’t smell great (imagine week old lemons), but it is a major fighter of grease, oil, and left everything looking clean and sanitary.  As a result of the bio-organic nature of all of the food, it is possible to use it as part of a greywater system as we do at Eitz BaIr.  After washing the dishes, we take the water and water the plants.  No waste.  Good luck, let me know if you decide to make some.

Reviving the Blog

I’m going to revive the blog because frankly I have to much to say to people who are probably not following the environmental movement closely.  I have begun debating the laws of Kahsrut, thinking about its meaning and trying to decide what I should be eating.    I’ve read the Omnivores Dilemma and have been volunteering at two enviro-centers in Tel Aviv.  It’s becoming harder and harder for me to eat industrial food, and I don’t know what I’m going to do when I return to the states.  It IS hard to eat well on a budget, no thanks to our government’s policies that support only big business.

This webiste will feature lots of articles and commentary on food, the skills I am learning at CityTree (citytree.net), biking, and of course rail.  Read or don’t, but please think about how your choices affect your body and your planet.