Israelis: Will and Water

    The landscaping in Jerusalem was fabulous. They don't waste a lot of water on lawns, but everywhere you looked there were gorgeous flowers and greenery. It got me thinking.

Will and Water

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright December 2013

            I recently visited Israel. It was the trip of a life time. Going to Israel has been on my Bucket List for a long time.

            We visited a kibbutz. The Israeli agricultural miracle is well known, but that is not what I want to talk about. The Israelis have Will; they know who they are and what they want to accomplish. Their sense of identity come out of long and difficult history. Their sense of identity and purpose shape their actions as a nation.

            Meanwhile, as a nation, we flop around don’t we? Let’s take water as an example. I got no sense of Israel dithering about water. They need water for their farms and they need water for their cities. They don’t debate water policy, they develop water supplies. There is a sense that water is a national security issue.  Meanwhile we let water run out in to the ocean. Enviros in Southern California are fighting against de-sal plants. I am pretty sure the Pacific Ocean won’t notice whatever we could take out.

            But, I digress; I respect the Israelis. They know who they are and what they are doing, while we wander around.

Meanwhile, back on the farm-

-we are irrigating the wheat up. It is already spouting.

-we are pruning almonds and prepping almond ground to plant trees in February.

There's always something to do on the farm.

I hope you all have a restful weekend. Blessings in the coming week.

P

Thanksgiving

I am back from Israel, and I am thankful for that.

Everything on the ranch is fine. I am thankful for that. The wheat is planted and getting watered. The equipment is cleaned and serviced. We have started pruning.

I know it is not the Northeast, but we actually do have Fall colors here.

 Beauty is everywhere.

Another Thanksgiving Day has snuck up on us again. I am trying to remember to be give thanks every day. I have so much to be thankful for and someone to be thankful to.

Thanksgiving Day I

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright November 2012

We have turned Thankgiving Day into a time for family, football and kickoff for the holiday shopping season.

Now there is nothing wrong with family or football, but that wasn't the original intent of the holiday.

I know Farmers grumble a lot, but even we know we have a lot to be thankful for. We live in the Land of the Free, because of the Brave. We live in the country with the greatest freedom, opportunity and prosperity the world has ever known. We are living at the beginning of the 21st Century after a century of amazing technological innovation.

A hundred years ago an amazing man, half a world away wrote some wise words about giving thanks. Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a physician, theologian and world-class organ player. He was a man who lived out his faith as a medical missionary.

What Schweitzer wrote about thanks applies today.

   "The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live."

Blessings to you all this Thanksgiving.

P

Visiting An Israeli Farm

Normally I could say, visiting an Israeli kibbutz." But, not all the kibbutzim are farming any more.
Side Eliyahu ha switched to organic production and built an insectary as a business to sell beneficial bugs with other farms.

Sarah is showing us their bumble bees they sell for greenhouse pollination of tomatoes.
Here are some of their fields.

These are date palms.
Below is Mario Levi, an innovator in organic farming. He is ninety years old and still working in the field.

More Visitors to the Farm

    Last weekend we had four vans full of plant science students from UC Davis come out and visit the farm. The class was led by Dr. Jeff Mitchell who is one of the most innovative guys I know. Jeff is leading research on conservation tillage, which I think is the future of agriculture. 
   I tried to encourage the students that we need their help on the farm. There are still plenty of problems to solve and plenty of challenges ahead in producing food in the future. We need new varieties of plants to thrive on even less water. We need no generations of pest control that target specific bugs and are even gentler on the environment. As long as people want to eat we will need new innovations in food production. I hope these students were encouraged. We are going to need their help.

   Meanwhile, back on the farm...
The cotton stalks have been shredded and the roots cut. We have been busy preparing the soil so we can plant our wheat. There is no rain in the forecast, but we always hustle this time of year to get the ranch turned around before winter sets in.

from the radio this week-

Country Directions

By Paul H. Betancourt

Copyright October 2012

            When we moved up here it cracked me up when someone would give me directions: “go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and then right where the big tree used to be.” Seriously? How could I possibly know where the big tree used to be? Just give me an address and I’ll find it.

            Growing up in San Diego we used city boy directions- you got an address and then drove to the address. If you needed a map you got a map out- and there you are.

            The funny thing is- can you guess how I give directions now? Yeah, you got it right. I don’t know anyone’s address. But, if you go down the road to Uncle Ed’s place, turn left at the green mail box and right where the big tree used to be…

            There just aren’t enough street signs out here in the country. Even with maps and modern toys like GPS and smart phones, sometimes the best directions are to navigate by land marks. A long time ago Solomon said there was nothing new under the sun. Maybe he was on to something.

I hope you all have a great week.