One of the simple pleasures here is to head in to work for some overtime on Shabbat when the religious shut up shop and everything goes quiet. The gardens are virtually empty and no one is disturbed when I spend a few hours in the quarantine house p****ng out ( haha the website censors that word... my horticultural friends will get a chuckle) juvenile ferns to the melodies of Guns and Roses. Air guitar however can be a dangerous past time, for ferns at least, a ...

Well I blinked and two months has gone by without writing here… absolutely slack I know. It's not for lack of material though, just free time and since September in Israel consists of six public holidays, I don't really have any excuse not to sit down and write today. So Rosh Hashana has come and gone (New Year on the Hebrew calendar) which means the Shmitta is now over (a year in every seven where the ground is not allowed to be cultivated, among other rules)...

This place never ceases to surprise, a quick walk to the Israel museum today offered the melodic tunes of a dreadlocked hippie wielding an oboe and content busking in the eerie darkness of graffiti stained street tunnel. Further into the park separating my apartment from the museum a folk group are pitched in a circle and strum out some Hebrew tunes before breaking into some La bamba complete with skipping and clapping. As a jogger runs past I find myself holding...

Surrounded by white cut stone walls the sun begins to set on Jerusalem. A bike rolls by to my left, almost silently and I look up from the pavement at the black coated figure with matching hat, shaved head, beard and curly side locks disappearing into the distance. It's a reminder that despite the modern similarities, I am far from Australia. Really there is no shortage of such reminders especially when visiting the Old City or market areas from which I am return...

G'day guys and girls, hope you are all well. I am a bit knackered this week so I am dialling this one in. It is Pesach (Passover) this week but I have bailed and instead looking at doing an overnight hike at Mt Meron. At any rate I should have some stories next week. Until then I'll copy and past a half finished artical for Hort Journal for your browsing if thats your kind of thing... here you go... (I'll stop writing about plants for a bit after this I swear... ...