Blooming in February: Almond Tree - Shaked - שקד A Diligent Worker

February 2020 Shvat תש"פ

What’s in bloom in Israel this month? A Diligent Worker

Almond Tree - Shaked - שקד

I write this on a plane back from London. There most of the trees are still in winter dormancy without a leaf in sight apart from the glossy and prickly holly bush. There is a certain beauty in bare branches. You can clearly see the outline of each branch against the occasional blue sky and I love spotting the abundant bird nests perched high in the tree. I was lucky to see a few robin red breasts.  I was faced with a conundrum however. To my amazement many of the trees were blossoming.  February?  London? Everyone I asked gave the same reply. Global warming! 

In Israel we have the same issue, there were already sightings of the first almond blossoms, shaked, in December which is way too early if you listen to the children’s song “the almond tree is blossoming” which is sung on Tu B'Shvat, the trees birthday in February. However the sightings were few and now the almond blossoms are bursting from every corner. 

I often start off a tour of Neot Kedumim Biblical Nature reserve with the almond tree because it symbolizes the essence of what we do there – understanding the Bible through the nature, the land of Israel, the ancient working of the land, the Hebrew language and all the symbolism they represent. 

The almond tree already starts to blossom in late January while everything else is dormant as it is still very much winter in Israel. However the almond is competitive and wants to be first.  What does it want to be first at? At attracting the pollinating bees as it doesn’t want competition from the other tree blossoms. If you stand under a blossoming almond tree it is alive with the sound of humming bees, as busy as Modiin mall on a Friday morning.

Spot the bee!

Within a couple of weeks the nubs of tiny almonds will already be peeping out of the flower and within a month those almonds will be edible.  Not in the nut form we are familiar with but the outer fluffy layer is crisp and green with a juicy sour flavor while the developing almond is still just a soft jelly at this stage.  This tree has pushed out a viable, edible fruit in the middle of winter without even fully growing all of its leaves.  The leaves are what would normally provide a plant with its energy but the almond is basically running on empty.  A bit like a parent completing the morning marathon of getting the kids to school before having a cup of coffee (unthinkable).  A word of warning these juicy green almonds become hard and bitter very quickly and I have nearly lost some teeth biting into them at this later stage. The almond tree will spend the next 8 months forming 3 protective layers around it’s fruit and will only be properly ripe in the form we know it from around October.

Almonds from a year ago.

The almond tree epitomizes diligence, dedication and hard work.  The Hebrew word for almond is shaked which literally means diligent and is the metaphor for diligence in the Bible. In Jeremiah 1:11 the Lord shows Jeremiah an almond tree as a sign that he will diligently keep his word.

4 shades of white to red

Look up at the blossoms and notice that they vary from different shades of white to pink, just like the cyclamens I described in a previous blog.  This spectrum of shades ending with the deep red of the anemone flowers scattered under the almond trees is represented in the Tu b’Shvat Seder where we drink 4 cups of wine ranging from white through shades of pink to red.

Beware Cyanide!

Now bury your nose in an almond blossom and the smell will make you feel like you are Pooh Bear with his head buried in a pot of honey.  Please make sure there isn’t a bee in there first. Ouch!  Amazingly at the same time as smelling the fruit you can also pick and eat an almond.  This is because this tree has protected its seeds so well that a year later there are still edible almonds on it! The skill in cracking the almonds is finding a rock big enough to crack it but not too big to smash it to smithereens.  Now because I like my readers and I don’t want to lose any of you I feel I should point out that wild almonds contain a small amount of cyanide.  I would recommend not eating more than a few at a time although they are so bitter you probably wouldn’t want to.

The wild almond tree needs very little water and will produce fruit even in times of drought and this was actually used mostly to provide almond oil. This is shown in the bible when Jacob and his sons leave Canaan due to drought and famine and yet take almonds with them as gifts to Pharaoh in Egypt as none of the other basic Biblical crops were growing. As we are not a water rich country and those of us from the colder climates certainly miss the snow, the closest we can get to snow is standing under an almond tree in blossom on a breezy day, you will soon be covered with tiny snow blossoms!

For me almonds always remind me of Passover.  My favorite job was soaking the brown skins off the almonds and splitting them in half to go on top of my mum's fantastic almond macaroons.

Florence Greenbergs Almond Macaroons

4oz ground almonds
8oz caster sugar
Whites of two large eggs
1oz matzo meal
Split almonds

Mix the almonds, matzo meal and sugar, then add the very slightly whipped egg whites and mix thoroughly. Oil a baking sheet and place teaspoonfuls of the mixture on it, leaving room to spread. Put a split almond on each macaroon and bake in a slow oven until a pale golden brown - about 25 minutes 170 degrees c.

Photos: Mostly Yasmin Maissel