In a post from a couple of years ago, I had written about growing strawberries in a flower box on the balcony.

The strawberries, purchased five years ago, were initially meant for my daughter to observe their growth and learn that edible things do not only come from the supermarket.

I expected the plants to die after the first winter. But low and behold, they survived a rather cold winter, unprotected in a flower box.

Now in their sixth year, they have decided to have off-spring.

Strawberry runners growing on the balcony

The newly-received runners are ready to be detached and planted now.

Strawberry runners with roots and crown

My brother, interested in organic fruit, already placed his first order for the young batch. Another reason which prompted me to write about this was the following article:

... six months ago, a dangerous ingredient got added to the production chain for this previously nutritious and delicious snack: Methyl iodide. Methyl iodide is a cancer-causing chemical that is linked to thyroid toxicity, and miscarriages. [1] This dangerous chemical was recently approved for use in California agriculture. That’s terrible news nationwide because California produces 80% of the nation’s strawberries.[2]

It’s time to take methyl iodide out of California’s farms and out of our strawberries before any more of this dangerous chemical is used.

*Tell the California Governor that we want safer strawberries for our families!  http://action.momsrising.org/go/1017?akid=2816.1916081.EAPbnH&t=4

You can raise your own strawberries even if you don’t have a garden. A sunny spot and a balcony planter are sufficient.

We have only returned from our trip yesterday afternoon. Mostly everything is unpacked, pictures have been uploaded, bills have been sorted, and memories stored away.

Here are a few  more pictures taken in Trapani, Sicily.

Easter Sunday procession through Trapani

Six men upfront and six men in the back carried this float from one point to the next. In between, little strips of white and yellow paper came falling from the sky (well, from a balcony somewhere). Many people gathered at a market place where a high catholic figure, in a red robe, spoke down to the people from yet another balcony.

Trapani in the morning hours

The houses are tall and the roads so narrow. These tall buildings serve as a windshield and temperature buffer. There seems to be a constant wind, which must be rather nice in the summer time. Except during the days of the African wind Scirocco, which can paralyze life up to 20 days each year.

Sicilian coastline

The water is so clear and clean looking. On our walks, we only saw very low rocks – no cliffs at all – around the coastline. Some of these rocks show fossils in the shape of shells, snails. etc.

Street with a view

Brownish buildings, black rocks in the water, and the blue sea, all mingled in sunshine in April.

Amid rocks and mermaids' tears, there was the catch of the morning...

I was beach combing for mermaids’ tears, and found myself in mermaids’ tears heaven. There were so many washed up on the shore. Not just regular broken glass shards, but the ones who had been in the water for a long time, polished smoothly by sand and water (a good quality mermaids’ tear takes 15 – 60 years of natural polish). It took me a minute to realize I was picking them out of a long strip of fish heads washed ashore.

There is much more to discover in Sicily. We only had three days there, but it was enough to realize that there is so much more to do and see.

I was able to use my Italian skills here and there, but you could also get by with only using English with the younger generation.