At every railway station, one of the key professionals was the pump man — the person responsible for operating the pumps that lifted water into the tower. The English word *pump* gave rise to *pomper*, the title of his trade. But because Arabic lacks the “p” sound at the start of a word and replaces it with “b,” the name shifted in everyday speech and became *bumber*.
A walk through the fields with Mr. Barak Sagi in Kfar Yehoshua turns into a quiet masterclass in wild gathering. Our first stop was Iris Ben-Zvi’s organic farm, where the soil itself feels like a guide. Sorrel, Galium aparine, Lamium amplexicaule, wild beet, green arum, Chenopodium murale, and bright, lemony Oxalis — each plant adding its own note to the early-season palette, and all of them reminding how alive the landscape becomes when you know where to look.
