Showing the growth of Okras

 The Prince shows the growth of okras from the rooftop of the house...

Not all the fruits we consume come from the garden. Nearly every single fruit you can think of sprouts in Mount Lebanon: mango, avocado, litchi, passion fruit, pomarrosa, cinnamon-apple, goyava, banana // but also peach, apricot, fig, plum, olives, mulberries, almonds, walnuts, strawberries // but also, apples, pears, quinces, cherries, chestnuts, gooseberries..... and the list is long.

The reason of this incredible diversity is simple. The mountains rise to 3100 meters, close to the coast. Therefore when it is 25 degrees on the coast, on the highest peaks the temperatures are in between 10 and 0 degrees.

In the winter, when the temperatures drop to 5 degrees on the coast, on the highest peaks the temperatures reach -10 or -15 degrees. This means that just in a few dozens of kilometers we move from a Mediterranean climate that allows tropical trees and plants to thrive, to a nearly alpine climate. Therefore, the local fruit and vegetable markets are quite a sight, exposing a great diversity of local fruits.

Those are fruits we got from a local market today. The cherries come from the mountains above 800 meters of altitude, while the apricots, peaches and plums come from the hills (in between the sea and 600 meters of altitude).

Apples and cherries are cultivated in between 800 meters of altitude and 1400 meters of altitude. Cedars grow above 1500 meters of altitude. Cedar seeds need to have at least 2 months of snow above them in order to sprout. So only places that receive meters of snowfall allow Cedars to grow. The ski stations are located at altitudes around 2000 meters height. There, on rainy and snowy winters, there can be meters and meters of snow, that will last from November/December to March/April. 

In the summer, for those who appreciate freshness, the mountain is ideal. Many families here have a house on the coast, and a house in the mountains. They can spend the winter on the coast where the climate is milder, and spend the summer in the mountains, where the temperatures remain fresh even during the two warmest months of the years.

Also, the shepherds who have goats and sheep move their herds to the coast during the winter, when the mountains are covered by snow, and during the summer, they return to the mountains as there is more grass that sprouts up there.