Damascus-SANA
The Syrians are looking forward this year, as in previous years, to the seasons of goodness, which are colored these days with the colors of the apricot, whose fragrance spread throughout Ghouta of Damascus and filled its orchards with the laughter of farmers and their families when they met since the early hours of the dawn to begin the journey of harvesting its ripe fruits with great vigor and activity, expressing their joy and satisfaction with the abundant season.
On the road leading to Damascus International Airport in the town of Shebaa, the branches of the trees that had just ended swaying with the hands of the farmers who filled the boxes with apricot kernels, either to send them to sell directly in the market, or to make “apricot jam” to be used in the production of Qamar al-Din, an industry that has been unique to the people of the Levant since Hundreds of years, according to what a fifty-year-old farmer from the town says, indicating that he has been working on this land since he was young and has never left it, even when the terrorists tried to intimidate people and sabotage their orchards and farms, because he believed that the farmers’ adherence to their land and livelihood contributed to breaking the thorn of terrorism and restoring the area as safe and stable as it has always been .
As for the smile of one of the young women who works with her family in picking apricot kernels, it was enough to express her happiness and joy for all of them in gathering to reap the production of the season, indicating that these days have a different charm and special luster because they have become one of the special family rituals that are repeated every year in the month of June, except that the season is abundant. This year, what meets the family's ambition to collect a good sum of money that will enable it to establish one of the small projects that the family will work on for the rest of the year, according to her expression.
As usual with mothers, Umm Bassam is preoccupied with eluding young children to force them to eat breakfast in the field, after they preferred to play alongside their parents and older siblings than to share breakfast with them. She says: “The season bodes well this year. Good seasons pass us by and they ease up in some years, but we are happy today with this.” The fruits that reach all markets and people say that they are delicious and good in taste,” she added, adding: She manufactures large quantities of apricot jam to sell part of it and give the other part to relatives in other areas that do not produce apricots.
Syria is famous for the cultivation of apricots due to the suitability of the climatic and environmental conditions to it, and the fact that these fruits have a good economic return on the farmer.
The fruits of the apricot are included in many food industries, such as “Qamar al-Din, jam and syrup” and contain a large amount of minerals and vitamins.
Bilal Khazem-Noor Youssef
