Over the years my parents have always decorated our home with Christmas symbols, including a large presepio, a Nativity display that my father created for us, the whole town of Bethlehem. They also set up a canopy with baby Jesus and two angels in the entrance of our house, something which I refer to as a masterpiece, because they put so much love and attention to it. The above photo shows my parents next to it, back in the 1990s. Surrounding baby Jesus are pots of grown vetch, a seed that grows very white, as long as it is grown in the dark. It is usually planted in early December and watered every few days, until a few days before Christmas. It may look similar to alfalfa, but it’s used frequently by many families and churches for the Christmas season. It is called ġulbiena in Maltese, and is used even at Easter time, particularly on Holy Thursday to decorate the Altar of Repose in many of the parish churches.
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