It is made up of thirty-one days and is the last month of spring. All trees except for the fig will now need regular watering. On the first day of this month bulls are let loose to mate with cows; in the Babylonia area they leave them together like this for forty days, the first calves being born eleven months later. According to Azib, during this month people on the coast in places such as Malaga and Medina Sidonia start harvesting, while in the countryside around Cordoba, towards the end of the month, the first onions are picked. From my observations, in Seville this is the time for sowing late fennel, for eating a month later. Ibn al-Awam, Kitab al-Falaha, The Book of Agriculture, 12th century THE BELLS FROM the cows on the other side of the valley tinkle away in a seemingly random fashion, coming and going on the easterly breeze. I pick up my binoculars and stare out towards the animals – a cow as white as snow is meandering towards an abandoned farmhouse on the opposite hillside, jumping over stone walls in search of fresh grass and herbs.
