And some seed would naturally fall among thorns, Israel's most prevalent wild weeds and the constant bane of the farmer. Broadcasting the precious seed was indeed a chancy business. The Good Shepherd Sheep and goats belonging to breed similar to those raised in ancient times graze peacefully in their enclosure at Neot Kedumim, illustrating important Biblical ideas. The successful Biblical shepherd had to exemplify a rare combination of strength, resourcefulness, and tenderness. Flocks were grazed in the uncultivated desert and wilderness areas, avoiding the cultivated farmland.
Sheep bite off the plants at an even height, leaving several centimeters above the ground.
These destructive grazing habits gave goats the bad reputation expressed in the parable. Biblical animals now extinct in the wild are being introduced into their appropriate habitats. Archeological excavations have uncovered a Byzantine-period chapel, cisterns, winepresses, and olive presses, and remains of an earlier Jewish village. These installations are being restored and operate in season. In winter, visitors pick ripe olives and watch them being crushed for oil with a stone used in the time of Jesus.