Friday Dec. 3 rd (1/2 Day begin @ 2 pm)
Sat. & Sun. Dec. 4th & 5th (Full Day)
Monday Dec. 6 th (1/2 Day end @ 1 pm)

Contact: _servingkrishna@aol.com_ (mailto:servingkrishna@aol.com)
304-845-9591 for information

See more pictures here.

Pusta Krishna: It’s just like, say here’s a field, and it’s full of wood, so a farmer comes and he cuts down the trees and then he plants grain, and then it comes up as wheat. So he’ll say, “Well, God did not do it; I did it.” So his proposal is that under such circumstances how is the idea of God practical?

Prabhupada: So then practical is if God would not have given you this land, then where is scheme of tilling it? Can you till in the sky, in the air? Who has given you the land, hmm? You are very practical, but where you get the…? Can you manufacture this land? Can you? Then God comes, immediately. Where you get this water? Can you manufacture water? Where you get this air? Can you manufacture? Where you get this fire? Everything, there is God…

You grow bitter melon also here?

Devotee: We tried to this spring to grow it, but we can’t get the seed to sprout.

Prabhupada: You can get it from Mayapura?

Devotee: We got seed, but it won’t sprout.

Prabhupada: Oh, due to the climate.

Devotee: We don’t know. It is a very hard seed.

Devotee (4): Srila Prabhupada, perhaps the material scientists could help us make the seed sprout.

Prabhupada: Hmm?

Devotee (4): I was thinking earlier how a farmer can put the seed in the ground, but he cannot actually make the seed grow if it is not the will of Krishna.

Prabhupada: Yes. The situation is not favorable. That is the proof that everything is a living entity. If you put the seed… The seed is not the tree, but when you put the seed on the ground, if the situation is favorable, the particular living entity who has to take the form of that tree, he comes, and then it grows. That is the proof. Just like sex. It is not the secretion of the man and the woman. It creates a situation so that the soul may come and live there, and then there is pregnancy. It is not the matter. This is the proof…

Pusta Krishna: “Under the influence of material desire the entity is born sometimes as a demigod, sometimes as a man, sometimes as a beast, as a bird, as a worm, as an aquatic, as a saintly man, as a bug. This is going on. And in all circumstances the living entity thinks himself to be the master of his circumstances, yet he is under the…”

Prabhupada: Even in the stool, the worms in the stool, he’s also thinking “I have got so much stool to eat.” This same mastership. “I am the monarch of all I survey. I have got so much stool.” And you just take the worm from the stool, put it here: “No, no, no, here is my enjoyment.” This mastership mentality is there in Brahma, and the mastership mentality is there in the worm of the stool. This mentality you have to give up. Then you become liberated. That is liberation. The bondage is that mastership mentality. He’s servant, but he’s thinking falsely that he’s master. Just like your President Nixon. He thought that “Now I have become master of America, I’m president.” He forgot that he’s servant. As soon as the people wanted, dragged him down. That he forgot, that “I’m servant of the people.” So everyone is servant, but falsely thinking “I’m master.”

Srila Prabhupada did predict someday many people will take shelter of our farm communities. If that indeed occurs, we can always ramp up vegetable and grain production as the crop cycles are annual, but bringing fruit and nuts into production can take from 3 or more years for fruit, and for some nut trees up to 20 years, so that we need to get started ASAP.

So I am encouraging each of you to look at your own ground and consider tree and berry planting. If you can’t personally plant anything, consider giving a donation to pay for planting trees on the temple or other devotee’s land.

Lacking land or money, the temple can always use some volunteer labor to stretch the planting fund dollars so consider helping out. Anyone can participate regardless of circumstance.

While there are a lot of catalogues out there, if you want to keep it simple check out Miller’s.

http://millernurseries.com/

Or talk to me (Madhava Gosh) or Soma for other recommendations.

Of course, if you live somewhere else other than geographical NV and have some ground or a yard, I would also encourage you to plant there.

We all experience economic pressures.  Maintaining life in the twenty-first century includes many necessities which centuries before were completely unimaginable.  Even in our attempts to live simply and render service to our holy Dhama, there are necessities which one would rather not struggle without.

There is a little confession and a story that I have been asked to share with all of You.  Having racked my brain with plans and schemes to become economically independent, Krsna has smashed my attempts one after another.  Upon complete desperation, I did that thing which every good Krsna devotee knows not to do. We know that Krsna is the controller of the demigods and we should go to him directly…but with patience running thin, I began to worship the demigods.  We were driving our car through the snowy New Vrindaban roads and in the despair of poverty I said to my daughters, who are accustomed to my crazed schemes, “We are going to pray to Goddess Laxmi.”   All the way to Moundsville, they very cooperatively, chanted with Me, “Laxmi, Laxmi, Laxmi, Laxmi, Laxmi, Laxmi…”  In town I bravely pulled out a plastic credit card to buy those giant snow tires that would help ensure the twice daily meeting of our beloved cowherd with his awaiting milk herd.

Upon returning home from town my father called and volunteered to take care of our immediate economic crisis.  Feeling a genuine appreciation for my father’s love and trust, I was also overcome with immense amazement.  Later that night, as our family went down the road to meet the awaiting milk herd, my amazement increased.

Having fallen a little behind in the cleaning, the milk parlor which is home to six full grown cows, one continually growing ox, Rama, and Manjari (the baby), was overflowing with dung.  A full grown cow usually produces about fifty pounds of manure per day.  Compare the difficulty of keeping clean diapers on your little one, to keeping up with eight giant dependents with four stomachs each.

As the children, wrapped in snow gear from head to toe, enjoyed playing in the barn, Caitanya and I began the milking and cleaning.  Shovel after shovel full of dung is really quite good exercise.  Being deeply immersed, literally, in the bliss of shoveling, my six year old daughter walked over and looked at me with a proud smile on her face.  “Mom”, she said, “We don’t have to worship Goddess Laxmi anymore.  The cows are our wealth.  When the demigods took shelter in the body of the cow, there was no room for Laxmi.  But she is here in the dung.  We have everything we need.”

For the Deities:

Heavy Duty Iron
Incense
Rose Water
Saffron
Honey
Ghee
Necklaces, earrings, pins
Dish towels
Bath towels
Emergency, rechargeable, lanterns
Jar candles
blender
food processor
blue tac/poster putty
Pure essential oils

For the Cows: (many of these items are found at a Tractor Supply Store, Farm Co-op or Hardware Store)

Bag Balm (for cows udders)
Hay forks (pitch fork)
Cow brushes (for brushing and cleaning cows)
Large or EX-large heavy duty rubber gloves
Devotional CD’s- Srila Prabhupada, bhajans etc.
Dish Soap
Bleach
Lead Ropes- to lead or pull cows around with
Wash cloths
Hand towels
CD player
3 radiator/oil filled heaters (from Walmart etc.)
Scarlet oil- (a medicine type oil for cows)
Kopertox- (a medicine for cows hoofs)

Age of Garden: 15 years

Size of Garden: 60 feet by 35 feet

Food-bearing Crops: Beets, Bell peppers, Broccoli, Butternut Squash, Cabbage, Carrots, Chives, Corn, Green beans, Lettuce, Okra, Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Apples

If you’ve ever been out to New Vrindavana’s own industrial complex, with its ghee factory, cookie plant and large goshala, you might think you’ve seen this community from one end to the other. But over the hay fields, just a short ATV ride further, and you’ll find the best corn this side of the Ohio River. Why is it so good? Well knock on Ranaka’s door, and he will explain to you that once corn is picked, the sugar starts turning into starch and the sweetness fades rapidly. “I won’t eat the cardboard they sell at Kroger’s, but this stuff is delicious!”

He grew up in the fields of Iowa, so he should know. But unfortunately he’s not the only one. The local raccoon population is mad over his sweet corn, and they come whether the doors are open or not. That’s why you’ll now find two strips of wire at both the top and bottom of the old fence. Only the bitter chill of electricity has been able to counter the temptation of succulent corn and convince the masked mammalian marauders to go elsewhere for their dinner.

Of course, the coons are only the latest excitement in the more than three decades since Ranaka moved to New Vrindavana. He has seen and been through it all, and just stuck with what he knows best: producing food and protecting cows. Whether he’s cooking down 55-pound blocks of butter, shipping off some fresh-baked organic cookies, or stockpiling several hundred tons of hay, he has no doubts that New Vrindavana is the place for him. “I’m just happy to be here. I feel blessed that Krishna has allowed me to be here for so long. There are the regular ups and downs, same as anywhere, but I guess you could say I’m content. This is the life for me!” Not everyone has the fortune to live in the holy dhama, but gardening and growing at least some of their food should be the life for everyone.

Lalita Gopi’s garden has an unusual and beautiful design, it is in the shape of a circle.  She reports loving the feeling of being in the garden, but has found it challenging to make good paths.  She has used stones and marble pieces to patch together some walkways, but was disappointed when the grass grew in between the cracks.

Lalita has been gardening in this spot for 11 years and this is her first year trying the circular design. The garden is quite large and she said that not all the space is filled with plants which leads to a problem with weeds.  Some of the delicacies grown in her garden include, tomatoes, snap peas, green beans, squash, pumpkins, cilantro, potatoes, asparagus, basil, hot peppers, cucumber, broccoli, kale, beets, carrots, swiss chard. She also grows some herbs such as camomile, thyme and catnip.

The racoons have been on the rampage in her garden chomping down some of the broccoli, kale, squash and tomatoes.  She has caught 3-4 racoons so far.  Plans for the future include adding manure, planting the vegetables closer together to help with weeds and also improving the paths so that she can use a lawn mower in between sections.  What a wonderful example she is giving to her children, living a Krsna conscious lifestyle and feeding the family fresh nutritious vegetables.