Reports

Our activities now are building living infrastructure, cob building, clearing forests, milling trees and planting trees and gardens.  Oxen plow our fields in the spring and during the harvest.  We are teaching and inspiring people to use these ancient and sustainable methods of building, farming and soil tilling. 

The gardens are expanding thanks to a couple dedicated to the garden. Our first grafted trees are bearing more fruits and berries/bushes are expanding and giving more fruit.  We are canning and jamming as much as possible to fill the root cellar.

This spring we continued ox plowing our fields with great success.  Daivata prabhu renovated an old plow he found and it works great to turn over sod.  Each year the ox team is improving our technique and we are learning the right time to plow for the soil condition.  The oxen are getting stronger and have a better feel about when to pull harder.  We have been plowing gardens all over Saranagati Village, inspiring people to use this ancient and sustainable method of soil preparation. 

Our best crops this year were kale, parsley, beet, carrot, potato, corn, plum & strawberry.  In the greenhouse tomato, cucumber, pepper & flowers were abundant. Thankfully, no major losses to birds, grazing cows, deer or bear this year.

We inherited an over grown forest, thick with small trees fighting each other for survival.  The forest floor was full of debris from fallen trees and branches.  This pile up of forest debris is a great fire risk

To plow our weedy garden plots, we employed the two ox from the Govardhan Goshala in Saranagati Village.  The ox walked 2 km and stayed in a fenced off area of the garden, grazing on the grass growing on the edge of garden and between the fruit trees.  A greenhouse was their temporary shelter while they lived here. 

This spring important developments are taking place to manifest the Vedic Eco Village. We now have our Master Plan secured and have begun implementing certain aspects of the overall project.

Our initial priority to is build a bath house on the deck of the main cabin, as well we will build a kitchen to provide prasadam for workers and visitors to the Village. We will start with a simple outdoor kitchen. We will need a basic structure with roof, cob stove (for cooking with wood and dung), stainless steel sink, tables and storage areas.

Winter is a prime time for diseases to flourish in cows. Cows have no difficulty handling snow, but rain is the biggest enemy of cows during winter.  A goshala provides excellent protection against excessive wetness, but it must be well-ventilated  to avoid trapping ammonia which can lead to respiratory problems like pneumonia. 

December is dark, cold and sometimes snowy.  We are warm and dry thanks to the forest and the abundant trees here.  We are chopping down dead trees for firewood and chopping tree branches into wood chips used for various purposes.   At the Govardhana Goshala wood chips are used keep the cow sleeping area and grounds dry and clean.  The wood chips are also put on icy and slippery walkways at our homes, school and temple.