News Reports
Working the Land
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.
Climate change has brought us more extreme weather, this year an elongated winter and a summer full of rain in a normally dry season. The gardens are expanding and the trees and bushes are bearing more fruits.
Despite a lack of labor, forest clearing, wood milling and building continues. Some of our neighbors, Garuda and Ashrith prabhu are apprenticing at the milling operations. Our first building…
Harvest Report Western Canada
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 are currently growing Carrots, Beets, Potatoes, Peas, Cucumber, Broccoli, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Spinach, Strawberry, Cabbage, Green Beans, Zucchini, Tomato, Cherry Tomato, Eggplant, Peppers, Melon, Radish, Fennel, Squash, Asparugus, Parsnips, Turnipsand Corn. We have planted hundreds of Apple, Pear, Cherry and Apricot trees. Dozens of Hazelnut and walnut trees have been planted. We have raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, honeyberries (hascaps) and saskatoon berries. We are growing millet and buckwheat seed for future plantings. We grow assorted flowers, herbs, and spices.
Again this year, climate change played a big role…
Forest Fire Prevention and Making Building Materials
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
First we cleared the debris and sorted it into piles for garden mulch, wind blocking piles and burnable wood. Thin trees were thinned and used fire wood and fence materials. Larger trees can be made into building material. To accomplish this, we acquired a wood mill with a saw blade that can cut logs up to 2 feet wide. Most of the trees we are milling are only one foot wide because large trees cannot grow in a dense forest due to competition for sunlight, water and soil.
Vedic Eco Village is surrounded by forest much of which needs to be cleared as part of Forest Management to help in the healthy growth of the forest as well as to help prevent forest fires. Last year alone…
Food Supply for Eco Village
Farming and cow-protection provides the foundation for self-sustaining living and also generated prosperity for the rest of the society. A village should be an ecologically closed unit. Dung from cows fertilizers the grains and vegetables, and waste from vegetables and grains is food for cows and sheep. The surplus from this ecological cycle should be sold to markets outside the village. This makes for a stable economy.
We are currently growing Carrots, Beets, Potatoes, Peas, Cucumber, Broccoli, Kale, Chard, Lettuce, Spinach, Strawberry, Cabbage, Green Beans, Zucchini, Radish, Fennel, Squash, Asparugus and Corn.
Apple, Pear, Cherry, Apricot, Hazelnut and Walnut trees trees are 10 years old. Raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, honeyberries (hascaps) and saskatoon berries are growing. Millet, buckwheat, grains and pulse seeds are being saved for future plantings.
We grow…
Promoting Cow Culture and Vedic Village
Society in Vedic history was a flourishing self-sustaining cow-centric and cow-revered culture. Cows and bulls are an essential contributors to peace and economic prosperity. Sastra tells human society how to live a simple life free from anxiety depending on the cow and bull, the land and the ample supply of natural gifts from the Creator.
To cultivate this culture in our village, Govardhan Goshala hosted Gopuja in a grazing areas on the full moon purnima. The puja featured Surabhi cow and friends who were fed our locally grown foods.
Our desert like summer weather normally begins in June. Everyday we are eating salad and green leafy vegetables from the garden and still carrots from last harvest. A favorite is carrot, beet and parsley juice. New vegetables are harvested every week.
The ox team has been plowing our garden fields in preparation for planting. They are doing the work…