Reports

Work on the Gurukul colony land continues.  Clearing of the forest and roadways are our priority now and the land is starting to take shape.  We purchased a profession chainsaw to assist with forest clearing and cutting up fallen trees.  These trees are being used to build the colonial fence and some will be used for gates and future building projects.  The left over pieces of trees and branches are being pilled up to be used as soil builder in garden areas.  Kishora prabhu setup a "Colonial fence factory" where the fences pieces are being crafted, then assembled and put into place.

The village exchange and market was busy this week, as we have more produce in the garden and greenhouse.

The forest fire north of us continues to burn and move further north, thankfully. Some of the highways have been re-opened and we can now see the blackened fields left behind by the fire.  The local fire chief visited our community and encouraged us to keep the areas around our home clear of wood and dried grass - so our efforts are well timed.

As the fire rages on north of us, we continue with our forest clean-up.  We are using fallen and thinned out trees to build the fence around the Gurukula Colony and cow grazing areas.  For now, we are marking off the important plots in the colony with thin rope, soon to be replaced by our new "Colonial fence".

We are continuing our Morning program and Srimad Bhagavatam class in the cabin.  Attendance is small, but consistent. 

In the garden, cucumbers and zucchini are now in season.  After many weeks of eating abundant greens from the garden, we are observing a fast from spinach and lettuce for the first vrata (month) of Caturmasya.  There are many items that are not allowed during Caturmasya, such as leafy vegetables in the first month, yogurt in the second month, milk in the third month, and mustard oil in the fourth month. Besides this, throughout all four months, tomatoes, eggplants, and several other foodstuffs are prohibited.

Our summer brings hot, dry weather.  This week a lightning storm launched hundreds of fires in our dry province.  The biggest fire started near our neighbouring town of Ashcroft, where the fire remains very active and continues to grow and burn out of control.  Fortunately for us, the southern winds are blowing the fire away from our village.  However, our valley is often filled with smoke which is being carried thousands of miles away due to the magnitude of the fires.

The best prevention for forest fires is to remove dry tree materials.  Our Brahmacharis have been clearing and sorting through the forest debris every day, now with more reason.  We are also running sprinklers to keep the area wet, in case a fire sweeps through.  Another preventative measure is to create a buffer zone around our living spaces, removing trees for about 10 meters.

Summer is not only a time for fire, but also a time for rattlesnakes to descend from the hills and "clean up" the mice, who have a bad habit of breaking into our homes and temples and making a mess. 

Srila Prabhupada explains that cow protection and brahminical culture are “the two pillars of spiritual advancement". The Govardhana Goshala in Saranagati Village is our source for cow service until the Vedic Eco Village goshala is manifest.   Daivata prabhu has been training the young ox, Dharma mani and Ramanada Raya.   Daivata prabhu has trained ox for many years, learning this skill at New Vrindavan.  A yoke is put on the ox and between them is a weighted bag.  The ox were very cooperative inside the smaller area, but when they got into the larger field, they tried to run away.  More training is necessary!  Daivata prabhu says that 1.5 years is the best time to start training, and the ox are only 1 year old, so we must be patient.

On the Purnima (full moon) we had a Go Puja, with nice offerings of local vegetables and kirtana to our ox.

Varnasrama College activities are in full swing. This week was dedicated to clearing the Eco Village land, in preparation for building.  Forest debris around the tool shed and greenhouse were moved into piles - 1 building materials, 1 chipping materials and 1 for building berms (wind blocks).  

Both the new toolshed and new greenhouse structures will be adjacent to the existing Bhaktivedanta Library building and once the areas have been cleaned of debris, we will concentrate on beginning landscaping work in the east entrance of the Gurukula Colony where we have two plots of land on each side of the Raj Marg dedicated for gardens. We plan to start the construction for the toolshed and greenhouse very soon.

Devotees hold daily Srimad-Bhagavatam class in the morning at the cabin. Seen in the picture are Daiva prabhu giving class, and Bala Krishna prabhu’s guests visiting from the USA, Ananda mataji, wife of Dr. Gopinatha prabhu along with Rameshji from India. Not in the picture but attending class are Kisora prabhu and Danavir prabhu. 

This week we setup a new home for our new Eco Village participants from Indonesia.  Bala Krishna prabhu laboriously moved the trailer using his tractor, a process that took half the day.

Our two devotees from Indonesia, Kisora Krsna prabhu and Danavir prabhu, arrived in Vancouver on Thursday June 22nd and after spending that day at the ISKCON Burnaby temple took a bus to Cache Creek where Ramanath prabhu picked them up. They were shown to their new residence, a trailer conveniently placed near the log cabin. The very next day they were helping with some of the renovations taking place in the log cabin. The renovations included taking out the old bathtub (must have weighed 200 pounds or more) and shifting the wooden stove from its the south-west of the cabin to the south-east of the cabin. By the end of the day the yajna was completed and the devotees could finally rearrange the interior to give it more of a temple atmosphere.

This past week has been a week of "measurements". We started by selecting the site for the greenhouse soon to be coming up. The greenhouse will be located to the east of the existing library building and will measure 20 by 40 feet using metal posts as the arches.  It will be a similar model to the one constructed in Ramanath's garden. We will start planting when the soil is transferred and laid out. The greenhouse will provide food for the Eco Village from March until November.  In addition to the greenhouse, we also measured out the future toolshed that will be located to the immediate west of the same library building.