THE ISCOWP NEWS Volume 5 Issue 2

RICE PRODUCED BY OX POWER

This issue contains news about cow protection, ox-power, and methods of self-sufficiency from several different areas of the world. From Bangladesh we have news of paper making with water hyacinth and rice hay. The community, Sri Pundarik Dham, in Chittagong, Bangladesh, is self-sufficient in rice by using oxen for all their plowing. In the picture below, Anita dasi, takes a break from paper making to display some of her products. Please see further in this issue for a picture description on rice hay paper making.

From Yugoslavia we have news of the difficulties in presenting cow protection in a country torn by war. When so many people are being killed, who will be interested in protecting cows? See further for Magdalena Ristic's update on cow protection in Yugoslavia.

The top picture on this page shows Radhika Chandra (Suresvara and Katayani Prabhus's daughter) helping to harvest the rice planted in the spring of this year by ISCOWP at Sandy Ridge, North Carolina. The fields were prepared for rice planting by Vraja and Gita (ISCOWP's team of oxen), and the harvest took place in October.

An ISCOWP update informs you of more ox-power activities in the U.S.A. Read how ISCOWP's office has moved to New Vrndavana where an ox-barn is being raised, and the Sponsor A Teamster Campaign is succeeding to support the training of 12 teamsters and 21 oxen as a centennial gift to be presented to Srila Prabhupada by August 1996. And please do not forget the letter section with news from Perm -Siberia, Italy, Brazil and other locations.

Index of articles

Letters

Italy, Brazil, Siberia, The Wonder of Nettle, Sweden, Winter Vegetables

Cow Protection in Yugoslavia

Bangaladesh Paper Makers

ISCOWP Update

Lakshmi's Kitchen

Wish List 

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LETTERS
Italy
Thank you for your letter of July 1 and the information and advice, clear and encouraging as usual. Things and plans have somehow changed since then, mainly due to the great difficulties in getting people together to participate in a common project. I've come to realize that the stability required to carry on such projects with land and animals is very difficult to find if you don't have your own land. And so the oxen came back to join the herd.
However, for me this has been a proof that even old and inexperienced animals can be very useful if you give them constant attention and regularly engage them in work. Eventually, we (I mean Muralidhara Prabhu, a very dear friend who lives nearby and has a good experience with cows and oxen) had a small patch plowed for potatoes - with a plow riding on wheels and pulled by a chain - and a bigger one harrowed for a vegetable garden, on these devotees' land. The tool we used for harrowing is called here "forty teeth", it's like some iron grills with blades going down into the ground and it leaves a very smooth land surface when used at the right time.
To do nice work each ox had to be controlled by a man, with another man in the back checking the tool and pushing both the oxen when needed. The communication with the oxen was more a matter of pulling their head right or left than giving commands, because they had so many masters in their life that they're not going to follow you just because you speak something to them. I've been one of these masters, both in Padayatra and elsewhere, and I know them quite well.
For plowing we even had to reverse them on the yoke! In your previous letter you advised that perhaps they were in the wrong positions and to try and reverse them and see what happens. You said when a team is trained, one is trained to be the "nigh" ox (the ox closest to the teamster) and one is trained to be the "off" ox (the ox furthest from the teamster). If they are switched after that, they may find it confusing. We tried it as our last chance in a moment of great disappointment, and it worked.
The whole thing was tiring, but the outcome was satisfying and inspiring for the future. I hope now that Lord Krsna will show me the best way to serve Him according to my propensity and desire. At present I'm working part-time to support Villa Vrndavana's herd, with 80 HP tractor and machines for hay and straw - as I've been doing in the last years - but I also want to take every opportunity for practicing a simpler way of life. Muralidhara is looking for his own place, and I'd like so much to do something together. We have a very similar vision of things and a good feeling, and he's actually the only person I know who is able to support his family with three children mostly relying on what he can get from the land.
Recently other devotees have bought a property of some 80 hectors in the mountains in middle Italy, and their aim is also self-sufficiency. When something effective will be there, I'll definitely send you some pictures and description. But I'd like to wait until then. Tulasi Prabhu made his tour, saw some places here and there, and went back to Switzerland to collect more money. Our projects are very different, but I hope he will be successful.
One obstacle I noticed is that in general, devotees who buy a place have so much concern for their home and all housing facilities. They spend a lot of money and time and energy for these arrangements without caring so much for the land. So they always need money for living, even for eating, and they have to find some job or do some business, and then they have no time for the land...and it becomes almost a vicious circle. Their life habits remain the same, not simpler, their needs are even increasing, and farming - especially with oxen - becomes just a dream.
Premakanda das
Florence, Italy
COM/LINK e-mail

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Brazil
I appreciate very much your letter and the news talking about Madhuvana farm project. I feel that your life and activities are controlled by Lord Krsna, therefore by His grace and desire you are each time more close to Srila Prabhupada.
I'm very impressed with your austerities to develop ISCOWP program. Here in Nova Gokula, in the Vedic Village program I'm trying to follow your steps, working very hard and praying for Srila Prabhupada's mercy.
My guru maharaja H.H. Hridayananda das Goswami is always supporting your work, and by his grace the Vedic Village project in Brazil came to be.
Thank you very much for always sending me your newspaper and especially for taking me as a friend of you and your family.
This year H. H. Hridayananda das Goswami discovered in Nova Gokula, New Govardhana Hill together with Syama Kunda and Radha Kunda. These holy places are situated in the area of the Vedic Village. H. H. Hridayananda das Goswami wants to develop one pilgrimage mood to reinforce the self-sufficiency program.
Unfortunately, we are in one degraded area by many years of coffee plantations. In this way we are doing a great effort to repair the damage caused by this coffee exploration. Indeed, it is very difficult to achieve self-sufficiency and we still depend on external help. However we don't have practical aid from the central administration, and at the same time we have to accept many duties with the community.
Therefore, we can't provide the basic infrastructure for one householder that is intent to join our program, and also this program is not attractive for other devotees who will struggle with their maintenance.
It is very encouraging to see that there are devotees persisting in this goal which is Prabhupada's goal for farm communities.
Excuse us for never sending donations due to our maintenance difficulties and lack of help.
Thanks again for your friendship and attention with me.
Jaya Prabhupada das
Pindamonhangaba SE Brazil

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Perm, Siberia
News from Minsk, by Sita Lasai's words, Avigiata das has left the farm and now he serves as a driver in the temple. Many new devotees have come to the farm. There are many householders amongst them. Maitreya Prabhu has given farm devotees independence. Now he is manager in the temple. On the farm Pandu das ( Bhakta Igor) has trained oxen and works with them and cows. He says he can not live without them already. They are going to gather in a big harvest, Bhakta Yura has gotten initiation and gone to "hot places" the Caucasus for "FFL". Mataji Natasha (agronomist) is still on the farm. Devotees have begun taking care of the oxen and cows better.
Our news: The summer was dry. We had difficulty with watering but we have grown enough vegetables. All of them have been given to the temple. Our temple and the farm have financial difficulties so the farm construction has been practically stopped. We also could not buy necessary equipment for the oxen. Therefore we had to do all the work by hand except land plowing. This spring we plowed only with one ox, Bala by name (he is white). We had difficulties in training the second ox., Sange, we had to put a ring in his nose. I spent all the spring and summer with them. And only now are we plowing with the pair: The oxen understand all the basic commands (forward, stop, left, right, back) and work obediently. We have lain a foundation of a garden. There are only brahmacaries on the farm but the personnel devotees has changed. There are six of us. We listened to your lecture on tapes and try to follow your instructions.
As for getting the information, we could not correspond with the specialist on straw-bale construction. However, we want to have all information (principle of construction, drawing and so on) on such construction in our Russian climate.
Equipment for oxen is not produced in Russia. I have seen your drawing of cultivators, which we can make ourselves. I have seen disk cultivators on the video. We would very much like to have drawings and instruction on the production of all this equipment. In Russia such equipment is produced only for tractors. But having such details we could make cultivators for oxen and press for straw ourselves. If there is such and other information in the cow conference on COM or LINK, then please send us the numbers of the texts since we cannot receive all the information; it's very expensive for us.
Bhakta Sergei
Perm, Siberia
COM/LINK e-mail

ISCOWP REPLIES
There is a straw-bale mailing list on the Internet. To subscribe send the message: "subscribe straw-bale" in the first line of an e-mail message to this address: majordomo@crest.org 
There are several world-wide web pages with information regarding straw-bale construction. The addresses or URL's (Universal Resource Locator) are: 
for CREST and Joe McCabe:
http://soltice.crest.org/efficiency/straw_insulation/straw_in.html  
for Gary Shea's Straw Bale Resource Guide:
http://www.xmission.com/-shea/straw  
For Kim Thompson's Straw House Herbals: 
http://www.cfn.cs.dal.ca/~aa983/strawhouse.html 
Ask questions to these addresses and see what happens. Also another address is: e-mail strawnet@aol.com. He is an important person in the Bale Research Advisory Network (BRAN) and the Development Center for Appropriate Technology (DCAT). 
Mailing address: 
David Rosenberg. 
DCAT /BRAN, 
PO Box 41144, 
Tucson, Az 85717

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The Wonder of Nettle
Have you heard about fabric that can be made from Nettles? (Common Stinging variety) It grows wild in many areas and has been cultivated allover the world.
We found the following information in A Modern Herbal by M.Grieve, first published in 1931:
Its fibre is very similar to that of hemp or flax, and it was used for the same purposes, from making cloth of the finest texture down to the coarsest, such as sailcloth, sacking, cordage, etc.
The poet, Campbell, complaining of the little attention paid to the Nettles in England, tells us:
"In Scotland, I have eaten nettles, I have slept in nettle sheets, and I have dined off a nettle tablecloth. The young and tender nettle is an excellent pot herb. The stalks of the old nettle are as good as flax for making cloth. I have heard my mother say that she thought nettle cloth more durable than any other species of linen."
After the nettles had been cut, dried and steeped, the fibre was separated with instruments similar to those used in dressing flax or hemp, and then spun into yarn, used in manufacturing every sort of cloth, cordage, etc., usually made from flax or hemp.
When Germany and Austria ran short of cotton during the War, the value of the Nettle as a substitute was at once recognized. Mixed with 10 per cent cotton, it was definitely shown that underclothing, cloth, stockings, tarpaulins, etc., could be manufactured from the new fibre. German army orders dated in March, April and May of 1918, give a good insight into the extent to which use was made of cloth woven from Nettle fibre. In these orders, Nettle is described as the only efficient cotton substitute. In Austria, also, Nettles were cultivated on a large scale.
It can be dyed and bleached in the same way as cotton, and when mercerized is but slightly inferior to silk. It has been considered much superior to cotton for velvet and plush.
Besides the use for fabric, nettle is a compost activator and biodynamic spray for strengthening plant growth and resistance. It can be made into a fabric dye and is a very useful herb for allergies, skin problems, and kidney weakness. For example, a cup of Nettle infusion is said to contain as much Calcium as a cup of milk. Many effective hair tonics, for external use, contain nettle root extract. As a vegetable, it is delicious and highly nutritious. I have heard that in Russia, they harvest the plant's new growth then when it grows back, the new growth is cut again. The stinging properties become inactive when the plant is cooked or dried.
Jivanmukta d & Sita dd
Ontario, Canada
ISCOWP e-mail cow conference

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Jarna Sweden
Here at Almvik we have about 30 cows, oxen and calves. 5 cows are milking, the situation is stable. One devotee is actually taking serious interest in using the oxen. Thus something is done with the oxen.
At Almviks Gard we are trying to implement what we call a village concept. If you want to stay there you have to be productive enough either that you cover your costs yourself or that someone else sponsor you. The deity department and the cow protection are both partly sponsored by the rest of the community. The rest of the community totals about 30 adults and 15 children They are busy distributing prasadam, painting and selling their own art, making frames for paintings, farming, teaching, and preaching.
The strength of this place is that it is paid off completely. Thus we can now afford, or it is strong enough, to function in a different way than a regular center or project, there is no real central economy or management. It gives place for individual initiatives.
The devotees are stating many thoughtful things in the COW conference. Vyapaka Prabhu said "We must develop the complete holistic science of community or otherwise we can only continue to find failure. The cows are an integral part but if they are not integrated into sustainable farming practice and indeed a whole daivi-varnasrama arrangement, then their so-called protection will be tenuous".
His using the word holistic reminds me of Bhakti Tirtha Maharaja's vyasa puja offering to Srila Prabhupada this year. He spoke about "spiritual family" and "to be a catalyst to help devotees in trying to establish holistic self-sufficient communities that are less and less dependent on the normal structures of a materialistic, demonic society". To me that sounds encouraging, it would include the cow protection.
My understanding is that many times the farmer and cow protectors would be happier to own their own land, then you know what you have. But you need money to buy the land and you might need know how.
One idea would be to create a trust or fund for low interest loans for those who want to buy land in order to establish themselves as self-sufficient farmers. Without a heavy burden of interest it might be a possibility to get going. As long as you do not own the land how can you really trust the future and invest your energy into it as a farmer?
In my mind such a trust could help to finance different kinds of holistic self-sufficient community projects. This is just an idea from my side: But it seems that there is a real problem in that the lack of support is felt. If no support is there from one direction maybe resources has to be created in a different way.
One project I am working on myself is to just get one house together for myself that is running without electricity and running water. Nothing big just 30 square meters. That will be my house and there I do as I find it proper and others can have theirs with whatever they like.
One devotee here built a house basically of hay, clay, and a wood frame. It is quite good and about two stories high. It looks to me that once you start to make things yourself it can be quite cheap, but you must have land. The land has to be liberated and there has to be devotees that are prepared to take the responsibility and actually do the work.
Smita Krishna Swami.
Jarna, Sweden
ISCOWP e-mail cow conference

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Winter Vegetables
From my early childhood I've seen how my parents did: they picked all tomatoes and lined them in shallow wooden boxes (1 layer only!), preferably so that they didn't touch. Then they were covered with a thick paper sheet to protect from light, and boxes were stacked in one corner of living room. (Actually, any room will do, if it's just dry, ventilated, not freezing or too hot.)
Two rules: 1) pick them only when they are dry, preferably on a dry, sunny day, or they will rot quickly. 2) Pick carefully, avoiding any impressions -for the same reason.
Yes, it seems also good to leave some piece of vine attached, for it means less damage. It's a "living matter", after all.
I do not know if it would help, but any shriveled vegetable or fruit can be to some extent "repaired" by putting in water for some time (even flower just do not let petals under water!). The way I discovered it was that once I had peeled some shriveled potatoes, but had no time to cook them. I left them in water overnight ...and the next morning they were hard as freshly harvested!
There is a way to make use of half-rotten (or shriveled) cabbage. Just roughly clean off the bad leaves, cut off a little of it's base to improve circulation, and put it in a shallow dish with a little water. Within a couple of days or so, a new and *really* crisp (although small) cabbage will grow out of it!
Putting them into boxes is good because it saves space and the tomatoes don't shrivel so quickly as if you were to hang them by the vines. And their taste does get stronger if they are exposed to sunlight.
This reminds me that once I got some celery roots. I peeled, sliced, and dried, then milled them with a coffee grinder and stored them in a glass jar with a tight lid. It was a very easy-to-use addition to almost any vegetable preparation. '
Anyway, gardening is like a national hobby here, because life used to be much more simple than in the West. There might be more interesting things here what we consider self-evident but unknown for Westerners.
Gadadhara dasa
Riga, Latvia
ISCOWP e-mail cow Conference

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Cow Protection in Yugoslavia
Magdalena Ristic tells of her struggle to protect a cow and her calf in Yugoslavia.

Radha (daughter of Magdalena Ristic) with their cow Syamala and their bull calf Nandi.

Magdalena Ristic's first letter to ISCOWP was published in the last issue, the summer newsletter. To refresh everyone's memory, Magdalena Ristic and her family in Yugoslavia took up the care of one cow, Syamala who gave birth to a bull calf, Nandi. Gradually she found out it was no small task to be responsible for the lifetime protection of a cow and ox. Therefore she wrote to us seeking whatever help she could obtain.
Since the last newsletter we have received two letters from Magdalena and some pictures. We would like to share them with you. This is a nice example of one family's struggle to provide lifetime protection to a mother cow and her calf.

JULY 27, 1995 (to Balabhadra)
I have received your letter dated June 14,1995 and thank you very much for it.
Before I start to answer your kind questions, I would like to inform you about the new moments which occurred in the meantime. On June 10th we have transported our cow and ox calf to the farm about 100 km. from our town, under condition that I have to pay DEM 600, -for this one year since Syamala gave only about 4 liter milk daily.
We became involved in taking care of our cows when the situation in our country became so hard that I could hardly buy one liter milk daily. The manager of our market who used to leave me more milk, suggested to me to buy a cow, since he knew how much milk we needed. From that moment on, wherever I went, with whomever I spoke I only heard the same thing - to buy a cow - it was the best solution for us. We have been having the Deities of Lord Jagannatha, Lord Baladeva, and Maharani Subhadra and I could not think other than that my Lord wishes to have a cow, and that He informs me through others as Paramatma what I should do. I went to visit my uncle those days, and when I mentioned a cow, he at once suggested a family in the neighborhood who sell little Busha breed cows. We didn't have any money, but since I was convinced that Lord Jagannatha wants a cow, I asked my father to give a donation, and in 10 days after I heard about a cow for the first time, Syamala was in our home.
Nandi was born on April 4, 1994 and in September the same year he was gelded, because he was so restless that we could not control him, and Syamala would also, in her critical days, try to get in contact with him.
I would very much like to know when is the best time for Nandi to be trained, and whether it is possible to train him alone, because I don't know where I could find another bull calf of his size.
Our children are 18, 12, 5 years old. Two sons and a little daughter. Our elder son helped us very seriously with the daily care. He also used to cut grass for daily feeding, but we two were not enough to provide everything needed for winters.
We live in suburbs of a town Novi Sad, where there are old houses. We have a garden of 400m2 and my husband and I are growing vegetables for our family. We heat our house by wood and coal. We buy it. The farmers in our area are using tractors.
I would also like you to know that I have been this month with my children to visit Syamala and Nandi. They are well.
I would also like to thank you very much for your words of encouragement and instructions for my mind to be put in a right frame. I am quite confident that by your blessings and guidance and by the mercy of my spiritual master H.H Harikesa Swami, everything will develop nicely and that we will be able one day to experience Lord Krsna's satisfaction. We thank you very much for everything.

AUGUST 3, 1995 (to Chayadevi )
I thank you very much for your letter of July 1st this year. I also thank you very much for your suggestions referring to the program Adopt A Cow and ideas on how to raise funds. Since Syamala and Nandi are no more here in our home and since I have to pay for their maintenance I would very much like to follow the suggestions and instructions given in your letter. I will visit my relatives and friends, talk to them about Syamala and Nandi and ask them to give some donation if they wish, in order to save these two animals from slaughter. Thank you very much for the nice idea and a possibility to engage all the persons I like in this service so dear to Lord Krsna.
We would like to thank you for your newsletters and pamphlets, which were very much interesting and inspiring for us. It is especially nice that you are so personal, that we could hear about you all so personally. You are such a wonderful family. I am so thankful to Lord Jagannatha and Srila Prabhupada that I had the opportunity to hear about you and contact you.
I would humbly ask your daughter Lakshmi to send us, if she has the time, the recipe for the oatmeal chip cookies and to suggest us another nice, not very expensive cookies we could give as a prasadam gift to the participants in this program Adopt A Cow. We also have to admit that we would very much like to hear a few words about your son Baladeva, about his devotional activities. Our son and his friends would surely be very much inspired by that.
We thank you very much for all your help and wonderful example of how to execute devotional service and please Guru and Krsna.

ISCOWP REPLIES
(Due to space limitations we are only printing some of the reply).
Yes it is possible to train Nandi alone. You can train him right now, the sooner the better. We started training our team about 4 to 5 months old. After he is trained, a single ox would use a horse harness when you wanted to work with him. We will send you some literature on how to train an ox and we also have a video "Training Oxen by Voice Commands." Please tell us if you have any video machines by which you could watch it and what the format is there. Actually most of our members prefer the video to the literature.
The literature contains 3 lessons that we printed in the ISCOWP News. They explain our technique and are especially appropriate for young oxen but can also apply for older oxen. The other group of lessons is written by Parmananda das who used to be the ISKCON Farm Minister several years ago. These lessons apply to training oxen of about 2 years old. The younger the ox is the easier it is to train him. And, if the older ox has not had much association with his prospective teamster, it will be harder. So these lessons by Parmananda das involve more force than the ones written by us, but always he is emphasizing developing a relationship of love and trust with the oxen.
It is so good to hear that you have visited your Syamala and Nandi and they are doing well.

SEPTEMBER 22,1995
I would like inform you that by your mercy we have paid the first 50, DEM for the maintenance of Syamala and Nandi. I have collected 2/3 of the amount from my friends and relatives who are willing to help and take part in this program Adopt A Cow. The rest of the Lakshmi was borrowed, and my elder son will go every weekend to collect some Lakshmi with incenses (what was allowed by our TP), so that also he could help in this program. I will continue contact other friends of mine in order to engage them in this nice service to Lord Krsna. My son has visited Syamala and Nandi this weekend, and they are doing well. The wonderful thing is that Syamala recognizes my son also after such a long period of time.
We also had on Radhastami, this wonderful and auspicious day, the founding meeting of the Society for Cow Protection "GOPALA". The Statute of the Society was adopted, and all the necessary documents were prepared. We hope that these days we will submit them to the competent authority for registration, and that in 30 days we will have our Society registered.
After your last letter, I contacted the man on a farm who takes care of Syamala and Nandi regarding training of Nandi. I asked him to try to find someone who could do that. He agreed to do his best and asked me to send him the literature you have sent me, the photocopy of which is already on the way to him. Referring to the video "Training Oxen by Voice Commands" I believe that could be of great help to us. We have VHS format.
I would like to ask you to explain what does over-breeding mean, and to be so kind to tell us in a few sentences where and how would be the best to start to preach cow protection. Everyone, especially the devotees say it is not time to preach cow protection yet since people kill people on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, and who will understand someone who wants to protect cows, now when people should be protected. But they kill because of ignorance, because they don't know that "So many wars world over now, so many men killed like the cow. It's connected these two acts, confirmed in the Veda, spiritual facts," as my spiritual master explains in one song. People do not know the severe law of karma and it would be beneficial for everyone to hear about it also now, when this nonsensical war is going on. Or should we wait until the war stops, and better time comes as our TP and other devotees suggest? I would very much like to hear your opinion.
Please find enclosed some pictures of Nandi and Syamala as you requested. Unfortunately no one of us took a photograph with them except our little daughter Radha. Nandi is her beloved pet. She started to cry when she heard that they should go to live on a farm. She was crying asking me to not allow anyone to kill her dear "beauty", as she used to call him. In that moment I was so thankful to my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and Krsna because I could tell her the truth that they both will be protected by Krsna and that Nandi will always be hers, saved from slaughter. She at once stopped crying she felt that I was speaking the truth and continued to play carefreely.
Next time when we go to the farm we shall take nice photos with Syamala and Nandi for our donors, as you kindly suggested.

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Bangaladesh Paper Makers
A Report from Nistula das

Actually, it being the rainy season now, we're not making much paper, just sort of having fun and experimenting. We only make it a few times a year as our needs are quite low (when you make your own paper, sheet-by-sheet, consumption tends to drop radically). Until I can figure out a sustainable, natural way of printing (for newsletters, pamphlets, etc.) we only use the paper for our minimal needs of stationary, notebooks, pads, account books, etc. We had a magazine that we had printed for about 8 years more or less regularly, but had to stop it late last year for various reasons. We are planning on beginning again for Govardhana Puja, but want to print it ourselves (screen printing for now) on our own paper. If you have any information (or know of someplace) regarding alternative printing processes (natural homemade printing inks, etc.) kindly let me know. Bangladesh is not a country where such things are available. By ox-power we produce our own oil for cooking. Since we've only about 10 acres of agricultural land, and it's used mainly for rice we do not grow all our own mustard seeds for oil production and must arrange from outside. I will try next time to send pictures of our oil production.

chopped water hyacinth stems waiting to be boiled and beaten

cooking up a feast - water hyacinth and rice hay. In the foreground is a slight variation of what Mother Yasoda used to bind baby Krsna up (when he liberated the two Arjuna trees). It's used to husk rice, grind spices, and make paperpulp. Since Pundarik Dham in Chittagong, Bangladesh is not a typical family set-up (we consume much more rice than we can husk manually) we are in need of some way to husk the rice using the oxen. No one in this country has any idea of how to go about it and use machine-husked rice

at work beating the cooked materials to make the pulp

stirring the pulp vats

lifting scoop - wooden frame with mesh - again and again until there is paper as there is in opposite picture

placing the just lifted paper in stacks to be wet pressed, then dried

If any of our readers have information for Nistula das concerning ox powered rice mills and alternative printing processes (natural homemade printing inks, etc.) please write to the ISCOWP address found on the back of this newsletter and we will be glad to forward your information to Nistula and print it in the next newsletter. Illustrations would be very helpful.

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ISCOWP Update

Rice harvest
During the month of October, Balabhadra das, Bhakta Dave, and Bhaktin Laura, with the help of Suresvara das and his daughter Radhika Chandra dasi harvested the rice at Sandy Ridge, North Carolina by hand with sickles. The quality of the harvest was good and the quantity bountiful. However, the sweet potatoes were not as successful. A different type was used and did not produce as well as the type we used last year. The vines in the field were very luxuriant. So we thought we were going to get a good harvest. But to our dismay we got more vines than tubers. We are threshing the rice by hand, stripping the seed heads from the stalks. So far we have 55 gallon barrel full of rice and a messy living room.

Planting rye at Madhuvana

Narayana Brown disking one of the fields at Madhuvana with Vraja and Gita

1/3 of an acre at Madhuvana Farm has been disked by Vraja and Gita and planted with rye. This was an opportunity for training teamsters to learn the practice of disking. Along with Bhaktin Sarah and Bhakta Dave, Narayana Brown, who some of you might remember from our Winter 94 newsletter (he and a few other teenagers were training young bull calves at New Talavan Farm based on our training video, and written instruction) stayed a week with us at New Vrndavana and worked with Vraja and Gita to disk the field. He had learned the basics from our video "Training Oxen by Voice Commands" and decided to come to New Vrndavana for some hands-on training. He now has his own team and he and one other devotee are taking care of the 150 cows and oxen at New Talavan, Mississippi. The rye was planted with a broad caster, which is a tool strapped to the chest and operated by a hand lever. It allows the seeds to fall to the ground as one walks across the field.

Moving the ISCOWP office
(11/15/95) On November 15 we moved the ISCOWP office from Efland, North Carolina to New Vrndavana, West Virginia. We arrived in a snowstorm, leaving the warmth of North Carolina behind. The house that we are designated to move into (the house that Srila Prabhupada stayed in two of his four visits to New Vrndavana) is not yet available and we are temporarily staying in a house near to it. When we first arrived there was a no electricity and water for several weeks. Therefore we temporarily stayed in a room at the temple. Then when water and power were available we moved back into the temporary house. We are now operating phones, fax, and computer are functioning. Madhava Ghosh and Vidya Prabhus (now presently living in the house at Madhuvana where we are to move to) expect to be moving soon out of their home. We will then move a third time. Needless to say, the moving has taken much time away from the usual office activities and we beg for your understanding if some inefficiency is apparent, as the lateness of this newsletter. It sure will be nice to get into the house, clean and paint, and get unpacked. Three moves in one month is not much fun and makes it more difficult to serve the oxen and cows. We were able to sell our mobile home in which the ISCOWP office operations took place. The proceeds from this were used to payoff credit card debts incurred during ISCOWP's five years of operations. As a result of this payment, becoming free of the mobile home monthly ma with payments, and no more long distant office to field phone calls, ISCOWP's overhead was reduced, paving the way for smoother operations in the year of 1996. The expense of hauling heavy ox power equipment to West Virginia and moving the ISCOWP office has taken its toll on ISCOWP's financing. There is still some more equipment to move, but most of it is moved (75%) already and we have yet to take down the barn at Sandy Ridge and move that to West Virginia. However, even with the difficulties and expense of moving with a small staff we are experiencing progress in our endeavors to exhibit ox-power specifically at New Vrndavana. This is due greatly to your support and the help of the residents of New Vrndavana.

The ox-barn

Raising the roof on the ox barn (house we are to move into us in the background)

(12/11/95). We give special thanks to Varsana Maharaja and his disciples specifically Bhakta Dave and Bhaktin Sarah for working at times in zero degree weather to raise the roof for the ox barn. This barn is being built with all recycled materials from several buildings, which needed to be taken down because they were structurally unsafe. The roof was moved in one piece to Madhuvana and placed on telephone poles also retrieved from non-use. The construction of the barn has taken most of our attention in the past month. It turned out that where we were going to put the barn there was a couple of feet of solid rock, making digging the holes a bigger effort than expected. While extraditing the roof, the chain that was holding it on one end broke and the roof fell onto the trailer causing some damage. We spent a week repairing it The first time we tried to lift it it still showed signs of structural weakness which forced us to reinforce it with steel. The barn will house 12 oxen who will be trained in the Sponsor a Teamster Campaign. As soon as it is finished, which should be soon, training will proceed again. It will be situated behind the house that Srila Prabhupada occupied 2 of his 4 visits to New Vrndavana and ISCOWP will now occupy for the purpose of fulfilling one of Srila Prabhupada's desires for New Vrndavana; his desire to have the oxen working and the cows protected. In addition to this barn, another barn will be needed to house more oxen to be trained. Shelter from the cold winter is a must for the comfort of the oxen. We have already had our first Arctic storm with a wind-chill between 20-30 below zero.

The Sponsor a Teamster Campaign
(12/11/95) The Sponsor a Teamster Campaign has been a success. Approximately $28,500 has been pledged; 90% of it paid or being paid in monthly installments through to August 1996. Your donations have enabled us to continue in our efforts to train 12 teamsters and 21 oxen by August 1996 as a centennial gift to Srila Prabhupada. At present, the teamsters in training are Bhaktin Sarah, Bhaktin Elly, Gopi Lila dasi, Bhakta Dave, Prana Gauranga das, Brikasanga das, Bhakta Jeremy, and Tripada das - making a total of 8 teamsters. Bhakta Dave, Prana Gauranga das and Brikasanga das have chosen 6 older oxen from the New Vrndavana herd to be trained. Bhaktin Sarah has been working with her team Jaya and Nanda since they were 2 ½ months old and now at 10 months old they are logging in the woods. Bhaktin Elly, and Gopi Lila dasi will begin training with calves also. Bhakta Jeremy and Tripada das have been training with one ox each since they were 2 month old calves. Now they are 10 months old and know the basic commands. Two heifers have been in training, Bhumi and Visakha now know the basic commands. The purpose in training them is so they can be easily controlled when taken to events to present cow protection to the public. We give special thanks to Vanamali Pandit das (Dr.V. Mody) for suggesting that we begin to organize our fund raising attempts along with professional advice and providing the funds to do so. We also thank Kala Kanta Prabhu of ISKCON Foundation for advising us. We have learned a great deal from this campaign and we can see now how we can improve our skills for the next time. For instance, updated computer software and hardware would help tremendously in keeping our database and service to our members organized and efficient (please see Wish list on page 11). In the Annual Report, which will be the next issue, we will report all pledges and amounts paid along with our usual annual income and expense charts. We wanted to do a report this issue but we felt it better to do it when we were settled since there are still so many office papers that are not unpacked yet and must be moved very soon. We are eternally grateful for your patience and help. You are most important to us; without you we could accomplish very little. Thank you.

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LAKSHMI'S KITCHEN
This soup has been a life saver for us in our move to a much colder climate in the dead of winter. It heats the body and seems to cure the oncoming of a cold. It nurtures the healing process if one is sick. We keep a 6-quart pot of it available every day. In different seasons you can add different vegetables; however, I advise you should always include potatoes, carrots, and celery. And if you want it hotter, add more ginger and chili.

HEALTHY VEGETABLE SOUP
PREPARATION TIME: 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15 minutes
YIELD: 8-10 large servings

Ingredients
4 tablespoons ghee, butter, or olive oil
2 inches of ginger grated
2 medium chilies (if you to make it more mild do one chili and take out the seeds)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. tumeric*
1/2 tsp. hing*
1 tsp garam masala*
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes or 6 to 8 peeled and diced medium sized tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 medium carrots
2 sticks celery
2 cups cabbage cut into about 1 inch squares
2 cups broccoli or cauliflower (frozen or fresh)
3 medium potatoes cubed
2 cups kale, or 4 cups spinach
Enough water to fill a 6 quart pot with vegetables.

Use a 6 quart pot. Heat the ghee, butter, or olive oil, add the cumin seeds. When they darken a couple of shades, add the ginger and chilies. Stir if needed. Wait about one minute before adding bay leaf, tumeric, hing, and garam masala. Stir momentarily. Add the tomatoes and put on the lid as fast as you can to keep the flavor of the spices in. If you are using fresh tomatoes, you should cook them until they brake-up. If you are using canned tomatoes you should cook them until the whole soup comes to a rolling boil. Use a medium flame for both. Then add the vegetables, water, tomato paste, kale or spinach. Bring to a boil. To see if the soup is done, I test the carrots and potatoes by putting a fork through them. The fork should penetrate easily and then the soup is done. If not done, when soup comes to a boil, cook at a simmer until done.

*These items can be purchased at an oriental, Indian ,or health food grocery store.

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Wish List
As mentioned on page 9, our fundraising experience with the Sponsor a Teamster Campaign taught us a number of things. One was that much time could be saved by having updated computer equipment. Not only time could be saved, but efficiency in our service to our members could be achieved. Since we are working on archaic equipment many things cannot be done and if they are done it takes many hours longer than necessary.
Part of Vanamali Pandit Prabhu's (Dr. V. Mody) pledge of $3000 is designated for a computer (About $1000). We will be getting a 486 IBM compatible computer. The idea is to be able to achieve cheaper bulk mail rates and faster delivery by bar coding our mail outs. The USA post office only deals with IBM. Also we need to keep better track of our donors which is achieved by a program called Donor Perfect or another program which is comparable. As of now we have a "flat" database, which is not sufficient to keep efficient track of our donors. Donor Perfect also only works on IBM.
Another problem is that we paste our photographs onto our newsletter because we do not have a scanner. If we can scan the photos, we will shorten our newsletter output time and lower the cost of printing.
This wish list consists of office items that we feel will increase our service to you. The prices and characteristics of the items are not etched in stone, but have been ascertained that they will do the job. There may be other items at different costs that may work also. Since we are not the most experienced in the world of computers we are definitely open to advice and consultation.

You can:     Donate the item or one comparable to it.
                    Donate the cost of the item.
                    Donate to the cost of the item.
                    Inform us of an inexpensive means of purchase.

 
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