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First Annual Harvest Workshop September 4, 2004 Last year's attendees write their experience: "City Girls Visit the Country"
by Bhaktin Sara Bock
The first night we arrived at the farm I had to adjust to falling asleep to chirping crickets instead of zooming cars. In the morning, to step outside and see grass everywhere and happy cows was a joyful experience. "This is what the earth is supposed to look like," I thought. In such natural surroundings, I felt more myself. More creative and peaceful thoughts entered my mind and my energy was stronger.
Our hosts were selfless and giving. Laksmi picked us up from the airport (a 2 hour drive each way!) and let us stay in her cozy home (built by the family themselves!) She also cooked delicious vegetarian meals using vegetables from their very own garden. Chayadevi and Balabhadra (and Rudra!) welcomed us warmly as we arrived at their self built home. They were very caring of our needs and patient as we adapted to country life.
The workshop began Saturday morning with a tour of the garden. I never knew that from one marigold flower one could gather hundreds? of seeds to grow more. I also never knew a zucchini could grow as big as the one I saw! I learned that volunteers are not people who come to help out in the garden, but plants that grow on their own. We saw and tasted varieties of tomatoes, asparagus, potatoes, bitter melon (that is an odd species), lettuce, and squash.
Click on picture to enlarge Balabhadra gives a tour of the garden
Then came the tough part - picking the veggies. At that point us city girls had to rest! When it was time to eat the veggies for lunch our energy returned! How satisfying it was to eat such fresh and natural food cooked with love and devotion.
The canning workshop was fascinating. To be self sufficient, one must plan ahead for wintertime when the veggies do not grow. That means the family must can veggies to eat during wintertime. Laksmi showed us how to can and even let some brave volunteers (people this time, not self growing plants) try it for themselves. Also interesting was the drying of vegetables. We cut tomatoes for a long time (it was fun as we all did it together!) and put them on sheets. The sheets went in the dehydrator and came out dried tomatoes. Then we bagged and sealed them. How thoughtful that the Dove family does this on a regular basis and sends the bags of dried tomatoes to the ISCOWP members.
Next on the agenda was learning how to make comfrey salve. I had no clue what comfrey salve was but it sure sounded like something from country life. It turned out to be a type of cream one can use on the skin for burns, itches, rashes, etc. Balabhadra taught us to make it. He mixed the ingredients of comfrey leaves, oil, and marigolds, let it sit overnight, and then simmered it until the beeswax melted and jarred it. We each got a jar as a gift. I gave some to my friend and her rash has since diminished.
Click on picture to enlarge Jamie, Sara and Ginene help and learn how to make comfrey salve. Here they are holding the cheesecloth as Balabhadra places the mixture of comfrey and olive oil into the cheesecloth to drain.
Finally, we got a tour of the farm and my favorite part - the cows. The cows, when well cared for, are so happy and peaceful. It's just impossible not to love them. The Dove family is caring for 27 cows with as much love as parents give their children. It's a lot of work. It touches one's heart to see people so dedicated to something without any ulterior or selfish motive. Seeing this living example of devotion in practice made me question the purpose of many activities I perform in my daily existence. It was very heart touching when Veda, the cow which the school where I work has adopted, came right up to me. Chayadevi told me that he is usually shy to approach people. I wondered if this was a coincidence or the Lord in his heart directing him to me, the representative of his adopters. In any case, I felt special affection for him as he is our adopted "son".
Click on picture to enlarge Sara visiting with her and her school’s adopted cow Veda. Veda is usually shy, but he came right up to Sara to say hello.
Overall, I experienced an entire different way of living. I am accustomed to getting everything from convenient stores and living a super fast paced life. But on the farm, although the Doves work hard, life is somehow more peaceful, natural, and just how it's meant to be! Changes I made in my life since returning are taking better care of my health, planning on growing my own vegetables, and working on stopping the intake of dairy products as nearly all farms send their dairy cows to be slaughtered when they can no longer produce milk.
The dove bird is a symbol of peace and the Dove family is a living example of inner peace. They were patient in educating us, tolerant of our city habits, giving, and honest. And the biggest impression on me was the fact that they started and continue this farm simply out of love for their spiritual teacher - I learned that love is not just something you say you have for someone but is shown by your practical work.
Click on picture to enlarge Harvest Workshop attendees meeting the cows
by Jamie Moran Among the lush, green meadows and gently sloping hills of West Virginia, is nestled the grounds of Vrajapura Farm, where I received a much needed education in the finer points of organic gardening from William & Irene Dove (Balabhadra dasa & Chayadevi) along with their daughter, Lakshmi. Upon discovering how much effort goes into cultivating such a resource, I realized the visions I’d had of growing my own food in the backyard were loftier than anticipated. I also found that if you can manage it, the benefits are enormously gratifying. After a warm breakfast in Mother Chaya’s bright kitchen, our group set out for a tour of the garden. Balabhadra instructed us in methods of cultivating everything from cilantro to squash; he taught us how and what to weed and made us all blink in disbelief at the potential of growing and selling seeds. Row after row of tomatoes, peppers & beans lined the acre plot. A squash patch overflowed with perfect pumpkins, beautiful delacata squash and the most gigantic zucchini imaginable! Our quiet companion, Sara (1 of 2) held one up in the air in disbelief. There were rows of an unusual looking vegetable called bitter melon. Our adventurous Ginene learned the hard way where it got the name by taking a bite of one right there in the garden!. Asparagus, okra, chard, spinach and potatoes grew in abundance. A potato is a root vegetable, but I didn’t know you could just dig them out of the ground like rocks!
Click on picture to enlarge Sara and one of the huge zucchinis that when cooked taste great! It was time to roll up our sleeves and start picking! For myself, I picked an entire bushel of Roma tomatoes…and that was just one row! By the time we were through, we had countless bushels and buckets full of produce. It occurred to me that this was only one of many harvests that take place in a season, which adds up to a staggering amount of food…the only question was, what were we going to do with all of it?
Click on picture to enlarge Ginene and Balabhadra digging up Yukon Gold potatoes that grow in ISCOWP’s garden and taste like butter. Fortunately, our hosts were ready for us back at the house. After a healthy lunch (served with fresh bread, compliments of Lakshmi), Mother Chaya took us to the root cellar where the preserved fruits and vegetables are stored. Shelves of jarred and dried food lined the walls. Dried? What a great idea! Drying vegetables and fruits to be used in everything from snacks to soups. After clearing up the kitchen, we sat around the table with paring knives in hand to commence cut up. While listening to stories from each person, we sat and cut enough tomatoes to fill 27 dehydrating trays (that’s about 3000 slices!), which were then placed in the dehydrators. In the meantime, Lakshmi had prepared another bucket of tomatoes for canning.
Click on picture to enlarge Balabhadra, Ginene, Bhakta Dave, Lakshmi. Sara and Jamie enjoy cutting tomatoes for drying as Balabhadra tells stories of his spiritual life in the Hare Krishna Movement. He was initiated by Srila Prabhupada in 1969. The dried tomatoes will be used as premiums for ISCOWP donors.
In the delicate art of canning, the way you preserve acidic foods, like tomatoes, differs from the way non-acidic foods, like zucchini, are canned. Careful and exacting, everything has to be clean and sterile and even the slightest little crack in a jar could wreak havoc! We listened intently as Lakshmi instructed us in how to transfer the hot glass jar from boiling water to table top, how to ensure all of the air bubbles are out of a batch before filling it to the lowest thread at the mouth of the jar, and the proper way to seal a filled jar. Frantically scribbling notes, we were certain to have it all memorized, and then came the test…it was the Vrajapura Farms Canning Olympics replete with peer judges, scoring and an announcer who served mostly to make us nervous. It was fantastic!
Click on picture to enlarge Dave competing in the Canning Olympics after watching the demonstration by Lakshmi
Ginene, Sara (1), Sara (2) and Dave, my companions (and Canning Olympics rivals), made the experience all the more enjoyable. It was by their curiosity that I learned so much.
Click on picture to enlarge Cut up of zucchini, peppers and tomatoes for a canned vegetable preparation.
Click on picture to enlarge After cooking the cut up, the preparation is placed in glass jars. In this way we have canned for this year about 500 jars of tomato chunks, tomato, zucchini and pepper vegetable dish, a tomato, kale and pepper vegetable dish and tomato chutney with tomotillos (Mexican vegetable).
Click on picture to enlarge The jars are then placed in a pressure cooker.
Click on picture to enlarge The finished jars are them placed out to cool and when you can hear a “pop” sound you know that the jars have sealed. This workshop was enlightening and such a joy! Far from discouraging me in my ambition to grow my own food, it more fully prepared me for the work that goes into planting, harvesting and maintaining an organic garden that will provide sustenance. Balabhadra, Mother Chaya and Lakshmi are experts at this and it was an honor to learn from them. |
This site was last updated 10/22/07
