We are just two odd individuals trying to become minimalist farmers. This project is dedicated to our Spiritual Master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Cute and entertaining but do the 3-4 million cows being slaughtered annually in Canada must they wait for chickens to learn how to fly choppers in order to be saved from cruel death?
I'm debating on how to write this blog. My natural tendency has been to be want to be part of a violent revolution. Should we be blocking the roads or lying down in front of the trucks transporting cows to the slaughter houses. How do we go about protecting these poor innocent animals? So few people want to practically protect the cows while theoretically millions of people say that they want to help but always find excuses not to. It's a rainy day here at the farm so we have lots of time to ponder the best way to go about saving the cows. It's difficult to do this without any association.
Until tomorrow.
Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
We have been waiting for the Hurricane to hit. I thought that last night would be kind of rough but all was fine.
Today Gaura Nitai finished filling in the floor of the barn with the piles of soil that have been waiting to find their final resting place. I`ve been waiting for him to come in so that we can get on with making soap. We have a 3 day show this weekend. So I`m basically puttering around waiting to get going. I did stop at the Nearly New shop in Montague and found a few treasures but this silver water pitcher was a find for $5. I also finished painting the hallway bookshelf and altar. I found that the dark wood was making the hallway a bit depressing so the mauve brightened up the spot. Gaura Nitai also changed the energy efficient lights to a daylight bulb instead of the yellow tinged ones. It makes a world of difference.
My next door neighbor asked me if I wanted a sickly elephant plant and I agreed. She struggled through the door with it and it is a beautiful jade plant! Not sickly at all. Here are a few pics for today.
Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
Painted front door
Upcycled lavender paint that I created with donated bits of paint
My little altar for now until the renovation is over then the deities with reappear:)
Spray painted silvery gold feet.
Beautiful Jade plant!
Repainted frame on my Krsna picture rendered with markers.
Dear Readers; I was really touched by this story of Maxine literally running for her life. Go brahmanya-hitaya cha...go(cows) are even more important than the brahmanas....priestly class. So...please..please do whatever you can to save as many cows as possible. Also stop wearing them. I know it's difficult to find good shoes made of man made material but it's well worth the effort. I just went shopping for short boots on Saturday and I must have smelt dozens of shoes and boots to see if they had leather hiding in them. I finally found an expensive bootie by Blowfish. I'm not real happy with my purchase because I wanted something fashionable and long lasting but all I managed was to find a bootie that was fashionable. Oh well....I'll keep looking. I'm sure somewhere out there are some affordable vegan booties that I will fall in love with.
But here is a video that will surely melt your hearts.
Last year around this time our local poet and writer Les stopped by and told us local stories about how the PEI mosquitoes where so tenacious that they actually wore teeny tiny mittens in October. I believe that he was right because after my morning japa walk I'm applying vinegar to the bites on the bits of exposed skin on my hands that were not covered by my japa bag or hiding in the pocket of my winter coat.
Mitts the mosquitoes may have but we will have to see if they also have raincoats and snow shovels in their wardrobe or garden sheds because we are expecting to be sideswiped by Hurricane Sandy tomorrow morning. In preparation Gaura Nitai is finishing the cap on the roof of the house. Then he is "up to there" with roofing for this year. We also have 8 cords of hardwood being delivered today. We heat and cook using our wood burning stove so that won't be a problem and we have also have supplies of food. If the electricity goes out then we do have a generator to pump water for the cows. We will have to make certain that the barn door closes because a large load of soil was deposited in front of the door but was never moved into the barn to elevate the floor level. That is a priority for today.
The winds are starting to slap the plastic of the greenhouse so I'll take that as a sign to change into my working togs and get out there.
Hopefully for the cows sake we will only experience a little wind and rain. Who knows though mother nature is not to be messed with and karma wise we are due a good lickin'.
I stepped out of the backdoor and heard a rattle from up above...instinctively I placed my arms over my head just as a hammer sailed past my head and landed with a thud in the soil just inches away from my feet.
Of course ever the humble soul I yelled up to my husband, (who has been roofing for the past two weeks)," Whatcha doing? Trying to kill me?"
Him,"I had to ...you know? So I put the hammer down. Nobody was suppose to be around! Sorry!"
This incident has got me thinking. Years ago I was working on plaster works at the Montreal temple high up above Lord Jaganathas altar. This french helper was working on Lord Caitanyas altar and he was moving a metal scaffold. At one point he and another worker dropped a section of the scaffold. The large piece of metal hit the marble floor , bounced and then hit his 9 year old daughter on the head. Panic...blood..hospital and then fortunately the little girl returned sporting a large bandage on her head. She was fine.
For the past two weeks this image has haunted me every time I've helped to move the scaffolding up or down. It is a dangerous thing to do but we have found ways to use rope to make the process simpler and safer. But I'm wondering if my constant mental visualization of the past incident caused this present incident. I would say that yes my constant visualization created the reality. Fortunately nobody was hurt but this incident has caused me to give it a long....... hmmmmmmm! The mind can be the best friend or the worst enemy according to,
For
him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but
for one who has failed to do so, his mind will remain the greatest
enemy.
Brahma Vaisnava Sampradaya:
Madhvacarya
Madhvacarya's Commentary
To whom is the mind a dear friend has been mentioned by Lord Krishna in
this verse. Here the word atma should be understood as being the mind and
the word atmana as being the living entity. So the meaning is that the
atmana or living entity achieves success by the strength of the atma or
mind. In the Brahmavaivartaka Purana states: That the condition of the mind
is the sole reason for human beings to be liberated from the material
existence or contrarily incarcerated in the material existence. The mind
should elevate a human being and not be a source of delusion and distress
for the mind has the propensity to be the best friend or the worst enemy of
this there is no doubt. When with diligence and determination the mind is
well governed it is like a best friend and then there are no other enemies.
Therefore one should amiably govern their mind by Vedic knowledge and with
devotion to the Supreme Lord. The word atmana refers to one whose mind is
fixed and unconquerable. But even so if the mind is not directed towards
devotion to the Supreme Lord it is not likely to be helpful in the same way
as having a servant who does no work is like not having a servant at all
and soon the mind will become antagonistic to restraint and then an enemy.
Now begins the summation.
The individual consciousness elevates itself by the mercy of the ultimate
consciousness. Lord Krishna is perpetually the best friend and well-wisher
of the righteous and spiritual beings but a perpetual enemy to the
perpetrators of evil and unrighteousness. This means that to one who is
devoted to the Supreme Lord Krishna or any of His authorised incarnations
the mind acts as a dear friend by His grace; but for all others the mind is
like an enemy. In the end of the verse it is indicated that the Supreme
Being aides within such a person.
Our friend Damaghosa Das is always encouraging us to become self sufficient. He sends us these fantastic pictures of his garden near Seattle Washington. He wants to show us that with just a little work we can all have wonderful fruits, veggies and grains to offer to their Lordships.
In the spirit of friendly competition I've posted a short video of our fall garden here in PEI. I don't own a video camera. I just use the short video feature on my camera so the audio isn't great but it's alright.
Of course his garden wins this year hands down:) But just wait until next year,,,, our tomatoes will be as big as watermelons and our watermelons will be as big as pumpkins. We will need only one Govindas Farm potato to feed the village. Haha.
There are a few good books that I remember from my childhood. Unfortunately I can't remember the titles but I remember certain images that inspired me. One story was about a little boy who was very poor and lived in a slum surrounded by piles of rusty decaying junk such as old cars,bikes and cans. He took it upon himself to clean a small patch of ground. He surrounded this patch of bare earth with a string fence. He somehow or other got a few seeds of vegetables and flowers. He planted the seeds,tended the little plants and ultimately brought beauty to an ugly spot.
Another book was of a little girl from the country who went to visit her grandfather who lived in the city. Her grandfather lived in an apartment building and together they built a rooftop garden that was a little piece of paradise in the middle of a concrete jungle.
With these images planted firmly in my mind....I've always wanted to have a "secret garden". Now that I have all of this land I will begin to plan and plant a beautiful flower and fruit garden in honor of Srila Prabhupada. Here are a few ideas for doors and gates to the future garden.
If you have some ideas or pictures I would love to see or hear about it.
Thank- you and Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
Even the woodpeckers have an address on the Island.
Every house that I've decorated in my lifetime has had a personality. It just isn't possible to go into a house and take the mood that you had in the last house and transfer it into the new dwelling. Usually the direction that I need to take to bring the house into a lighter and higher energy...just happens. That is why this new project has been giving me such a hard time. When we bought it I thought that it was a perfect "Shabby chic" house. Unfortunately Gaura Nitai and I discovered that in fact it was just plain shabby!
For the past 22 months we have been working at getting the interior of the house liveable. We fixed the fallen ceilings, sanded and polished wooden floors, moved the kitchen and installed a shower and compost toilet. It all looks good but the house still did not have a real character. I've spent hours ,days , months researching online and in magazines for inspiration. I've tested out mood and color combination ideas by painting and repainting the front door so that when we come back from our morning japa walk we get to see the newest idea from the road.
The neighbours hated the bright yellow front door and now that I've repainted it black...they want the yellow door back. It made them happy they are telling me. The house wasn't "feeling it" I tell them. I'm looking for a balance between our Vedic culture and western location. I also wanted to give a nod to Paris because that is where my Grandma came from and I was raised French. After much research into French textiles I discovered that many of their patterns came from India!
I found this picture that spoke to both Gaura Nitai and myself. We desperately needed to get the roof shingles done because we had some major leaks that were damaging all our interior work. We couldn't decide on a color scheme until we saw this picture and voila! The mood just felt right.
This was good but I needed more! I'm also working on branding our business and web site....so all this needs to flow. I have a chair that faces the house and I sit and chant under the tree. I've been pondering something someone told me about this project being my dream! In actuality....it certainly is not. At my age I imagined that we would be the owners of a great big camper that I would decorate like a small palace on wheels with lovely little chandeliers and a fantastic altar. I imagined that I would finally have time to take care of my deities in the manner that they deserve to be taken care of. In my minds eye I saw Gaura Nitai and I traveling to each of our childrens homes and helping to get their homes and gardens developed. I saw us spending time with the grandchildren and teaching them all about Krsna...etc...etc..
Why do this large project then?
The only reason is....because we owe our lives to our teacher Srila Prabhupada. He requested everyone of us to take on this farming and protecting cows mission...not for ourselves but for the benefit of society.
Once I got my self out of the way I felt a teeny tiny bit better but still felt somewhat depressed at this lack of clear vision about a direction for the big picture.I plopped down on the kitchen chair while Gaura Nitai was doing some work and morosely asked him if he thought I was suffering from a deep...deep depression?(He is used to my melodrama.) He reassured me that I was just incredibly creative and I was just in a little slump but not to worry because usually something good comes of it. I went to bed.
The very next morning I was up real early feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed. I went to the computer and my eye caught this Youtube video. Aha!!! an Aha! moment...I felt excited. I've loved Chanel since the '80's. This was the Chanel 2011-12 Paris-Bombay Fashion Show.....Paris...India...crystal chandeliers....white and silver decorations everywhere. Fashion genius Karl Lagerfeld has once again outdone himself. So what if I would have to sell the farm to afford just one dress...it's not the elitist clothes that interests me but it's the mood Mr. Lagerfeld has created that I'm excited about. This affected me so profoundly because this was how my large altar was decorated while I was living in Panama. I like this mood. I felt that this is how the house wants to look. It just feels...right.
The locals are constantly telling me how they would drive past this house quickly because it was haunted!
It was!
I want to see Govindas Farm be a beautiful and chic project. One that will make all locals and tourists smile and not push the gas petal as they drive past the project.
It is possible that the dark mood is lifting because this past summer we've seen cars stop to take pictures and we haven't even begun to develop the project yet. Perhaps this is a glimpse of the future?
I will post more pictures that inspire as they come along. It will be fun to see how we can incorporate these ideas into the project.
We have had such a busy summer with WWOOFERS http://www.wwoof.org/ and visits from relatives that I'm kind of backlogged in all the things that I want to share with you.
My mom, Madeleine. Sept. 2012
My mom Madeleine and my cousin Jocelyn...just playing at the lighthouse near our farm. Sept.2012
Our new mouser Min-Min.
I would first like to thank our volunteers who helped keep the gardens weed free and happy. I thank-you...Gaura Nitai thanks you and of course the veggies thank you. Due to everyones hard work we are still enjoying a huge bounty of broccoli,chard,carrots,cauliflower,beets,tomatoes,potatoes and scads of herbs for seasoning and tea.
We also had a fabulous summer selling our homemade soap at the markets and to local stores.
Thank you everyone for supporting the cow saving program by buying our soap and body products.
Every summer we like to take our family pictures and usually we decide on a color scheme so that the picture looks co-ordinated. Unfortunately this year once again some family members were missing. We thought that we could just photo shop the missing members in but it did not work out last year so I thought that maybe we could just dress up into how we want to be seen as individuals. Besides family isn't just about our blood relatives but about all those people who are so kind to share part of their lives with us. In the pictures we have dancers, entertainers, warriors, teachers, graduates, funky accountants and cute babies. I think that it worked out quite well.
I had mentioned to our Buddhist neighbours who have a save the animal program and farm if and when they found a vicious cat to let me know. I put the emphasis on VICIOUS because I wanted a mouser for keeping the mouse population down outside the house. I don't like having animals in the house so the cat that I wanted would need to be fiercely independent and maybe even have fur missing and a couple tattoos.
A few days later Andrew called me stating that they were given a "wild, mean" cat. Great I told him please bring it over. Within minutes three people arrived at the door wrestling a cat ...one person holding the hind legs and the others holding other various bits and pieces. They told me that they would let it go in the house and I said , I think not. Then they told me that I would need a cage for the cat but instead I just told them to let it go in the porch. They looked at me and Gaura Nitai and reluctantly let go of the little beast. I was holding my breath expecting the cat to start tearing around the wall and clawing us to death as it tried to eat it's way though the door. Instead the cat calmly let our a happy purrrrrr...gave Gaura Nitai a lick and went to sleep in the corner.
We are taking a little breather until next weekend when we will be attending a 3 day sale in Charlottetown at the Civic Center. Oct. 26,27 and 28.
We also found someone to work on our Website so that we can get the soap out to our many customers who have become soap addicts:) I'll let you know when that happens.
We had a simply wonderful and busy summer.
Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
Farmers from the past would find that buying food at the store or asking someone to do your roof for you absolutely laughable. Since money was difficult to come by they grew,built,fixed or did without. Here at Govindas' Farm we live on the proceeds of our fledgling soap making business. Sad as it is we had to do without the roofing company coming to replace our shingles. We borrowed the scaffolding, bought the singles and went about getting the job done on a dime.
Here is a short video of my husband up on the very steeply pitched roof replacing the shingles all by himself. I did try to help but I was absolutely useless. Fortunately in his own sweet Scottish way he confirmed that I was useless and my endless complaining got me sent down...thankfully:)
Mind you ....I did help put the scaffolding up and took it down which did take some acrobatic moves on my part.
In fact I did gird my loins and do the needful...in the end.
Sometimes we are afraid but we must simply get over it.
Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
Dear Friends;
Who doesn't love a great big present?
This video may seem a little long and pointless but if you just slow down to cow speed and activate your Spidey Vision you just may appreciate cow behavior. I did not want to get to close to the action for two reasons, number one being the new cow was kicking up clods of dirt and number two, I did not want to interrupt this getting to know one another ritual. The new cow approached the herd with a lowered head and all the other cows bobbed their heads up and down. The little bull named Pita was very excited to see her and even braved getting a nasty shock on his nose from the electric fence just to try and get a closer look.
We recently received our new Canadienne cow from Quebec. I've included a video of her first minutes after realizing that she wasn't alone in the field. She is separated from the herd by an electric fence and will be kept separate for 2 days. Her name was Yasoda for the first day but then we decided to change it to Urvashi after seeing how big her milk bag was. Those of you who have read the Mahabharata may remember then when the top most beautiful heavenly Apsara Urvashi was going to see Arjuna one of the characteristics of her heavenly beauty was that her breasts were so heavy that they caused her to bend slightly at her waist as she walked.
Another characteristic that I found fascinating about our cow Urvashi is that she has a fern pattern in her coat. I was thrilled by this discovery because although I have a fondness for all flowers I truly love ferns the most. I decided to check out the site posted below about the language of flowers to see what they had to say about ferns.
On the morning of the second day of separation Gaura Nitai opened the fence and we herded her into the mob. I hung back and blocked her path but I was a little nervous because she did kick up dirt clods with her hind hooves as we approached her.
Once inside she nonchalantly ate grass and slowly approached each member of the herd. Her goal was to see who would move away first. All but one oxen moved away from her.....making her Queen of the Pasture...at least for the day.
Another simply wonderful cow.
Hare Krsna,
Kokum Lal
The Canadienne is a dairy breed developed in French Canada from cattle imported
back in the XVIIth century from Brittany and Normandy. The Canadienne is the
only breed of dairy cow native to North America. At its origins, it was not the
result of genetic blends and was once exclusively and intimately linked to
Quebec’s terroir*. Today the Canadienne is seriously threatened. It nearly
disappeared entirely due to cross-breeding with the Brown Swiss breed. Very few
purebred animals remain, but a current trend towards the traditonal-type
Canadienne has initiated conservancy and development efforts in regards to its
genetic make-up. Its advancement is primordial to guarantee a future for this
breed of French-Canadian heritage.
* Terroir: A place-based designation, intimately linked with the land, the soil
and climatic conditions.
Dear Readers: My husband and I were so honored to be invited to take part in the Guru-Puja or worship of the guru at the local Buddhist Academy last evening. Around 20 locals were invited to attend along with a large bus load of Taiwanese Buddhists from New York City and lets not forget the 20 or so Buddhist nuns.
The evening began as we all met at the trailer that is located at the entrance of the grounds.We were shown a video of a very nice but short biography of the guru who has left this mortal world in 2004. He did some amazing philanthropic works from organic farming to taking loving care of the handicapped in Taiwan. He seemed to be quite an impressive and compassionate human being. After our half hour orientation we took a short walk to the temple. First we were to remove our shoes and place them in the plastic bags that we had been given at the orientation,we then entered into a very large temple room where hundreds of monks were seated on the floor all facing the front altar. My first impression was that surely I just walked through a magic door and entered Tibet. The altar held many golden deities of Buddha and others Gods. At the corner of each altar was a statue of a fierce warrior brandishing a sword. He was the protector of the deities. The altars were piled high with offerings of food,flowers and other multicolored patterned intricate decorations. Pictures and videos were forbidden. A woman's voice was speaking in Taiwanese over the speakers. She must have been saying something wonderful because I witnessed many monks discreetly wiping tears aside.After each prayer the gong was struck and the long horns blown. During one offering all the ladies surrounding me placed their fingers in a very intricate mudra. I tried to copy the finger placements but did not succeed very well. A bowl of chips came our way and we were to break the chip in half and place the other half back into the basket to be given to other entities. Then a bowl of juice was passed around and the ladies use their ring finger to take a drop, but the males use the second finger on their left hand. Then a bowl of very tiny tofu pellets was passed around and we were requested to take one and eat it.
I found that everyone was very friendly, kind and considerate.
Although I couldn't understand the language I could appreciate the sentiments and the mood of the gathering. The only distraction was my Roman Catholic friend who was sitting right next to me and was certain that God was going to send down a bolt of lightening to strike her dead because she was participating in the worship of false Gods. I asked her to kindly move over a bit.....just in case.
About a half hour in I really needed to go to the ladies but waited patiently until the end of the service. When it was over I asked the interpreter if she could show me the ladies but she said that I would have to wait until all the nuns and monks exited the building. OK then..... I waited and waited then she said that the ladies was located in another building altogether but first we would have to have our picture taken with the head monks in front of the altar . Alrighty ....by now I am truly practicing mind and body control.....waiting ....waiting...finally someone almost takes a picture but a cell phone begins to ring and it's in a purse but the lady is handicapped. The phone is located and the bag given to the owner then many..many pictures are taken as one monk at the back of the photographer wiggles his head like a bobble head ....which is very endearing and we all give a smile. We are finally given the nod and now we can go. Apparently all the other ladies had the same destination in mind because there was a lineup. They were very kind and asked me to go first but I declined and waited patiently for my turn. I figured that I might as well continue to use mind control..chant and be happy.
All participants were given paper bags chock full of prasadam. Some kind soul followed us with the car headlights on to light our way as we walked back to find our vehicles. After we were home and happily looking through our goodie bags the phone rang and it was the interpreter just making sure that we had arrived back home safe and sound. That concern for our safe return left a very warm spot in my heart and I went to sleep with a little smile on my face.
Until next time. Hare Krsna
