Sunroom

Dear Readers;

Last year our garden bombed...big time. Perhaps it was due to the super cold spring...our daughters wedding in May....or our attention was more on the house renovation and not getting those seedlings out early enough.

 Although....to be honest with myself and I know that this is super vain......I don't like being out in the sun....it causes wrinkles! I have never roasted my body on the beach and I tend to run from building to building and walk on the shady side of the street. I never put sunblock on because I don't like chemicals on my skin....so the problem is ....although I love fresh veggies....and getting dirty in the garden.....I only feel alright in the garden on miserably cloudy days. Good for me...bad for the plants.

 Fortunately after watching Jon Jondais Ted Talks video....I have found a solution to my problem. In the video Jon said that he only works in his garden at six o'clock in the morning and only for fifteen minutes...every morning.....and grows enough vegetables for his family of six...with...enough veggies to sell!!! AHA! That made the most sense to me. Why didn't I think about that myself?

 Since that realization some months back my world has changed dramatically...just due to that small adjustment. Plants have now become my friends!

 Here at the farm we are building our sun room so that we can get those trays of seedlings growing early next spring.

Until next time.
Hare Krsna,
Lal

Before

Now

Things Are Happening

Dear Readers;

 Things are happening at Govindas Farm. Although I do admit that as a small tribe we have been having a bit of a hard time getting used to our new member. I think that is normal as with all creatures. For instance when we introduce a new cow to the herd, we don't put her directly into the same field. We are mindful that the herd has a hierarchy and we respect that. We first put the cow in an adjacent pasture for a few days. The cows  see her and they all come over to inspect her...they bow their heads ..up and down...up and down...up and down. Perhaps a half hour goes by and everyone starts to graze right beside the fence. It's almost like the herd is saying..."Yes...you may become one of us...but ..right now we still want to see if we like you."

 Of course cows are very kind and accommodating so by day two they are all eating together. Sometimes they even allow the new herd member to be "The Boss" for the day. In the end Mukta gently takes back her "crown" in a very sweet and polite way. The newest member now feels as though she belongs and is quite happy to follow behind her benevolent leader.

 I will attempt to be more like my wonderful herd of cows and be patient...loving...and finally even accepting. Only time will tell if humans from different families can live in the same house.

 Although we are individuals...we all love healthy,organic fruit and veggies. Natha das loves to make green smoothies and I love to make all kinds of fruit and veggie juices...so together we are all getting very healthy mentally,physically,emotionally and spiritually.

Until next time,
Hare Krsna
Lal

Freshly pressed organic apple juice....mmmmm

 

Minimizing The Pantry

Dear Readers;

My pantry was more of an oubliette than a working pantry. I felt stressed just looking into it and just try to find that "thing" that I needed.

Around the middle of the week I decided that I had procrastinated long enough so I decided to take on the pantry.

 When I really hate to do something but I know that it must be done I set up the television on a chair where I can see it...then I find a mindless but fun show on Netflix, such as Drop Dead Diva. I then empty every shelf from the pantry and place the articles on the table and floor. I then sweep and wash the shelves.

For the next step of the process...I sit on my footstool and "observe the battlefield". This sometimes takes a full half hour of just looking at all my "stuff". I then come up with a plan of what is going into storage,(My husband calls the shed..purgatory:) and what is going back on the shelves. The entire process took two days.

To much stuff :(

What a mess!

I can't even see the floor!

 

 

 

 

These are the after pics. I managed to fill two big boxes of great stuff that I no longer need. The boxes will go to the shed for one month and if I don't open them up to retrieve an item...then off they go to a second hand store. Yay!!!

Simplify and minimize....it feels so good:)

Until next time.
Hare Krsna.
Lal

Much better but I can still whittle down the spices.

The bins now hold the occasional items. See the floor space:)

Dishes for guests and my homemade laundry soap,vinegar,cleaning cloths and beeswax candles.

The two boxes ready to move on.

The Scent Of Apples

Dear Readers;

I grew up in a teeny weeny French village called Bellegarde. Bellegarde is happily tucked away in the south east corner of Saskatchewan,Canada.

When you live in a small village you usually do a few different jobs to make money. My mother Madeline was janitor of the local school for twenty years and she would also "run" the mail from our local post office to another post office nearer to the train station. The village of Antler was located very close to a major highway and the train traveled right through the village.

My foster father Paul died when I was nine years old so my foster mother Madeline had to take over his jobs. Consequently I would join her on these drives to deliver and pick up  the canvas bags of mail.

 Antler had an independent grocery store owned by Mr. Copet so while we were waiting for the mail to get sorted into the bags that we would  transport back to Bellegarde...mom and I would wander over to Mr. Copets' store and buy our groceries for the week. Invariably a plastic bag of Mackintosh apples(my mothers favorite and also probably the only type in the store) would be in that cardboard box of groceries.

Even today when I happen upon the scent of apples, it immediately brings back good memories.

Until next time.
Hare Krsna.
Lal

Gord carrying a bucket of apples in our local organic apple orchard.

 When one cow sees us coming within moments the entire herd comes running! We feed them a couple buckets a day.