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.
When we renovated our farm kitchen,Gord was wanting to install an electric stove as well as our Pioneer Princess Wood Burning stove.http://www.amishcookstoves.com/pioneer_princess.shtml but I insisted that if we wanted to do this simple living lifestyle then we had to do it by ...well doing it!
It's now four years later and we LOVE our stove. I could wax poetic about this stove all day long...but I won't.
In order for this fantastic stove to work properly it requires alot of wood. That wood needs to be close at hand at all times because we cook on the stove year round and the stove also heats our water.
Here are some inspiring pics found on https://www.pinterest.com/ on wood storage.
I spend much of my time thinking and putting into practice ways to keep my life and my surroundings minimized . I'm hoping that the new look of my blog will reflect this simple living and our goal to a more spiritual take on life.
Here are some pictures from our daily morning meditation walk.
A friend just posted this on Facebook and I thought this is perfect. People are always asking us, "Why do you protect cows?"
Here it is.....
IN PRAISE OF COWS
There is no wealth that is equal to cows. To talk about cows, to hear others speak about cows, to offer gifts of cows to worthy people and to see cows are all auspicious activities. There is never any inauspiciousness in cows. On Earth cows represent high energy and are endued with the elements of strength and energetic exertion. There are also elements of great wisdom in cows and they are bestowers of great happiness upon all creatures. The country or nation where cows are protected and live without fear of slaughter becomes exalted and the sins of that country are evaporated. Cows constitute the stairs that lead to heaven. Cows are adored in heaven. Cows are goddesses competent to grant every righteous wish and desire. Verily there is nothing in the worlds more elevated or superior to cows.
Cow dung is an amazing fertilizer!
Cows are superior to all yogis and ascetics and because of this liberated divine being perform their austerities in the company and presence of cows. Cows do not feel cold or heat nor can rain afflict. Cows are never to be sacrificed they are to be given as gifts to worthy brahmanas. The ruler who gives gifts of cows to the foremost of brahmanas is sure to overcome every calamity he encounters. It is ordained in the eternal Vedas that ghee from the cow is the best of all ingredients offered as libations into the sacrificial fire. For this reason one who makes a gift of a cow to worthy brahmanas who will then use the ghee from this cow to perform Vedic ceremonies, that fortunate gifter is regarded as making a gift of a libation for sacrifice. A bovine bull is considered to be the embodiment of heaven.
One who offers a bovine bull to an accomplished brahmana has factually reserved themselves a place in heaven. Cows that have been rescued and protected and cared for in distress give even more merit as well as cows received from persons in distress due to an inability to properly take care of their cows.
A cow must never be given to a tiller of soil. Only a bovine bull may be given to a tiller of soil but never a cow. Neither a cow or a bull should ever be given unto one who will kill them. Nor should a cow or a bull be given unto an atheist or one who makes a business selling or trading cows. The Vedas have stated that one who gives away cows or bulls to such sinful persons suffers interminably in a hellish condition.
There is no gift that is higher in merit than the gift of cows. A cow lawfully acquired if given away in charity protects the whole dynasty of the giver. Cows are the source of that immortality which Vedic sacrifices prescribe. They have within them the nature of both the sun and the moon. Cows verily constitute and determine the eternal destiny of creation.
Cows are the life breath of all living creatures therefore one who makes a gift of a cow is said to be making a gift of life breath to all living creatures. Cows are also constituted as the great refuge of all living creatures thus one who makes a gift of a cow is said to be making a gift of that which is the great refuge of all living creatures.
When the surabhi cows first manifested from the aroma of ambrosial nectar they performed severe penance for 100,000 years for the purpose of acquiring the spiritual merit to be the foremost of all things needed for the performance of Vedic rituals and ceremonies; thus only from cow milk exclusively is sanctified ghee produced for the performance of Vedic rituals. Whatever is produced from any and all other types of milk is not authorised by Vedic scriptures and thus not being sanctioned by the Vedas can never be used in any Vedic rituals or ceremonies.
At the conclusion of the surabhi cows austerities Brahma himself appeared before them and granted their wishes blessing them with the benediction that cows would eternally be the sustainers of all creatures. This is why cows are sacred and most holy and the foremost of all creatures in creation and verily the refuge of all the worlds.
We have been humming and hawing for the past two years about getting a working dog. We finally came to a conclusion when our son Rama moved back from British Columbia to help us out on the farm. Rama is a big dog lover! He found a Great Pyranees cross Belgian Shepard puppies for sale over in Nova Scotia. We all agreed to take a drive over to see if they would be a good fit for our needs. Unfortunately when we saw them Rama and I wanted the fluffy female and Gord decided on the multi coloured male. In the end we brought both of them home!
Rama and I wanted the white bitch for my protection. The brown male will be used for herding the cows.
Our one big problem about acquiring dogs is feeding them. We did not want to feed them store bought dog food so we did plenty of research on the nutritional requirements for these puppies who will grow to be quite large.
On a daily basis one of us cooks a large pot of grains,beans...veggies...especially root veggies such as carrots,parsnips,beets or turnips for the puppies. We also add apples and a few tablespoons of coconut oil to the mix.
All appeared to be going very well until one night after feeding them a soupy kale mix, Rama came into the house and said that the dogs were badly bloated. This is quite deadly for this type of dog. I put my headlamp on and went out to investigate. Yes...both puppies were round as little bears. Their stomachs were hard.....but...they did not appear distressed. They were happy and jumping around as usual. Hmmmmmm...although it was a dark...cold and windy night we decided to take them for a walk anyways. They walked as usual...peed and pooped as usual so we put them back into their enclosure.
We sat around and thought about this problem. Should we phone the vet or not?
I then asked,"How much are either of you feeding them? More than one cup four times a day?"
We all had to admit that we had all been secretly feeding them double that amount! We were in fact killing them with love. Dogs...especially puppies will eat themselves to the point of making themselves sick so it is up to their caregivers to regulate the amount of food that they consume.
We all vowed to measure the amount that we feed them. The fat tummies were just fine by the next morning but we do keep a close eye on them to make sure that they are growing up healthy and strong.
We also watch a lot of Cesar Milan videos to get some good puppy training advice because being responsible dog owners takes dedication.
I am finally back. I lost my blog and had to wait for a friend to come over to help me find it again.
We have had many adventures since the last post but the one that I will touch on in this post will be about the wood chip gardening. I know that there was some discussion about how this would not work because the decomposting wood chips would leech nitrogen from the soil.
We put cardboard boxes down on the grass...then added a thick layer of cow manure and then a layer of wood chips. I will admit that when we first put the transplanted seedling into the mixture....they did not look to good. To make matters worse Hurricane Arthur roared in and killed most of the babies! Ouch! Those plants that did survive did very well and we did not have to water them at all!
We are now converts and ordered another 36 tons of wood chips!
This soap selling season is super sensational:) ...in other words we are all kept busy with the wood chip experiment...cows...making...packing , selling soap and other OM made products. For instance, this morning David,Gaura Nitai and I packed soap orders and in between that David went outside to work on hauling wood chips and weeding the gardens. Gaura Nitai made more Bug Off..Pain Away and Medicated lotion bars and I made labels...packed lotion bars,lip balms and cooked lunch.
Now the guys are off delivering the orders to the various shops and I'm left to wash dishes.. do laundry and catch up on the Blog.
I'm also doing research on Wabi Sabi or the art of simple living.
I'm trying to understand that all things are impermanent,imperfect and unfinished.
I've always worked diligently towards perfection....and failed miserably.. so you can imagine to my great relief that there is no such thing as perfection in this material world. I feel as though a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.Trying to attain this impossible standard has always left me feeling exhausted and lacking.
Hmmmmm...saying that....it's not that our barn cannot be improved upon but it will never be perfectly straight and that's OK.
Beginning of a MOObile for my new grand-daughter. Made with upcycled cotton and stuffed with merino wool.
Dear Readers;
I walk by a human and they will undoubtedly get this bewildered look and say..."Hmmmm....all of a sudden I feel hungry for some fries!" In the mood of making what we use....we make our own shampoo bar and for a hair conditioner I rinse my hair with two cups of apple cider vinegar and just leave it in. The ACV smell usually leaves after my hair is dried.This minty scented shampoo bar is a minimalists dream because you can shampoo your hair...wash your bod and brush your teeth with it. Of course I recommend you cut a bit of the bar off ...for your toothpaste...other wise...that would just be gross:)
I'll write the weekly blog post while my hair dries and besides I look like a wild woman with my hair down...and I hate having anyone see me like that! Once upon a time as I was typing my post and drying my long hair...a man...won't say who....said out loud...instead of wisely just thinking those thoughts said......"AHHHH!!!! YOU LOOK LIKE AN OLD INDIAN GRANDMOTHER!!!!".........thus began WW3 at Govindas' Farm!
Moving on to the present day....all is peaceful and mostly well. Most of the 600 tomato plants are doing well...some better than others. We observed that the tomato plants that were sunk deeper into the soil are recovering much quicker than the ones that were planted nearer to the surface.
My heritage hollyhocks are beginning to thrive but not the morning glories.
Bhakta David has been planting up a storm. He now knows what a strawberry plant looks like....but not before he beheaded all of the strawberry patch with the weed wacker:(
On Sundays I cook up a prasadam feast using as much as I can find from around the property.
Dandelion greens in the pudhas and rhubarb for desert...along with chamomile and mint tea...to name just a few of the preps.
After lunch and a little cat nap the men went back to the garden to plant carrot seeds and fix fences for the cows. I on the other hand did the dishes
I collect vintage plates from second hand shops and purify them with homa ash.
and spend the rest of the afternoon sewing a mooooobile for my brand new grand-daughter....until it was chanting time.
