New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 12/09/2018

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Anuttama, Chaitanya Mangala (chair), Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara, Olivia, Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Kripamaya.

1. Ranaka’s Monthly Report

Lalita Gopi (Temple Barn)

• Milking eight cows at the Temple Barn: Lakshmi, Subhadra, Sriya, Jamuna, Malati, Surabhi, Anjali, and Usha. They are producing approximately 20 gallons of milk per day.
• Anandavidya is making approximately 30-40 lb of butter each week, although it is hard to measure because he has not been putting it in molds since the Deity cooks are using it in large quantities for ghee.
• The vet visited to trim Malati’s hooves and checked on Vamsika at Nandagram. He confirmed she is approximately 2.5 months pregnant.
• Ray installed the new hundi at the Temple Barn to securely collect donations.
• Sriya is being dried off for rebreeding and will soon go to visit Madhu the bull at Nandagram.
• The new ECO-V bags have been very useful. Lalila Gopi is keeping a supply at the barn and offering them for $10 each when a bag is needed.
• We are providing bedding for the cows and leaving open the barn door for the cows to come in for shelter from the winter elements.
• We are temporarily not feeding hay on the hill above the barn due to wet and muddy weather conditions.
• The new “Do not feed the cows during milking” signs are proving effective.

Ray (General Farm Hand)

• Mounted two new tractor tires on the front of the 5095M John Deere tractor.
• Moved the last three cows from the Bahulaban pasture to their winter quarters at the Valley Barn.
• Repaired pasture fence at Valley Barn.
• Continues moving hay as needed from the Valley Barn to the Nandagram and Temple barns.

Caitanya Bhagavat (Nandagram & Bahulaban)

• Daily barn maintenance and general cow care: feeding hay, filling the stock tanks with water two to three times per day, bed packing, counting the cows and checking on the cows’ health and well-being at Nandagram and Bahulaban. Also, he is performing similar duties at the Valley Barn on the weekends.
• Caring for Tulasi’s medical needs, as she is geriatric.
• Caring for Madusudhana the sire bull and Vamsika the cow, who are at Nandagram for breeding.

Suchandra (Community & Teaching Gardens)

• Her part-time winter crew consists of Monique and Sara
• The crew has been preparing gardens for spring and shutting down operations for the winter:
• Planted fall lily and gladiola bulbs at the Teaching Garden.
• Have covered most of the lily/gladiola beds with hay.
• Dug up cannas at the Teaching Garden.
• Stored all ground cover to save for next year.
• Re-planted mums where they can re-grow next year.
• Pulled down the bitter melon and loki vines at the Teaching Garden and Vidya’s Garden.
• Started making cages for next year’s tomatoes and vines.
• Began measuring and mapping of the gardens for next year.
• Planned the seed order for the coming year

Lila (Nandagram Garden)

• She shut down the Nandagram Garden for the season and will resume in late February.

Radhanath das (Vidya’s Garden)

• He and Dharma Raj cleaned out the garden from dead plants, removed ground cover, and added the cow manure. There are only a few beds left, which will be finished by spring.
• Prepared pots with soil for planting the next batch of flowering bulbs (narcissus, amaryllis, and hyacinths).
• Continued preparations for next year by finalizing the seed and supplies orders and devised strategies and goals for next season.

Ranaka

• Vidya, Suchandra, Radhanath das, Monique, Lalita, Caitanya Bhagavat, Ray, and Ranaka met with Kacey Gantzer to hear about greenhouses and high tunnels. These structures would allow us to extended the growing season for some crops and flowers, and would yield a more even flow of harvesting throughout the growing season while reducing the labor input. Kacey is committed to working with us throughout the implementation process.

2. External Grant Request: $15K for Gopal’s Garden School 2018-19 Academic Year

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to continue its support of a school in the New Vrindaban community.

RESOLVED: The Board approves a grant of $15K for Gopal’s Garden 2018-19 school year.

Here’s a link to the ECO-Vrindaban website.

For regular updates, please visit, like and follow the ECO-V Facebook page.