New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

By Navina-Sharma das

Age of Garden: Resumed this year after 6 year lapse

Size of Garden: Nine 50-foot rows

Food-bearing Crops: Bush beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Butternut Squash, Corn, Cucumbers, Okra, Peas, Bell Peppers, Spaghetti squash, Yellow Squash, Tomatoes, Zucchini, Pears, Apples

Kalindi comes from a family of folks with green thumbs, but hasn’t gardened in years. “I grew up as one of seven children, and we all worked on my parents vegetable garden. It was huge! That’s probably why they had so many kids: free labor, or at least cheap. They used to pay us a penny an hour.” She was able to bring that culture here until her efforts started leading only to happier (and fatter) groundhogs and deer.

So the fields lay fallow for some time, until Gopisa started to feel like they weren’t taking advantage of the mercy of the Lord, who had kindly given them such nice land. Kalindi was motivated in a different way: she started to miss her favorite food, batter-fried okra. So, back to work it was. And practically all from seeds!

Mother Nature also helped keep things on track. Their television service went out during a recent electrical storm, and Kalindi feels like it was Krishna’s arrangement. Now that the easy temptation of sitting on the sofa and watching her favorite programs is gone, she finds she is eager to get up to the garden and work. Wherever she is, her thoughts are focused on what needs to be done: planting, weeding, mowing, etc. “Gardening makes you feel like Krishna is in control, and it makes me peaceful.”

If you happen to catch her on the way to the temple with a bag in hand, it just might be the first batch of yet another crop that she is taking to offer to the lotus feet of Sri Sri Vrindavana Chandra.