New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Hare Krishna,

Please accept my humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Jaya Gaura Nitai!

Today marks two weeks from when I arrived at the holy dhama, New Vrindavan. Our Merciful Lord has been showering me with the blessings of a new beautiful family and life of service. I am very excited to be here and more than happy to dig up some dirt and allow for the growth of new life. I am your aspiring servant, Bhakta Rafael. You may call me Bhakta Rafa for short (pronounced Ha-fa).

ECOV has taken me under its wings and is showing me how to grow. and plant life.

All I knew about plants before is that they are conscious beings that need tender loving care in order for them to thrive, kinda like us. And like humans, they suffer from the material world. Uncomfortable weather, mistreated soils, overgrown weeds, animals bothering, people stepping on them, etc…

Still, we are making and effort to allow life to grow and flourish. The goal is to grow foods and flowers from our own (organic) garden, offer it to Godhead, and then nourish our family and community.

The work has been ongoing, lead by seriously devoted and experienced souls; as the saying goes “This generation plants a tree, the next gets the shade”. And that’s the basic principle. Except, we wish to give our children much more than just shade.

So far, at  Madhuban, we’ve planted 10 Chinese chestnut trees, with 20 more to go. Chestnuts were native to this area, and the natives used to live off of Chestnut flour. In a few years, Krishna willing, they will produce fruits and grow to be huge trees! 20 more trees were distributed to the residents to plant on their own land. Jaya!

At the Garden of 7 Gates, with the help of hardworking devotees, Charles and Navadwipa, we dug a 125-foot long bed for asparagus.  These veggies are great, because they are perennials, meaning they will grow back year after year, Krishna willing.

Other perennials are the many varieties of blackberries, blueberries, currants, bush cherries  and raspberries being cultivated in 3 separate beds, also within the 7 gates. After we transplanted them, we are laying down newspaper with hay on top, as mulch. It’s a big job, but it’s better to try to prevent the weeds from growing, than to battle them in the summer, when they grow out of control. Weeding is always necessary!