HARE KRISHNA RURAL LIFE dedicated to practically exploring Srila Prabhupada's instructions on simple living and high thinking   Projects This page is dedicated to both photographic and written descriptions of rural projects being undertaken by both individuals and Iskcon projects. Please send information on your project with a short description. Include details on the challenges you have faced and conquered and those that still remain. Hopefully, someone in our audience can help find a remedy.

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A spring wheat and fall rye crop in  fields situated on the one hundred acre certified organic farm in the Prabhupada-seva Rural Community located in Ontario, Canada  

Bhaktivedanta Manor has never been really known for its agricultural contribution. Until recently the Manor had only 17 acres of which 8 acres were pasture and vegetables. The remaining 9 acres are woodlands and formal gardens.

Srila Prabhupada wanted the Manor to be self reliant including the cottage industries of weaving and spinning and a goshalla of 150 cows. Somehow because of the impetus built up due to the Manor s long standing dispute with the local and central government, we have had to acquire another 60 acres. I do not think there would have been the financial backing for a land purchase had there not been a Manor campaign. This is a sign that Srila Prabhupada s desire and Krishna s plan are moving us all along. The Bhaktivedanta Manor Cow Protection Project (BMCPP) has been working along a controlled breeding programme. This breeding schedule will eventually peak at 25 - 30 animals. In other words we are impregnating 1 cow every 9 months. If we lost a calf or cow prematurely we compensate by impregnating a second cow that year. The land we have previously owned has not been enough to support our herd (currently standing at 19 animals). Because the BMCPP has been supported considerably by the large Indian community there has been a breeding program based on bought-in feed and bedding. Specifically two thirds of the income has come from donors of one type or another. The other income has come from the Kitchen Department which not only buys the milk our cows produce but also pays a subsidy to BMCPP for any milk bought elsewhere. Our breeding programme is enabling us to supply 35 liters of milk each day, which represents one third of the temples liquid milk consumption. To be self-reliant on fresh milk each day, which represents one third of the temple s liquid milk consumption. To be self-reliant on fresh milk would mean a heard population of 75 to 90 cows and we clearly do not have the resources presently for this. The new 60 acres will enable us to grow all the food our present herd needs and most of the food the final herd total will need. We are currently milking 5 cows per day all at different levels of lactation from 7 months (12 liters per day) to three and a half years (3 liters per day). The cows are all hand milked. Any calves are allowed to suckle from their mothers after milking with the milkman ensuring there is enough left for the calf. The calves are allowed to suckle until they are 8 to 10 months old then they are weaned. We have found petroleum jelly smeared on the teats and sprinkled with chili powder an effective way of weaning a calf from its mother whilst grazing together in the same field. There are 7 oxen of which 5 are fully trained; one is in training and the other is too young. We normally train them on the job so to speak. Nasal harnessing gives good control and is safe for all. Until now our oxen have done some ploughing and caring. One practically daily task for the oxen is pulling a cart which can hold twenty guests. The cart is pulled by two oxen and driven by reins attached to their noses held by a driver sitting on the cart. Now that we have the new land our oxen are going to have a full and satisfied life. They will be able to exhibit their ploughing skills fully when the work the 40 acres of rotational land. Twenty acres will be left as permanent pasture.The nine year rotation we are intending to follow is as follows: wheat/oats; beans; potatoes/mangels; kale; barley undersown to grass and clover (4 years). This year and next we are hunting for all the old equipment we need for harvesting, threshing, rolling and grinding. The Manor has two Pot Belly pigs which help by eating the kitchen left over prasadam. There is a sheep (the first of many accepting that Srila Prabhupada wanted spinning and presumably sheep) and two goats which were meant to keep the sheep company but didn t. There are 4 full time men on the farm and gardens with Parasurama helping when he is not globe and country trotting on Padayatras.

 

This summer marks the 20th anniversary of Srila Prabhupada s only visit to Gita-nagari. Even in the early stages of ISKCON s development, Prabhupada encouraged devotees to set up farm communities to show the example of simple living and high thinking. For awhile different city temples had their own farm projects. Columbus had New Vrindavana, New Orleans had New Talavan. And the New York temple had a farm named "New Varsana," usually called simply, "the New York Farm" --which bewildered outsiders, since it was located, not in New York, but in central Pennsylvania. Devotees had purchased the farm in 1974 from a Mennonite farmer named Jake Zook. Jake had been an excellent dairy farmer, but one summer day while he was riding his tractor, a bee stung him, and caused him to have an accident in which the tractor turned over on him and permanently injured his leg. He decided to sell the farm. When the devotees purchased the farm, Jake spent about a year showing them how to take care of the fields and the beautiful Brown Swiss herd, which became a protected herd under the devotees care. Prabhupada was pleased with the Pennsylvania Farm, and said its name should be changed from New Varsana to Gita-nagari. After Prabhupada left the planet in 1977, Satsvarupa Maharaja, Suresvara dasa and others found among Prabhupada s papers a 1949 proposal to the Gandhi Memorial Fund Committee [later known in ISKCON as the "Gita-nagari Prophecy"] for the establishment of a village named "Geeta Nagari" which would be founded on the principles of the Bhagavad-Gita. Prabhupada cited Krishna s instructions, explaining how, only by basing a community on the Bhagavad Gita could we obtain the peace and harmony Gandhi sought:The total material substance, called Brahman, is the source of birth, and it is that Brahman that I impregnate, making possible the births of all living beings, 0 son of Bharata. It should be understood that all species of life, 0 son of Kunti, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father. (B.G.14.3-4) We can know from this fact that there is a sweet transcendental interrelation between all living entities, irrespective of not only caste, creed, and color between man and man, but between man and beast, man and birds, man and reptiles, man and plants, etc., and so also between man and God, and between God and others, and so on. The Bhagwat Geeta can most scientifically raise this standard of life of sweet relation between one thing and another, and as such the Geeta Nagari shall be the center for such supreme culture of knowledge The Geeta Nagari shall set the example that neither God nor the living being nor Nature is in any way antagonistic toward one another, but that all of them exist in harmony as a complete whole unit. When Geeta Nagari will attempt to harmonize such sweet relation between man and God, Man and the world and the world and God, at such an auspicious time onLy, the united nations effort to establish peace in the world will be successful or the dream of a casteless society all over the world will be realized in practice. Although Srila Prabhupada only made a one-day visit to Gita-nagari, he was deeply impressed with how happy the devotees were and how well organized the community was. The following year, though his health was beginning to fail, he proposed to return. He told Tamal Krishna Maharaja, "I want to establish varnasrama." "How will you do that, SrilaPrabhupada?" will go to Gita-nagari. I will sit down, and I will show you how to live off the land." He purchased a ticket to go to the U.S., but by Krishna s inconceivable will, he was only able to make it to London before his health deteriorated so much he was forced to return to Vrindavana, leaving the Gita-nagari devotees with intensified feelings of separation, and reinforcing their inspiration to try to carry out his desires. Below is Srila Prabhupada s Evening Lecture at Gitanagari, for your reading-out-loud pleasure. Krishna in His Natural Life is a Village Boy (15 July 1976) So Krishna consciousness means to follow the instruction of Krishna. Our life has a certain aim in this material world, sometimes we forget. Material world means forgetting our aim of life; that is natural. The basic principle of material life is forgetting Krishna. Krsna bhaliya jiva bhagavan upkare, nasate maya tare... Forgetfulness is our nature, we are not as perfect as God, therefore, there are so many inefficiencies. So forgetfulness is also another material quality. So material life means forgetting Krishna. Maya means when one has forgotten his relationship with Krishna, that is called maya. So Krishna is very kind. When we forget too much, this material world is forgetfulness, but still, according to the Vedic system, Krishna consciousness is maintained to some extent if you follow the Vedic principles, then we revive our consciousness, our relationship. That is explained by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu when he was talking with Sarvabhauma Bhattacharya, that the Vedic principle is to revive or to remind our relationship with Krishna. In the Bhagavad-Gita also Krishna says, vedais en sarvair aham eva vedyah] , the real purpose of Vedic knowledge is to come to the understanding of Krishna consciousness. So this Krishna consciousness movement is trying to revive the original, constitutional position. So one of them, in Krishna consciousness movement, is village organization, as you are trying here. Krishna, in His natural life, is a village boy in Vrindavana. Vrindavana is a village. There is no factory, there is no motorcar, there are no big, big skyscraper buildings; it is village. That Krishna likes. In the sastra it is said, Vrndavana parityazy a padam ekam na gaceati. KrIshna is so fond of that Vrindavana village life, with His cowherd boys and cowherd girls, His gopis, Mother Yasoda, Father Nanda, and Upananda, uncles, and big family, the cows and the calves, the trees, the Yamuna River. He is satisfied in that life. So at least those who are Krishna conscious, they should be satisfied with simple life in the village. That is part of Krishna consciousness. But it does not mean that we shall avoid city life or town life, not. Everything, every place is Krishna s place. Everywhere there should be Krishna consciousness. But if we keep ourself within the village and properly organize as Krishna personally showed us the example, He was personally taking care of cows, calves. When He was a child, He was taking care of the calves. When He was grown up, He was taking care of the cows, although He was a very rich man s son; Nanda Maharaja was the village king. But still, He was working hard the whole day, going in the morning to the pasturing ground and coming back in the evening. Then He used to take His bath, change dress, and immediately go to sleep. This was Krishna s pastime. So we should follow His footprints. What is that verse? asraddadhanah purusa dharmasyasya paranatapa aprapya main nivartante mrtyu-sainsara-vartmani So whatever Krishna has taught by His personal life, by His teaching, to follow that is Krishna consciousness. Everything is there in the Srimad Bhagavatam. His personal life is there, and Bhagavad-Gita, His teaching are there, and He comes for this purpose: partitranaya sadhunam vinasya ca duskrtam Those who are naturally God-conscious, to deliver them, to make their life perfect, in this life. This life should be the last material life and next life they should go directly to Krishna. Main eti... tyaktva dehain punar janma naiti main eti... If we become fully Krishna conscious, simply try to understand what is Krishna, there is no difficulty: Krishna is the Supreme Controller, that's all. There is a supreme controller -- that we have to accept, as we were discussing in the bus this morning. There is no way out, there is not way out that you will deny the Supreme Controller, that is not possible. So there is a Supreme Controller. If you are a sane man you ll understand very easily, and that Supreme Controller is Krishna. He comes personally and says: mattah paratram nanyet kincid asti dhananjaya. There is no other controller above Krishna, therefore He is the Supreme Controller. Jsvara parama krsna, the Supreme Controller. The Supreme Controller, He is giving us instruction. If we follow His instruction, very simple, and remain in this village satisfied with simple life, agricultural produce, milk, how many nice things you have produced, where is the difficulty? There is no economic problem. You are getting so much milk that it is becoming a problem how to utilize it.In India we are in scarcity of milk. So, krsi-goraksya- vanUyam. If you have got enough milk you can make trade. Van~jyam, that is Krishna s instruction. It is not that we hate the modem system. Asambandhe we want to try to engage everything in Krishna s service. If modem machine is there, we don t hate it. We must find out the means how this machine can be utilized for Krishna s service. So if you have got excess milk, you can make it powdered milk and you can send to India in any amount. It will be consumed. At least we can use it in out different centers, we can distribute. So there is no question. Besides that, you can prepare ‘ghee from milk. From milk first of all drink as much as you like. Then convert it into yogurt, next day, next day, next day. And then, when that is also enough, then chum it, take out butter...buttermilk and butter...and drink butter milk with capati It is very palatable, very nutritious. Then butter...if you have got excess butter, then turn into ghee, and ghee can be preserved for years. There is no question of preservation. You send it to cities and towns. And we are now encouraging to open prasad distribution restaurant. They can utilize the ghee. Then where is the problem? There is no problem. Each drop of milk you can utilize to the perfect utility point. And if there are excess cows, you have got some woods, so you cut out the trees and make an encirclement and keep them there. They will live there. So there is no problem. Krishna was maintaining 900,000 cows. There is no problem. But give protection to the cows. That is the order of Krishna. We cannot be so ungrateful that we kill our mother. Milk is so important. We are drinking the milk of the cow, and in exchange, if we cut the throat of our mother, that is not civilization. That is barbarism, less than animal. Animals also, they have respect for mother. So try to give protection to the cow, that is a pious activity, and you ll not be in scarcity. Live village life, simple life, and be satisfied with the bare necessities. There is no need of luxury. And save time and chant Hare Krishna. This is ideal life. So I am very pleased that you are doing that, and do it more nicely so that others may be attracted. This town life, industrial life, factory life, is asuric life. It is killing human ambition. It is killing civilization. So there are many other businesses for a Krishna conscious person, because in the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna speaks all around: sociology, politics, philosophy, religion, culture, economics, everything is there. If you simply follow Krishna s instructions, then you get cultural life all around. So this is an ideal village. Develop it more and more. Our Paramananda is there. He is very experienced, and others are there. Do it very nicely. I am very happy to see that things are going nicely. Thank you very much.    

 

Krsnuv Dvur 
Czech Devotees farm for Krishna
by Douglas Friedlander

Walking through the streets of Prague, the intense drone of city life made me feel distant from God. I had been there for less than a day, and had intended to stay a week, but still I decided to leave. My spirit was uplifted dramatically when I found out that there was a Krishna Temple and restaurant called Govinda's. I immediately started out for the temple with my heart filled with the Holy Names. After arriving, I was blessed with nourishing prasadam and some wonderful information about Krishna. I was enlightened about an ISKCON farm in the Czech Republic called "Krsnuv dvur" (Krishna s Yard), which is only sixty kilometers from Prague. I was ecstatic to find out about the farm, as I used to work on a small organic homestead in Arizona. I love this kind of work for Krishna, and was eager to see how the devotees, in the Czech Republic, serve Him.I had been a friend of Krishna for about six years, yet I was unaware that I would be led to such beautiful devotional service. From the moment that I decided to travel out to the farm, it was as though I had begun to awaken from a bad dream of a life with Maya at every turn. The local train stops at the property of the devotees. I was surrounded by beautiful countryside. As I walked towards the courtyard. I could feel my heart begin to open. My eyes focused clearly as I walked past a beautiful old orchard towards a rustic farm house. As I rounded the farm house and walked through the gate, I was greeted with the wonderful sound of 4 Hare Krishna". This was a welcome home for me. I am now a new resident of "Krsnuv dvur" and would like to let the readers of Hare Krsna Rural Life know how the devotional service of the farm is developing.This farm was established in 1990 to follow Srila Prabhupada s intentions regarding farming and self-sufficiency in ISKCON. The farm is thirty hectares (about 75 acres). There was some difficulty in the transition from communism to democracy, and due to these difficulties the devotees received the land in several parcels. The land was reverted back to the original owners, or next of kin, and this took some time. The first year the devotees were only allowed use of the buildings and a garden. The next year five hectares for grazing animals were added. After that, twenty-five hectares were used. Now there are thirty hectares that belong to the farm and all but three are being cultivated. The land is not for sale, but the devotees have a renewable lease of thirty years. There is a large courtyard which is surrounded by buildings, which include: the temple building, a house for grain storage and milling, a large multiple use barn, and a storage shed. The devotees activities radiate from this courtyard. The buildings are old, from around 1850, and are well used. These structures were in need of much work to transform it into a place worthy of Krishna. The devotees have worked over four years to create an environment in which Krishna bhakti prevails. There is one goal here, to serve Krishna. The foundation of this goal is to be self sufficient, and independent from the material world. Although some aspects of this goal have been accomplished, there are several projects still to be fulfilled. One of the first projects for the devotees was to renovate the farm house and establish an ashram and a Temple. The temple building is three stories with a root cellar. The cellar is the means by which the farm stores all of the fruits and vegetables from the harvest. Much of the harvest is canned to preserve for the winter and the devotees hope to develop a system for drying excess produce. There is no refrigeration here. Water is derived from a nearby subterranean stream that fills a large water storage tank by gravitational flow, which is housed in the cellar. The water is pumped, by hand, to a secondary container. This tank supplies water, by gravity, to several sinks and speckles where it is accessible to the devotees. On the first floor of the temple building there is the kitchen, a room for bathing and family ashrams. The kitchen uses wood for much of the preparations. This is also how the temple building is heated during the winter. There are two families living here: the family of the temple president, Turiya Prabhu, his wife and thirteen year old son, and a family with two young children. On this floor there is also a temporary ashram for the matajis. The toilets are on this level but are outside. The sewage system is an anaerobic septic tank that leeches into an underground bed of sand. The second floor consists of the temple room, two offices and an ashram for the matajis, which is near completion. On the third floor are the ashrams for the male devotees with one more room for a grhastha couple. This temple is the central focus for life on this farm. There are about thirty devotees (20 men, 10 women, and 3 children) here, who all offer service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The farm is nestled in an area of beautiful rolling hills and surrounded by forest. This season 27 hectares were cultivated. There is a mini tractor which is used but as little as possible. The majority of the work is done by two different methods: devotee devotional service and animal power. According to Srila Prabhupada s wishes, ox power was being used until the untimely death of our only working ox, Jiva. This resulted in the use of horses of which we have three. The farm has two small Hungarian bulls, two milking cows, and four heifers. These cows, Krishna providing, will bring us oxen. There is a nice story about one of the cows called Sarasvati. She arrived here and was dry for more than a year, but to the devotees surprise, one day her teats swelled. She began to give milk, which made everybody happy. Sarasvati is now milked twice a day and she gives up to seven liters a day. The other cow, Surabhi, is a Jersey cow and she has been giving up to ten liters of milk a day for more than a year and a half. The farm has a mature fruit and nut orchards, situated in three groves. There are several varieties of apples, pears, cherries, and plums. The nut trees are walnut and hazel. These trees were not tended over the years thus they give less than their potential. In the orchard there are bees belonging to the owner of the property and a devotee is working on beekeeping for the farm.There is also a tree nursery with many varieties. The newly established trees will be relocated to Prabbupada s Valley. This valley leads from the courtyard up through the fields, separating two beautiful rolling hills. In this three hectare valley devotees plan a meandering path through an orchard that leads up to a shrine dedicated to Prabhupada. Around the established orchards are beautiful gardens. Lord Krishna loves flowers and this farm has many to offer. A variety of vegetables are grown which include several kinds of squash, lettuce and chard. There is a greenhouse with many tomato plants. The growing season is too short to grow melons and other kinds of summer fruits. One devotee is interested in healing with herbs and he has a garden of medicinal herbs. He also wildcrafts many herbs from the area as it is rich in wild foods. This natural permaculture is an area that is being researched for sources of food and medicinal herbs because it is self-sustained and already established. There are staple crops occupying the majority of this farm. The devotees have focused on growing strong varieties of grains and vegetables. There are about fifteen hectares used for these crops. The list of grains is as follows: oats, barley, buckwheat, wheat, and spelt. I was happy to find out that they were growing spelt (Spalda in Czech) which is one of the oldest, strongest and most nutritious of all the wheats. The devotees choices were similar for other crops. Many hectares of alfalfa, clover, rye, and other grasses have been grown for the devotional service of the animals. In this part of the farm there are also vegetables growing on a larger scale than in the garden. There are three full hectares of potatoes and there are also peas, beets, green beans, onions and carrots. The onions are grown as a companion plant for the carrots as biological control for carrot root fly. The onions are donated to a nearby hospital, nevertheless the hospital has made financial appreciation to the devotees. This is one of the ways that Krishna provides. The farm's soil has lost much vitality after forty years of CODOperative fanning (the communist government) exploitation, so there is much to give back to the earth. Some cover crops were grown specifically to use as green manure, and building blocks for the soil. There was mustard seed and something called svazenka (I could find no English equal) among other plants that are grown and are turned back into the soil. These crops are grown in a conventional way meaning that they were sown, grown and harvested. It is the wish of the devotees to establish an environment of permaculture here; a permanent and sustainable agriculture with an emphasis on tree crops, energy efficiency, soil conservation, saving water and recycling wherever possible. There is a plot of land, about one hectare, which is being used for sustainable and multifunctional land use experimentation along this line. All here agree that this is a great way in which one can serve Krishna and live in harmony with the earth. However, this is a major undertaking. As conditioned souls, it is nearly impossible for us to mimic God and the ways of nature so there is a lot of work ahead. The farm seems to function how Krishna intended it to be. I was blessed to be a part of the harvest. To harvest crops, on this scale, I thought would be an immense task. I was happily surprised to see how simply and smoothly the system works. The work is not easy. It is labour intensive, but in the mode of goodness. All the harvest was either reaped by scythe or horse drawn mower. Respectively, crops are gathered and brought to the barn. The barn contains three sections: One for the cows and the three horses, another for hay storage and the thrashing machines (also referred to as a threshing machine), a third for a machine and tool shop. There are two thrashers that do a lot of the work. A large electric motor is shared by these thrashers and the grinders in the mill. The equipment was gathered and brought here by the devotees. The machines are all older, bulky machines that, by Krishna s grace, work wonderfully. Most have the potential to be converted to ox power. Some tools and machines were acquired with the thought of establishing a museum of old farm equipment. After the grains are separated from the plants (not all hulled) they are sent to be milled. There has been some difficulty in removing the hulls from select grains, like spelt and buckwheat. The mill is in a three story building. Grain storage is on the third floor, the two grinding mills on the second. After the grains are milled they fall down a chute to the first floor where they are sifted. These machines are also vintage and are still being fine tuned. Much of the flour is used in the kitchen and at Govinda's in Prague, and some is packaged and sold to guests. Next to the mill is a partial structure that is to become the home of the treadmill for the oxen. By 1996, for the centennial of Srila Prabhupada s birth, the farm will, hopefully, be converted to ox power to fulfill his wishes. The dream, that the devotees are intent on seeing, is to establish a completely self-sufficient ISKCON farm. One of the most immediate steps of this plan is the opening of a Gurukula school. The first semester of this school is to begin this fall. Another aspect of self-sufficiency is permaculture in every aspect of cultivation. The devotees of Krsnuv dvur also have plans to expand the compound extensively. These plans include a large structure that will extend between the present temple building and the mill. This new building will have an immense temple room for worship, with a two story vaulted ceiling. There will also be a new larger kitchen and prasadam hail. These rooms will be joined by a lecture hail which will be used for seminars on different topics, including interreligious, ecological and agricultural etc. There will also be additional devotee housing. This project will hopefully be one of the fruits of this farm s service to Krishna.For me to do Krishna s work and to be a part of this ISKCON farm is what my heart and soul has been longing for. I do not deserve this divine grace. I am blessed to be here. Hare Krishna!! Krsnuv Dvur c. I 257 28 Chotysany, Czechoslovakia  

 

Iskcon Ghana We have received a short report from Shastra dasa and Mother Ila d.d. who have sent the following pictures of the gurukula class visiting the cow herd. Presently, they have 18 cows and bulls. They are pasture-fed the whole year round on their land and adjoining farms. The project also contains an agricultural farm where the devotees are busy planting orange and lemon trees. A majestic bull is well-cared for by the devotees at the Iskcon Ghana goshalla. The construction of a new goshall is in the works.   Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krsna must be pleased to see the young devotees and cows being properly cared for. Iskcon Ghana ki jaya!


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