Spring Newsletter. April 24, 2018
Hello Ananda Farm Friends,
Welcome to Springtime at Ananda Farm!
Life is in a full-fledged roar right now at the farm, after an especially wet and wild few months. The bees are abuzz in the full power of AUM; the bird song sings both morning and night. The fruit blossoms take turns opening in all of their magnificence, to offer sweet nectar to the ‘fliers’ of forest and field. Tulips emerge in their splendor. Dandelions return throughout the land, in their humble, yet mighty glory, bringing sunshine directly into the green forest-lawns!
At the farm, we farmers too are moving towards the summer. Broccoli, cabbage, favas and peas, even tomatoes (200 in the ground today!) are being tucked into their respective garden beds. Glenda has managed to seed more tomatoes than ever, yet again. Garlic greens and strawberries emerge victorious from their winter slumber.
Mulch is raked back to reveal earth crawlers in infinitude, satisfied in their prana-full diet of alpaca poo, coffee grounds, wood chips, straw and burlap. A true testament to the power of mulch. And the simplicity of effort in regenerating good soil; one needn’t be a scientist; a little faith and common sense will do.
The orchard pruning is done. About 80 or so new asian and european pears, and apples, went into the ground this winter/spring at Haven and in the ‘lower field’; all of them leafing out now, and many already showing off their blossoms. And if you’re wondering what we’ve offered these new friends for companionship, rest well knowing that the comfrey and clover continue to be spread in abundance.
The start greenhouse along-side the barn is OVERFLOWING. As we farmers do our best to stay calm, take one step at a time, plant, weed, water, repeat, through July.
Meanwhile, Joseph the young lumberjack has joined us for the summer as of last week, and taken up the duty of wood splitter with gusto! We’re pleased as punch to have him in the farmily.
The chickens are laying again – and have generated about 2′ of compost in their yard since last summer; extraordinary dino-birds, indeed! The Goats gratefully feast on abundance of spring vegetation, and ask, when can we expand up the great hill of the east? Never have we so much appreciated the lush, vibrant green grass of spring, than inside the mind of momma-goat Heidi. Meanwhile, the alpacas have begun their new rotation about the Haven pastures, with generous helpings of Hailey’s famous farm-mow blend.
Yes, life is full of joy on the farm, the sun shines high in the sky, and so do “I”.
Solar Power – Bloom Energy
Speaking of the sun – it is a great feeling to be receiving His power atop the farm house on these sunny days. Thanks to the generous efforts last fall of Brother Cole Anderson and his company Bloom Solar, the return of sun shine has been even sweeter, knowing that are doing our little part to account for our energy consumption on the farm. What to mention – it actually makes cents as an farm investment! With a little grace, and a Divine Mother or two, we hope to cover the Haven House too 😉
Contact Cole and Bloom directly if you’re also thinking to install solar. He is awesome, based out of Everett, and does installs throughout the state. And tell ’em, Glenda sent you :). Contact
Calendar of Events
We have a full list of events this summer, which officially began last weekend, with our annual earth day celebration and plant sale at the farm. A impromptu noon kirtan broke out on the wood stump pile.
This Saturday, April 28th, find Paean and Glenda at the Camano Center for the Women’s Expo, 10am-4pm. Hailey and I will journey south with our farm-wares for the second annual Yoganandafest in Los Angeles, and even give a talk on “Yoga Farming in the New Age”.
Check out the full farm calendar, and sign-up for a farm supper ASAP on our website: http://anandafarms.
We have one more volunteer (seva day), on Saturday, May 19th. Thanks to all those who have come out, planted trees, mulched gardens, planted gardens, and basked in good work of the great outdoors with us. None have left hungry in body or soul!
Starting in June, the farmstand at Haven House will be open EVERY Saturday, 10-4.
The Everett market begins on Sunday MAY 13, from 11am-4pm. And of course, you can catch us every Sunday immediately after service in the Yoga Hall.
Ongoing Projects
Meanwhile, as seems to always be the way of the ‘farm plan’, we’ve got a couple major projects ongoing amidst the spring flinging.
1) The farm’s Herb Shop remodel and renovation are well underway; that we can continue to offer (and expand upon) the ananda farm goods into the foreseeable future! Soap, medicinals, salves, tinctures, oxymel, dried herbs, candles, food preserves, apple cider, are just a sample of ‘basics’ we continue to create and share, as a part our ‘noah’s ark’ aspirations. I’m not saying the whole world is going to be flooded; I’m just saying, it might already be and you just didn’t know it ;). But regardless, we are committed to living harmoniously and abundantly and sustainably, right NOW. Like, right now, right now.
The Herb Shop (aka ‘Jam Shack’) upgrades are essential to this mission of creative self-reliance, and so, upgrade we must! Suryadas has been kind enough to guide the electrical process, and meanwhile the plumbing, dry wall, window installation, new lighting, permit process, are good seeds in the sow.
2) The Verandah – Porching the deck at Haven has become both a lofty ideal and a necessity.
Only 1.5 years has lapsed since a complete scraping, priming and painting effort (with the awesome efforts of Kelly Williams); Yet now, after another wet and windy winter, the paint appears to be, well, crumbling en masse! We can save this duder, we just need to step up our game.
Combined with the sincere need for an outdoor gathering space, the inspiration to ‘raise the roof’ atop the deck, is upon us. Shade for summer, rain protection for the winter, yoga classes, outdoor meditation space, farm gatherings – The Verandah is the name of the game. Build it, we shall.
Finalmente
Well, if you’ve made it this far, consider yourself a true Ananda Farm HERO. Much more could be said; for much more is happening. Even as I type this, at 1030pm, Hailey and Paean process, bottle, label and pack product for the weekend’s affairs.
I will excuse the length of this ‘update’, by revealing to you that I’ve been rather energetically bedridden since this afternoon, after stepping on a hornet! Rather abruptly my whole body started itching something awful, hives broke out, foot swollen like a red birthday balloon, and getting worse fast! The plantain poultice offered some initial relief, but this was no ordinary honey bee sting! This was a hornet, or wasper, out for vengeance! I thought maybe to get an out-of-body experience from the deal when the dizzees kicked in and my head filled with pressure. Gratefully I was saved from an emergency room visit by Hailey, who miraculously found an epi-pen in our bathroom, that Carole Bartoo apparently gave to us some time ago. Saint Carole, indeed! I’ve already called Carole to thank her for saving my life! But if you see her, you might do the same. PS I’ll go to the doctor tomorrow at 2 for my very own epipen prescription. Spirits remain high, hives and itch are gone, still full of energy, and sharing the bed with two good kitties. I’m not sure I’d recommend writing a newsletter after an epi-pen-adventure, but I’m also not sure there’d be an Ananda Farm Spring Update without it!
One final note of gratitude, thank you to everyone for your support and belief in the active manifestation of a Yoga-Nature farm on Camano Island. We simply couldn’t continue our farm seva, without the many hearts and minds who choose to support it. May the Light that is growing here expand and shine throughout this world.
Wishing you a bountiful garden this year. Here’s a few more pics from the season:
