Farm Fresh News - January 2018
- Community Review: Yogaville
- Storing Sweet Potatoes for Winter
- Precious Moments
Stephen Gaskin, Yogi Bajan, Swami Satchidananda, Holy Man Jam, Boulder Co, 1970
I believe this photo was taken by Robert Altman.
Hi friends,
Winter is definitely here, but the return of the light, a little more each day, offers hope of brighter days ahead.
Winter is definitely here, but the return of the light, a little more each day, offers hope of brighter days ahead.
The passing of my mom a few months ago has opened many doors for me. It seems to have also had an effect on my 92 year old dad, giving him a new surge of energy and a desire to get out in the world. We are currently on an 11 day Caribbean Cruise, exploring warmer temperatures and a variety of exotic places, an experience he expressed a desire to have once more. If you've never experienced a cruise, they offer an opportunity to expose people to cultures outside the U.S., a valuable experience for Americans who might not get there otherwise. On one cruise, my family and I careened through the barrios of Caracas, Venezuela in route to a mountain farm overlooking the sea. There was a stop in Belize to float through a jungle cave on an inner tube, and a day spent wandering Mayan ruins in Mexico. Take whatever steps are in your power to create precious moments with family. You will not regret it.
Left, 10 years ago I took my Dad to visit a Mayan Pyramid in the Yucatan, a day trip during a cruise.
Right, in December 2017, at the age of 92, he joined me or a night out at Stevie Ray's Blues Bar.
Deborah and I return to Mexico in February for an 8 day Sufi dance gathering at a small beach town in the Yucatan. We'll take a few days to visit some Mayan temples and pyramids, but our primary purpose is to immerse ourselves in the dances, learning new melodies and movements that we will bring to the Awakening Heart weekend in May.
I hope the year ahead will bring you joy and peace!
Douglas
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A Visit to Yogaville
As promised, here is a brief overview of the community known as Yogaville, located on approximately 1000 acres about 40 miles south of Charlottesville, Virginia. The property is in a very rural area, in the midst of beautiful mountains, and next to a river. It really felt like we were out in the boonies, especially compared to The Farm, now that Summertown has its own supermarket, Dollar General store, Sonic Drive-in, and a four-lane highway that takes you all the way to Nashville.
Stephen Gaskin and Swami Satchidananda photo by Robert Altman
Yogaville was established in 1980 by the yogi Sri Swami Satchidananda (and his followers), one of the many spiritual teachers who were on the scene in the 1960s and 70s , and a contemporary of The Farm’s founder Stephen Gaskin. According to Yogaville history, Satchidananda was brought over to the west by the artist Peter Max in 1964, and is regarded as instrumental in bringing yoga into the mainstream, helping it spread all over the world.
Satchidananda received tremendous exposure when he was brought in to open the 1968 Woodstock Festival and appeared in the movie.
Naturally I was constantly comparing The Farm and Yogaville. My wife Deborah and I went on the community tour, but it was more about taking you to visit various sacred shrines and points of interest, and not much about how the community really works or functions. The young woman giving the tour had only been there about a month. To find out more, I tracked down the director of the ashram and the systems manager in charge of maintenance and community infrastructure.
Unlike The Farm, devotees or students of Satchidananda were not required to turn over all of their finances and personal asset, enabling him to attract followers from all positions of society, including some with tremendous wealth. The songwriter and rock star Carole King purchased a 200 acre property in New Jersey to serve as the organization’s first rural yoga retreat center. This was then sold and the money used to buy the thousand acres in Virginia. Another benefactor paved many miles of road inside the Virginia community and paid for the construction of several buildings with dozens of rooms for housing retreat guests, essentially a small hotel.
As a celibate yogi, Satchidananda did not fall prey to the sexual scandals that have caused so many other various spiritual teachers to fall from grace. When he passed in 2006, Satchidananda was still very much revered. Videos of his teachings are played as part of the activities at retreats and are available on DVD.
To be accurate, most of the thousand acres is the location of the Satchidananda Ashram and yoga retreat center, with Yogaville encompassing the greater community of 200 or more people who live in dwellings on privately owned or leased land in the surrounding area, making up the greater Yogaville community. Some of those living in Yogaville work at the ashram and others simply want to live nearby to take part in the ashram’s many activities and events. The ashram supports itself through all levels of yoga retreats, including trainings and programs that enable someone to become a certified yoga instructor.
In the beginning, to help jumpstart the building of the community and to encourage people to settle in the area, 99 year leases were granted on small plots around the edge of the 1000 acre property. This enabled people to build, generally small, simple dwellings, including a few trailers. This took responsibility off the organization to provide housing, and established a system where leases could be transferred or sold, enabling the community to grow relatively quickly in its early years.
This stands in contrast to The Farm’s land trust, where all the land is held in common, including the infrastructure and all the houses on the land This has been an obstacle to its growth, in that banks will not provide financing for building housing within The Farm. Like Yogaville, there is a growing community of people who live in the area surrounding The Farm.
The Satchidananda Ashram itself may have around 150 people on any given weekend, including all its guests, instructors, and some full-time residents. People are welcome to come for a weekend, a week, a month or more, with a range of costs depending on whether you are there for an event, a training session, or simply a personal retreat.
I do not know the details, but apparently there are levels of membership which enable you to come and stay for some amount of time and do work trade. As we checked in for our weekend, the staff was made up of resident volunteers. This helps hold down the costs and overhead of the ashram and Retreat Center. I noticed some also working shifts in the kitchen and huge dining hall, which served three meals of vegetarian food a day. A garden operation within the community provided some of the seasonal vegetables and fruit.
One characteristic that Stephen Gaskin and Satchidananda had in common as charismatic leaders was a desire to take on big projects that were not always practical, but nevertheless had a positive impact on the community. A prime example is the Lotus Shine, the most notable landmark and structure within Yogaville. The petals of the lotus form a cathedral-like tall open space, used for meditation and worship. Each petal represents a different world religion, including religions yet to be formed or created. The petals are a laminate of wood and fiberglass, and have been a bit problematic over the years. Operations were underway to replace them with newer laminate, donated and installed by a volunteer.
The chosen location for the Lotus Shine was in a floodplain next to the river. To remedy this, nine acres of earth were excavated adjoining the river to create a high earth base, and a basin that is now a huge lake. There are pictures of Satchidananda running some of the heavy excavation equipment. It reminded us of pictures of Stephen driving tractor. Satchidananda flew a private small plane. Stephen had his greyhound scenicruiser.
Overall Yogaville had good vibes, felt very strong and well organized, and gave you the sense that it was economically successful. The dining and concert hall were rimmed with large images of spiritual teachers from across time and faiths, and included images of Black Elk, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa. There was an emphasis on respect for all faiths, which made it feel very open and welcoming. Efforts were happening to attract greater diversity among the people coming in for retreats and workshops. There was mention of program called the Swami Satchidananda Prison Project, bringing yoga into correctional facilities, donating spiritual books to prison libraries, plus free courses and one on one connection through letters. The place is well worth a visit and looked like a nice place to live.
An added bonus: You can stream or watch a replay of Saturday evening concerts and programs at
https://livestream.com/yogaville
Here’s a link to the Jai Uttal concert Deborah and I attended.
https://livestream.com/yogaville
Here’s a link to the Jai Uttal concert Deborah and I attended.
https://livestream.com/yogaville/jai-uttal-2017/videos/165427752
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Storing Sweet Potatoes
As I have stated in other newsletters, growing food in your garden is only half of the picture. Storing food for winter presents its own set of challenges. In some ways, storing sweet potatoes is relatively easy. They require a space that is not too warm, not too cool. A corner of our laundry room in the basement works just fine.
But when cold weather arrives in Tennessee, mice from the fields start looking for warmer homes, and nearly everyone around here experiences a mouse invasion. The skins of sweet potatoes are relatively soft, especially compared to the hard skins of my winter squash. The fragrant aroma of the sweet potatoes and the delectable flesh inside are an irresistible invitation to a hungry mouse. Believe me when I say I was not happy when I saw big chunks of potatoes nibbled away. Mice are not the cleanest creatures and can carry some bad diseases, so keeping them out of the food is very important.
It is OK for sweet potatoes to touch each other, but they do require some amount of air circulation. You also need to check them periodically to make sure there are no rotten potatoes that could ruin those adjacent, and damage one of your most valuable winter food supplies.
The solution I have found are wooden crates, with open slats that allow good air circulation. They were a nice size, not too big, not too small, easy to stack and move around. I got mine at Wal-Mart for $10 each. Unfortunately, they did little to keep out the mice.
Note the crate with winter squash below. So far the mice leave these alone. My guess is the hard skins are not as appealing.
As you can see from the picture, the next step was to staple hardware cloth around the outside of the crates. I put it on the outside so that the potatoes would not rub up against the hard metal, scraping their skins. The openings of the hardware cloth are small enough to keep out any mice. A friend of mine uses window screen. Use what you have or what is available. I like the more openness of the hardware cloth. This year I have two crates of sweet potatoes, and I seal the one on top by covering it with an old cutting board.
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May 4-6, 2018 Join us for Awakening Heart: Dances of Universal Peace
The first Dances of Universal Peace Weekend at The Farm Community
The first Dances of Universal Peace Weekend at The Farm Community
One of the refreshing things I am finding in the dances is the primary intention,
to connect with essence of the here and now, beyond the concepts, teachings, or opinions.
to connect with essence of the here and now, beyond the concepts, teachings, or opinions.
To gain a better idea of the dance experience, check out these YouTube videos.
Visit the web site to learn more. https://www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org/
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Update: I have just learned that there will be a big wedding happening the same weekend as the conference. This means that many of the B&B accommodations will likely fill up with friends and relatives coming in for the wedding. Make your reservations EARLY!
Register Now!
Set your course for the future, Life In Community!
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You really can grow most of the food your family needs.
With this 4 day intensive, we’ll garden every morning and you’ll get the hands-on experience and gain the confidence to get started on your own. We’ll visit other Permaculture homesteads and gardens, including Amish country.
There will be a special focus on beekeeping.
Everyone will get to put on a bee suit and take a look inside the hives. Saturday afternoon we will harvest honey, spinning the frames in an extractor.
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A big thanks to everyone who has become a patron of Farm Fresh!
When you become a subscriber, your contribution helps spread the word about community based alternatives.
Take this one small step to be part of the solution!
When you become a subscriber, your contribution helps spread the word about community based alternatives.
Take this one small step to be part of the solution!
You can help keep Farm Fresh going by pledging $2, $5, or $10 a month, or by making a one time contribution.
Click here to take the survey. I look forward to hearing from you.
I hope you'll make the effort to take a firsthand look at The Farm during one of my GreenLife Retreat Weekends, and that it will inspire you to pursue your dreams and find your chosen path!
Speaking Engagements
At the same time, I recognize that I can reach a lot more people if I go outside the community. One of my goals is to speak at colleges and universities where I can talk to young people about Right Livelihood, Service, and Finding Sanity in an Insane World. This is a time when people need to hear an uplifting message of hope.
At the same time, I recognize that I can reach a lot more people if I go outside the community. One of my goals is to speak at colleges and universities where I can talk to young people about Right Livelihood, Service, and Finding Sanity in an Insane World. This is a time when people need to hear an uplifting message of hope.
If you are part of an organization, event, or school (or you just want to learn more about my life's work), I invite you to visit my web site www.douglasstevenson.com, where you'll find information on my lecture topics and how to bring me to speak in your area.
Douglas
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An Incredible NEW BOOK!
Following 7 years of research, Farm Community member Thomas Hupp uncovers the subtle forces that presently affect Politics, Economics and Your Health.
Only $15 plus $5 for shipping!
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Oct Farm Experience Weekend
Fall Colors and a Fire Circle: Always a jam packed weekend. A time of reflection and introspection.
Fall Colors and a Fire Circle: Always a jam packed weekend. A time of reflection and introspection.
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www.awakeningbirth.org - the Web Site
www.awakening birth.net - The Podcast
Our new birth resource web site is up. The Awakening Birth podcast is now available on iTunes.
Please spread the word to anyone in your circle who is thinking of having a baby, expecting, your favorite midwife, or care provider.
Please spread the word to anyone in your circle who is thinking of having a baby, expecting, your favorite midwife, or care provider.
Please like us and give us a good review on iTunes. It helps!
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Permaculture Apprenticeships: Learn straw, cob, earthbag, turf roofs, bamboo, thatch, clay plaster, adobe, alis, and food self-reliance at The Farm Community.
Spiral Ridge Permaculture - Workshops and Classes at a Permaculture Homestead down the road
Green Life Retreats
A division of Village Media Services
PO Box 259Summertown, TN 38483
931-964-2590 - office 931-626-4035 cell
Douglas@villagemedia.com
www.villagemedia.com
www.greenliferetreats.com
www.douglasstevenson.com
Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
A division of Village Media Services
PO Box 259Summertown, TN 38483
931-964-2590 - office 931-626-4035 cell
Douglas@villagemedia.com
www.villagemedia.com
www.greenliferetreats.com
www.douglasstevenson.com
Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
