No Two Seasons Are Alike

After getting off to a rather late start, this season on Ananda Farm is showering us with abundance.
Ananda farm and “unpredictable weather” are one and the same. During the years 1976 – 1986 we had a frost every month of the year except for July!

Ananda Farm

This year, May 26th, we had a”killer frost” which threatened all 500 tomato plants we had just removed from the greenhouse, where they began as seedlings. In the late afternoon of that day we tried our best to anticipate Mother Nature.

Rainbow over Ananda Village

Despite a dense cloud cover, rain, and high winds, any of which could have protected us from a frost, the unthinkable happened. The rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the wind altogether stopped. Awakened at 1:00 in the morning to a beautiful, cold, crisp, starry sky, joyfully we left the warm confines of comfortable sleep, “suited up,” and headed off down the hill with flashlights.

An hour and half later all the tomato plants were covered, except for 25, which, between the two of us, we skipped. Indeed this little effort saved the tomatos and this year’s crop but the 23 uncovered plants were totally frozen. Ready to discard them, Ananta held out that we should save them and see if they would come back. It seemed absurd at the time. But, amazingly enough, they did come back and are thriving!

Veggies!

The abundance of this year has no clinical answers. Of course, we can attribute it to more compost, a longer rainy season, and things of this order, but it is Divine Mother who reminds us daily that She is in charge, and that there is nothing we can control on the farm or otherwise. It is the greatest gift of working the land.

Maria with a helper

This year, too, Ananda Farm has had an abundance of enthusiastic help. Young people from all over the country have added their efforts, setting aside whatever “romantic” notions they may have had about farming, and embracing hard work, long days, and the strong, unrelenting sun of the Sierra foothills. This has been the greatest gift of abundance thus far, for in truth, the seeds sown on Ananda Farm are the seeds of souls aspiring to know God through loving, selfless service balanced with a rich inner life of seeking God in meditation.

If you have visited Ananda’s Expanding Light as a guest this year, bought produce at Master’s Market, or shared a meal with friends here at the Village who are members of the Prana Gardens/Ananda Farm CSA, chances are you have enjoyed some of this bounty.

Happy Growing!

Nayaswami Maria

Working the land