The Latest News from the MISCOWP Vedic Village

Dear Friends of The Michigan Society for Cow Protection, April 2, 2009

Greetings! As the weather gets warmer and the days grow longer, we are focusing on getting our crops started. Last Saturday 8 people came to my upstairs apartment at 313 Newport Street, just five blocks from the temple, to help plant seeds in flats. This Saturday at 1pm, we will expect at least 10 people to come to continue planting the seeds of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and chillis. We will also transplant many of the new seedlings into larger containers.

At the farm we are almost finished building a new fenced-in enclosure for Dharma and Bhima, our two Gir bull calves, who by the way, are being regularly trained by Navadwipa dasa. Within a week or two, they will start learning how to help around the farm by pulling a wagon and stone sled.

Good news! A devotee couple from Atlanta Georgia is coming here this weekend to meet us and look at the farm with the intent of possibly moving to the farm. They are expert preachers, organic gardeners, beekeepers and would also like to start a varna-asrama college. Today I am meeting Betsy, a woman who lives in Dexter, to make plans for the farm to adopt two steers she purchased from the slaughterhouse meat industry. Betsy and her friends established a non-profit organization to raise funds to take care of these two animals for the rest of their lives.

Dear friends, we need your assistance, both volunteer and financial. By the end of next week, when the seven acres of gardens are plowed, we will need as much help as possible to amend and prepare the fields for 30 different crops. You could also help us with much needed financial help in the following ways:

1. Become a CSA member and recruit other CSA members.
2. Help us purchase 60 fruit trees at $30 a tree.
3. If you have good credit and a job, could you get us a loan for $3,000 to $5,000 that we will pay back monthly at probably only $30 to $50 a month. MISCOWP could pay the loan off completely in six months. This money will help us catch up with all of our expenses.
4. We need $800 to pay for perennial plants, including 1500 asparagus, 200 berry bushes, 1000 strawberry and 100 rhubarb plants.

Remember that all donations are tax-deductible. We even accept payments or donations by credit card. If you would like more information or have any ideas or suggestions, please feel free to call Adiraja dasa (Tom Milano) at 313 823-3815, or email tommilano108@yahoo.com. I hope this meets you well and in happy God consciousness.

Hare Krsna,

Adiraja dasa