Linda is Clear Sky's Farm Committee Manager
The full article was published in the Naked Alaya Newsletter - November 2009.
This summer was filled with farming and gardening projects from sun-up to sun-down and often on into the evening. We built a composter to accommodate the new Humanure additions, and tackled endless weeding. I joined in the building project training which produced a garden shed in record time, thanks to 25 people working flat-out for two days. I also assisted Adrian in cooking treats and meals for ravenous builders and gardeners.
As the Saskatoon berries ripened, I wrestled approval from the public health department to sell our jams and jellies at the Cranbrook Farmer’s Market. With our certificate in hand we cranked into production. Every available person picked berries or learned the art of making jams, jellies, and pies. We developed our flagship recipes – Saskatoon berry chutney and an organic low-sugar Saskatoon berry/rhubarb jam. Every conversation I had for the next three weeks CENTERED AROUND Saskatoon berries. They even intruded into my meditations! I can still hear David asking for more Saskatoon juice. We experienced the elation of taking our products to the Cranbrook Farmer’s Market and bringing home an average of $350 every Saturday. Imagine! We had found a way to use free, wild fruit on the property to benefit Clear Sky as well as jam aficionados.
Meanwhile, in the field and Gaia Garden, three large plots produced the best-tasting green beans and peas, not to mention scrumptious raspberries. We improved on the 100 mile diet plan, and were enjoying instead our 100 footstep produce plan! The potatoes were still in the fields as I left, but it looked like they would yield a bumper crop. We ate mounds of spinach, arugula, and lettuce salads all summer, with enough left to sell at the farmers market. We didn’t come close to producing enough vegetables to feed the gang at dinner each night, but we did do an amazing job of beginning to feed ourselves and preparing the fields to produce more next year. It delights me to know that we are well on the way to providing our own food, especially if we ever face a crises in years to come. It thrilled me to see everyone fall in love with our home grown produce and guard it so well, as if every raspberry was a jewel and every bean a gem.
In spite of intense karma yoga, I found time to immerse myself in the powerful wongkurs offered by Sensei each Saturday throughout the summer.
The rest of August offered an intense group experience with nearly daily committee meetings and plenty of productive conflict and confrontation. Luckily there were always plenty of hugs and Saskatoon berry cordials to go around to help smooth the path through difficult discussions. Many evenings ended close to midnight following informal farm committee meetings to reshuffle priorities and juggle competing needs to mulch, weed, and deal with berries. I’m sure I drove other karma yoginis crazy with my rebelliousness and independent impulsiveness. I’d been warned that karma yoga work can be intense and can bring up lots of conflict. Still, I was pleasantly surprised with how well we all got along. Perhaps keeping the purpose of spiritual awakening first and foremost in our thoughts and actions was what helped us in this regard. I made a final promise to stay connected throughout the year and to help out with some of the on-going Clear Sky projects.
My karma yoga experience reminded me of the importance of real life awareness. It doesn’t end when you get up off the cushion, but continues into every aspect of our daily lives. And having experienced awareness, it is nearly impossible to go back to old selfish patterns and to pretend we live in a world of our own.
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