5th Local Sustainability Festival Saturday Nov. 19, 2011

 

Saturday, Nov. 19    11 AM to 4 PM  

Hare Krishna Temple

1283 Prabhupada Road

Sandy Ridge, NC 27046

This will be the 5th such gathering to be held at the Krishna Temple.
Three of the presentations will be in relation to a proposed market, most likely in Danbury. Unlike a farmers market, where the growers have to sit and sell one day a week, this will be open every day. Growers get a percentage and the market takes a small share to cover costs.
"We've got to have a wide variety. People aren't going to eat sweet potatoes 3 meals a day" says Ronda, our County Commissioner. "We also want to have a bakery and a restaurant in there, not a regular restaurant, we want a variety, we'd want a Hare Krishna night sometimes, give people something new."
The facility will have provision for storing surplus crops by canning, drying and freezing.
Director of Economic Development, Alan Wood backs this idea as a solid means for building the local economy.
Former Agriculture Agent, Michael Hylton has been in touch with growers in our area. He currently operates a Garden Supply Shop in Lawsonville and has a grip on the variety that can be grown here.


Tentative Schedule,  half hour presentations beginning at 11 AM sharp

11 AM -Agriculture, The Resource Beneath Our Feet-Stokes County Director of Economic Development Alan Wood- 
11:30 -Domestic Rain Catchment Systems -Ken and Cathy Melvin-
12 -Expanding Variety of Local Crops- Michael Hylton, former County Agriculture Agent
12:30-Creating a Convenient Outlet For Local Food-County Commissioner Ronda Jones

1 PM -Hour Lunch Break- Local Food- Music by Samadhi

2:00-Suburban Permaculture Workshop- Lasagne Gardening Technique- Chris and Stephanie
2:30 -Making Herbal Tinctures- Kula Pavana
3:00 -Rain Catchers www.rain-catchers.net- Janice and Rick Walker- They are in Haiti at present reestablishing Agriculture after the Earthquake. Please see the note below.
3:30-Grant from RAFI- Grain Puffing Machine- Mathura makes his living from the land. Rural Advancement Foundation International wanted to help. They bought him a machine that will puff corn and other grain such as would be used for a breakfast cereal.
http://www.rafiusa.org/programs/farmsustainability.html
4:00-Wild Food and Herb Walk -Shivananda knows the woods nearby and will give a tour, weather permitting.

More details on some of the speakers;

Rain Catchers- "We are currently working with and training DOD engineers at Private Farms in Fayetteville.Under written by Wal-Mart grant. We would love to do a presentation for this event!

Rick has a solid back ground and will add so much to the event.

We have many successful under ground rain water harvesting jobs in USA. All the way to potable water.

They are truly green being made from recycled plastic bottles.The Farm Center is both a legacy with its wetland restoration and a vision of a sustainable future. We are field testing innovative agricultural practices and concepts. These include the biochar project, innovative rain water collection, solar drip irrigation and "true green organics"-microbes, green pesticides, etc.

We are presently training Civil Affairs Reservists that are getting ready to deploy. We teach simple innovations that can be used in the "theater" they are deploying to. The Center has presently submitted a proposal to the Golden Leaf to train returning vets in small farm sustainability and agricultural innovation that has transferable skill in solar, water storage, crop/plant productivity. Our team will be on site for you on Nov. 19---(Rain Catchers having just returned from Haiti on a project for the Clinton Foundation.) The True Green Organics story with the Arizona Navajo is extremely touching.

It is your call---we can confine to biochar or go into the Center mission. I am just sorry it is not spring when I hope we will be training vets and Reservists and planting corn and vegetables in biochar."

-Expanding Variety of Local Crops- Michael Hylton, former County Agriculture Agent

My presentation will focus on local, organic food production.  I plan to give examples of what local farmers are already doing and how this relates to keeping our farms from becoming subdivisions (housing developments, etc). Now that is a scary one! With tobacco production continuing to decrease, this leaves a lot of land to be utilized for other food crops. My plan is to stress the importance of farmland preservation through growing our own food sustainably. I'm passionate about this.

Thanks,

Michael Hylton

Permaculture

Chris Ripley has been studying and experimenting with Permaculture principles since 2007. He is passionate about turning lawns in the city into patches of fruit and vegetables. He will be speaking on the lasagne layering method of gardening, a no-till, low energy method of recycling waste into creative garden space.  

  -Agriculture, The Resource Beneath Our Feet-Stokes County Director of Economic Development Alan Wood- 

"If the price of diesel continues to do what we see it doing, it's imperative that we create our own local food supply. Agriculture is the ticket for economic recovery in Rural NC. I prefer to work with assets that are already in place, namely the land and our agricultural experience."

Alan will show a brief video on buying local. He described the northern corner of our county as a 'Food Desert', with no grocery stores for miles. These would be good locations for small stores selling locally grown products. "We could have several of these stores in our county. This is a model that has worked in other rural places, like the Midwest where there are vast stretches, far from town"

Making Herbal Tinctures-Kula Pavana grew up in Poland, farming with horses, is now a Chemist, managing a Laboratory in Reidsville. He lives in the Hare Krishna Community in Sandy Ridge and makes wildcrafted tinctures from walnut hulls, tansy and other items.

Local Sustainability Festival -Sept 25,2010

The Local Sustainability Festival will be held
Sept. 25 , 10:30 to 4:30
Hare Krishna Temple
1283 Prabhupada Rd
Sandy Ridge, NC 27046

We are currently dependent on a system that is bound to fail.
Practically all of our food and other resources are delivered from far away.
What if we knew that in 10 years the cost of fuel would rise to $25 a gallon?

What steps can be taken in preparation for that possibility?

This is the subject matter for our upcoming event.

The following Local Speakers and Activists will each give a half hour presentation;

10:30- 11:30-Brian Heagney -Wild Food Hike-For years Brian's been learning what to eat in the wild.
He hosts events where the group forages,then shares a meal. Here is a portion of his website devoted to this topic;
http://www.brianheagney.com/html/wild_studio.html

11:30-Doug Gillis will tell us about American Chestnut Trees, something he has had an interest in since childhood.These used to be the dominant tree in the Eastern Forests, providing ample food for the natives and early settlers.The trunks were typically 6 - 8 feet wide.
Doug is involved with the American Chestnut Foundation. ACF is making efforts to repopulate the East Coast with a blight resistant American Chestnut by crossing them with Chinese Chestnuts.You can purchase crossed breeds but they are normally about 50% of each. ACF is developing around 95% American, which gives a sweeter nut.It's a slow process, each generation takes decades to test for blight resistance.If you would like to join ACF, Doug tells me it is a $300 donation and you will receive two American Chestnut saplings.
Here are two large American chestnut trees in Sherwood, Oregon which pioneers planted some 125 years ago. American chestnut trees reach maturity in Oregon and Washington since chestnut bark blight is not a problem on the West Coast. The tree in the foreground is about 4' in diameter and the other, a multi-trunk tree, is about 6' in diameter.



12:00-John Hartman and Kay Ritchie- Growing Sorghum, A Three Way Crop
This couple live near Danbury and have been living without electricity in their log cabin for as long as I've known them.They farm without tractors,using their horse team.

John and Kay have been growing and processing Sorghum into molasses for about 10 years now. Sorghum seed is a major grain crop in many parts of the world.Kay feeds it to their livestock including their milk cow, who is like part of the family to them.Winter squash is grown amongst the sorghum giving 3 crops in one field.

12:45-Julie Johnson-Clean Coal is a Dirty Lie
In NC we have been blessed to not have the "resource" of coal underground.
In Appalachia, thousands of communities are being threatened daily by the relentless extraction of coal. The most devastating form of coal mining is mountaintop removal, a process with which the coal industry has already blasted over 500 mountains and buried over 2000 miles of headwater streams. The EPA puts it like this:
The impact of mountaintop removal on nearby communities is devastating. Dynamite blasts needed to splinter rock strata are so strong they crack the foundations and walls of houses. Mining dries up an average of 100 wells a year and contaminates water in others. In many coalfield communities, the purity and availability of drinking water are keen concerns.

If your home is powered by city or county utility service, you might burn mountaintop removal coal on a daily basis. What is mountaintop removal doing to the residents of Appalachia's coalfields, and what are coal burning power plants doing to North Carolina's land, air and water?



1:30 Lunch and Music Break

2:30- Mitra-Sustainable Agriculture and Gandhi's Economic Proposal to India
Gandhi advised the newly independent India to focus on small scale agriculture rather than industry. Is it a sound proposal? How does it relate to us here in our county?

3:00-Luke Staengl - Appropriate Use of BioFuels.
Co-founder of the Bio-based Materials Center at Virginia Polytechnic Institute,Luke has founded and served as chief executive officer for three companies involved in converting biomass to fuel, fiber, feed and other high value products.
Here is the website for his company PescoBeam http://pescova.com


3:45-Mathura and Aravinda -Trees That Will Feed Your Family For Generations
Many of you already know my neighbor Mathura.
He runs a CSA and lives in a cob house that he built from the mud on his land. He and his wife Chitra raise cows, goats, sheep and use horses as draft animals.
Aravinda is new here.From West Virginia, he has a lot of experience growing Paw Paws and other easy care fruit and nut trees.





















-If you would like to make a presentation,by all means contact me at mitradasa@gmail.com
Don't be intimidated by the high caliber people we have so far.What you are doing,however small, may prove to be a life changing experience for others when they hear your presentation.I grew my first garden on a windowsill in Chicago simply by planting Coriander seeds from the spice shelf in a tray of dirt.We all need to start somewhere, and we can all learn from each other.


Local Music !

-Jonny Colley- a singer/songwriter from nearby Eden has offered his talents while we break for lunch.He's been described as" a zen hillbilly with something to say".He was one of our featured musicians at last year's George Harrison Festival. www.myspace.com/JonnyColley

-Mamata-has compiled a large collection of simple yet exotic melodies from India.She will collaborate with local Bluegrass musicians for a tasteful blend we'll call ' Hindugrass', using Guitars, Harmonium, Banjo and Mandolin.















Live music at Local Sustainability Fest '08
A dobro and banjo I made from discarded cans.


HaraKanta's Magic Floating Corn Bread

Krishna Fest "Super Awesome",says 5 yr. old Mr. Thathireddy

Moonlight Kirtan

Krishna Fest July 25,2009

Johnny Gregory of Healthful Living Organic farm was kind enough to
loan us his flatbed trailer to be used as a stage. It was supposed to
be on site the day before. He had spent days putting a rubber deck on
it and was running late.
By noon , I was beginning to think of options for a stage , I got a
call , he was on his way. He showed up just two hours before the first
event .

The yoga session had about ten participants stretching away their
troubles.Nitya Tripta is a very competent teacher.I suggested we might
offer this activity every Sunday .All the yogis and yoginis present
agreed enthusiastically.

Meanwhile people started appearing , the gift shop tent was filling
with items and shoppers. Guests were milling around asking questions ,
looking at the scenery and the books, but where were the singers for
the first kirtan? The night before , while sitting around a small fire
with torches burning I heard Gopika sing a beautiful kirtan. I
assigned her to sing for the first arotik ceremony.
She magically appeared just in time for me to set up a microphone for
her. Gradually as more people filled the temple room , the enthusiasm
built. Soon we were all dancing. I was surprised to see how many were
dancing , I was surprised to see how I was dancing. It was effortless,
the drummers were so skilled that it would have been difficult to hold
still , and no one seemed in the mood to try.

I then announced Charu's presentation, "Who Is Krishna?" , then handed
him the microphone and ran off to see how things were going in the
kitchen.

Sanjay and his family along with his friend Manish were busy rolling
and cooking puris. Whenever Sanjay comes here to relax from his
routine in Charlotte, he usually ends up spending most of his time in
the kitchen. I wanted him to catch a bit of Charu's presentation and
had to forcefully pry him from his task to get him into the temple
room.
The talk was very informative and I got feedback from many of our
visitors that it was a high point of the festival for them.
You can hear a recording and see the slide presentatiion that went
along with it by visiting utahkrishnas.com

At 6:15 it was time for the next arotik and kirtan. By this time our
crowd had swelled even more. Nama Rasa , one of the boys in the youth
group, headed up this kirtan. This group has been here for four days.
I had seen and heard them singing kirtans long into the night. Their
enthusiasm is very contagious. This particular kirtan though excelled
anything I had witnessed so far.The floor may as well have been a
trampoline, or the effects of gravity temporarily suspended. Perhaps
the previous lecture had given more focus to the crowd, it was a very
special time and it showed on everyone's faces.

Partha Sarathi gave the next talk, again I had to run to the kitchen
as the dinner was the next event. Sanjay and family were still at work
there , enjoying themselves in their service to Krishna. The dancers
were also getting ready on the flat bed trailer stage. Things looked
alright . I did a sweep around the crowd outside informing, "The
soldier from Iraq is speaking now, I think you said you didn't want to
miss him." Appreciative of the notice, many more pushed themselves into the temple
to hear him.
I caught a little of his talk, a very little, something about an
armored personnel carrier blowing up and flying some distance , things
that easily held the audience's attention. The main message I got
from him during his visit here over the week is to be fearless in
helping others. Some may not appreciate what you do for them, but it's
your duty to try to help.If something is going to stop you from doing
good, don't let it be your own fear.

I interrupted to announce that dinner was ready and if anyone wants
they could stay and hear more, then ran off to make sure things were
actually ready.

The kid's area was looking fun, by this time they had dismantled the
cardboard box structures that Subal had erected for them to play in.
Kids were now sliding down the hill on large pieces of
cardboard.Thanks to Sauri mowing the hillside a few days ago, there
was a good supply of dry hay to slide on. Whole families slid together
on boxes that once held water heaters. That in itself was pretty good
entertainment . A crowd gathered to watch and laugh at the fun.
My most flattering comment came from 9 year old Jayananda,"I like
Mitrasena's ideas"
The boxes were my idea.Boxes had always been fun for me and for my kids.
"Most people just suggest coloring books for kids" , said Jayananda's
mom appreciatively.
Another participant ,5 year old Mr.Thathireddy commented , "Super awesome!"

The dinner was appreciated by all , thanks to Sarva Drik and his wife
Sudevi for organizing it all.There was a substantial line waiting , we
estimated the crowd to be about 300 people.

The dancers Gaurangi Priya and Parijata from Hillsboro began their
dance performance with puspanjali, an offering of flower petals. When
I stepped back into the crowd,they appeared to be floating above the
audience ,dancing on treetops like a scene from the "Crouching
Tigers.." movie .With a backdrop of space and the Blue Ridge Mountains
in the distance,it was spectacular. The weather , though a little hot
, wasn't extreme, the clouds scattered around the clear sky offered
shade and beauty to the event.
Then my next door neighbor Krishnaya took her turn. She performed to a
song sung by Jagjit and Chitra Singh , Madhava Madana Murari. She
brought cheers from the audience throughout her performance.

The three girls brought a lot of beauty , color and culture to the
event, but like many things that ladies work so hard on , it was over
too soon and time for the next event.

Jayadvaita Swami spoke on Sustainable Happiness
He spoke about how some pleasures are just not sustainable. .At 9 PM
I had to interrupt to announce that the CANDLE LIT KIRTAN would be
held outside.

9PM
As the crowd exited the temple I heard a few gasp and exclaim how
beautiful everything was.A crescent moon poked out from behind a few
scattered clouds in the darkened sky. The trailer stage now had a row
of candles and tiki torches dramatically illuminating a youthful
group sweetly singing an alluring melody of the Hare Krishna Mantra
while girls danced in the moonlight.The whole scene looked exotic and
mysterious.
I told Johnny , who had loaned us the trailer, this may well be your
trailer's "finest hour"

Everything was going fine and I thought this might be a good time to
try and eat lunch , something I had forgotten to do all day. Maharha
had saved me a generous sized plate , even though I had entirely
forgotten that it was her birthday that day.That was inexcusable and I
am atoning for my sin by presenting this to all of you so you now know
my wretched condition.

While eating , I had many conversations , One person said goodbye ,
she was going home now. An hour later she returned perspiring, " I was
dancing with the girls , it was so much fun"

The beautiful scene continued for hours as guests gradually pulled
themselves away. It was difficult for them to leave I could see , as I
said good bye several times to the same people.Talking, dancing or
just listening , watching the moon or the candles, I didn't want to be
anywhere else.You can't really plan things to work out this well. You
can only try. It will never be exactly the same festival. We can only
try to make them better.

I'll see you at the next festival if not sooner.

Your friend,
Mitra


Here is some feed back from one of our guests-

I really enjoyed the Krishna Festival. It was really great to have
spiritual community with all. It is always a joy to come to the
temple. The Kirtans at this festival was very uplifting and raised my
consciousness. They were the highlight of the experience. I enjoyed
all of the speakers who gave me food for thought on several levels.

Thanks for your efforts to raise the consciousness of the planet.

Eric

KRISHNA FEST 2009

Moonlight Kirtan