Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Lotus Garden Meditation Center

I'm the worst blogger in the world. No pictures. Well I'm gonna take some pictures this afternoon, and I'm gonna write new entries describing my previous wwoof hosts with any pictures i took along the way(and some I find on the internet already).

Well here I am at Lotus Garden Meditation Centter, in Carmichael, California. It's two acres in a suburban area, There are some trees and plenty of mown grass lawns, and the air is warm.

The people who live at the center are very nice and Zen. When I got her on Sunday they were getting ready for an event, the weekly gathering of the local Bhakti Yoga community. The Center isn't just a meditation center. It is the center of this Bhakti Yoga community. What is Bhakti Yoga? Look it up on Wikipedia. Suffice it to say that they chant Hare Krishna a lot(But they are not hare Krishnas, those guys at the airport who molested children and sold guns). It upset me a bit when I got here, because I felt I was misled. WWOOF hosts should mention in their listings if they have a spiritual orientation that is clearly visible and effects everything. I mean they oofer the food to krishna before feeding it to me. Now I am an open guy but I also don't like eating food that was used in a spiritual ritual without my permission.

Aside from that, this is a very nice place. I work five hours a day, and I am in conrol as to when I work, so I've been working form 7:30 till 10:30 and then another two hours from 3:30 till 5:30(that way I beat the heat). There is a pool and there is wireless internet somewhere so I can sit by the side of one of the buildings in the shade and surf.

The Gardens: As much as this place is nice, I have to chastise the center for it's use of chemical fertilizers. While they use homemade compost and horse manure, they also use potting soil which has chemical fertilizers in it. Also, don't expect to learn anything about organic farming because they don't know anything. They rely entirely on WWOOFers to get their garden going to feed the people that live here and to also sell some, so because there were so few WWOOFers until now, they haven't gotten any food in the ground. Also, aside from the Vegetable Garden which is simple row cropping with no mulch whatsoever, the rest of the gardens is all ornamental beds.

If i stayed , I could definitely improve their gardens, and it would be nice. Working in the gardens, doing yoga classes everyday. But I don't think i caan put up with the whole Hare krishna thing. I'm an open guy but I caan't live in a spiritual community at the moment.

On Sunday, I'm headed up to Mountain Homestead in Coquille, Oregon. Yes that's right, Oregon. I've had enough of California, and enough of "Organic Farms". I'm going to the land of Tom Ward, the Permaculture Designer who instructed Gilad, my teacher. I only found out about them yesterday, on the internet, and I'm really excited. They have already planted a few small food forests and are continuing with bigger ones. They also do a lot of natural building, with timber harvested onsite, coband strawbale etc. I'll probably be helping them finish up building a workshop, and I'm really excited cause I've been waiting to do some building. Finally!!!

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