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Tomato Update!

Aum.

It's been a little over a month from our planting blessing in our new greenhouse and we already can see our first burgeoning bunches of beautiful tomatoes. Today these happy plants received a trim off their lower leaves, allowing natural sunlight to reach the fruits. The direct light will help increase enzymatic activity in the fruits, degrading acids and enhancing sweetness. Not long and our monks will be enjoying these wonderful tomatoes with their meals. Jai!

A Big Blessing for the New Greenhouse!

Jai Ganesha!

Today we celebrate our official first "planting" in our new hydroponic greenhouse. This morning at 9am Satguru and many of the monks met out at the greenhouses for a Ganesha puja, an arati and a first planting of our tomato plants. This new greenhouse has been under construction for some time. It is built to withstand high winds and, like our initial greenhouse, it will allow us to grow plants we otherwise couldn't in our sub-tropical environment. Its main crop, currently, will be tomato plants which will free us from our dependency on canned tomatoes and other store bought ones. Of course, it's not just about what you grow, but also about how immensely "mo betta" (as Hawaiian's say) these fresh, home-grown fruits and veggies are to eat. They are full of life, energy and a fantastic heirloom flavor. Aum.

Priming the Greenhouse Floor

Recently the monks of the Siddhidatta Kulam spent the day sealing the floor of the new hydroponic greenhouse. Please enjoy this timelapse of the process. Gurudeva always stressed that the monks cultivate self-sustainability. With this new greenhouse we'll have another powerful tool for maintaining and producing our own fresh, organic food supply. Aum.

A Big Day for the New Greenhouse

Jai Ganesha!

A few days ago our monks moved tomato starts into the new hydroponic green house. This officially marks the near conclusion of what was a complex building and setup process. This also heralds the beginning of a long and prosperous chapter of an abundance of delicious vegetables (though, yes, a tomato is technically a fruit). Yoginathaswami, Vishvanathaswami, Tejedevanatha and Dayanatha all worked together to move the starts into their new home and properly set up their liquid nutrients. Not long and our monks will be enjoying a wealth of tasty tomatoes. Aum.

A Green and Growing Garden

Jai Ganesha!

Today we take a look at the progress in the vegetable garden. The high tunnels our coming along well, with the three primary ones in place. The monks of the Siddhidatta Kulam have been pouring footings for the structures. Also, many wonderful vegetables are producing well in our current warm and wet weather. We have an abundance of gourds, eggplant, okra and more. Aum.

Growing Papayas

Jai Ganesha!

In our steady march along the path of self-sufficiency and natural abundance, one oft overlooked but prolific plant is the humble papaya tree. These wonderful fruit trees give plenty of fruits in our climate, but they don't have very long lifespans, living at most four or five years. This requires an ever-repeating propagation of them. Recently the monks of the Siddhidatta Kulam have been placing the seedlings in larger pots, out in the direct sunlight next to the monastery kitchen. This round of little trees is doing quite well and are immensely enjoying our recent dry and sunny weather. As it turns out Papayas are quite a healthful fruit, being high in vitamins, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, digestive enzymes and more, all the while being very low in sugars.

Growing Giant Gourds!

Jai Ganesha!

In another wonderful report from our world of vegetables, we've recently harvested some of our first crop of what is officially our longest gourds. These green-snake gourds are a type of Calabash gourd which are typically grown on trellises, and which can grow as tall as a person. Just one of these could make a decently sized curry! Aum.

Building High-Tunnel Greenhouses

Jai Ganesha!

This month we've seen some new structures appear in our main vegetable garden. As of today, two of our four new high-tunnel greenhouses are nearing completion. These structures were a recent boon for our garden team. We received funding from the state for these structures as part of a program, created because "encouraging greenhouses reduces the destruction of wetlands for farming." These four greenhouses will cover most of the garden's raised planting beds and will allow us even more real estate for which to grow vegetables that are a little too delicate for our Hawaiian environment.

Cabbage, Taters and Bees

Today we're reminded again of the fruitful plenty that comes from our Aadheenam gardens. Our monks recently harvested a large crop of big, bright green napa cabbage. Also in our garden we've been harvesting and replanting sweet potatoes--a purple variety with wonderful flavor. Several days ago we witnessed a rare event, our bee hive had become over-populated! So, our bees were found preparing themselves to swarm. For a full day, half the hive flew as a group over the monastery searching out their new home. And in other news, we've been continuing the soda-blasting of Iraivan Temple's sanctum. Over time the walls gain a stain from our red, volcanic dust. The soda blaster quickly removes what would have taken months to remove by chisel. Aum.

Completing the Greenhouse Headhouse

As you'll recall from earlier posts, while Aditya and Jnanideva were at the aadheenam, they did some extensive work on a nutrient storage shed for our greenhouses. They brought the project most of the way, and after returning home, the monks of the siddhidatta kulam and our current taskforcers helped bring the project to completion. Aum.

Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.

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