Dear Friends,
As the record-setting snowstorms of April have melted into memory, a small group of volunteers has sprung into spring action on Ishwar’s project in Bruce, Wisconsin. It turns out that spring is the perfect time to work on vegetable gardens and trail building. The bugs are still hibernating, it’s not too hot, and the trees haven’t leafed out, so you can actually see through the woods.
During the last two weekends, this joyful band of workers has created a new trail system between the Dome site and the Chippewa River. One of the happy workers reports “On both Saturday and Sunday the trail crew worked like a team possessed (fueled by enthusiasm, good humor, and seva madness). The goal: finish preliminary clearing of all the flagged trails. The goal was achieved. There is still much work to be done, but the first stage is complete. There are now three interconnecting trails that start at the silt fencing on the east side of the dome construction site (north trailhead, center trailhead and south trailhead) and lead to the Riverview Ridge Trail that overlooks the creeks and floodplain leading to the Chippewa River, as well as to the three groves of huge pine trees that can be gathering places for meditation and picnics. The center trail, nicknamed El Camino Real (The Royal Road), has the potential one day to be handicap accessible.”
With the help of a local, volunteer farmer and his tractor, the group has also created a large vegetable garden along the southern boundary of the ISHA property. Earlier in the week, the farmer plowed and disced the garden plot. Next, he will deliver a truckload of seasoned, organic manure to spread on the plot. Then, a rabbit-proof and deer-proof fencing will be installed, and the garden will be ready for planting. A local gardener has a “treasure trove” of potted vegetable plants ready to go into the ground. So, if all goes well, the Mitti Seva lunch in September will feature dera-grown organic vegetables!
Here are some photographic highlights of the last two weekends.
Volunteers building trail down to the creek.
Planning the future trail along the lovely Chippewa River.
Clearing the brush around one of the large pine trees near the Meeting Hall site. These gorgeous trees will someday provide shade for picnic tables and meditation benches. The huge hole for the Meeting Hall basement is just over the rise in the background.
Fully satisfied sevadars heading home after a long day in the woods.
Google Earth map showing the locations of the new trail system between the Meeting Hall dome and the Chippewa River. The green dots show the locations of the large pine trees.
Local sevadars scouting out the location of the ISHA vegetable garden.
A local farmer begins to plow up the garden area, as service to Ishwar Ji.
The garden has been plowed and diced, and now a volunteer is applying an organic soil amendment called humate. Humate is rich in trace minerals and high in humic acid and fulvic acid, which boosts microbial activity, and improves water retention and overall soil health.
How To Register To Be An ISHA Sevadar:
There are many opportunities to do service work for Ishwar Puri Ji. ISHA is seeking volunteers for Meeting Hall construction, non-construction outdoor work at the Meeting Hall site, event support, transcription and translation, and administrative support.
There are many opportunities to do service work for Ishwar Puri Ji. ISHA is seeking volunteers for Meeting Hall construction, non-construction outdoor work at the Meeting Hall site, event support, transcription and translation, and administrative support.
ISHA has adopted software called “Volunteer Matrix” to help organize all of our seva opportunities. To register as an ISHA volunteer and discover the ways in which you can help, please visit ISHA’s website at https://ishanews.volunteermatrix.com/, then select “NEW VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION” near the top of the page and create your login and profile.
With warmest regards,
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee