Dear Friends,
The ISHA Meeting Hall Garden is thriving! Here’s a photo journey through the latest vegetarian delights growing on Ishwar’s hallowed land in Bruce, Wisconsin.
Here’s a photo of the garden from a distance. It’s so green in Bruce that it can be difficult to tell the garden from the native plants! The garden lies within the fenced area, outlined by the green posts with white tops. The bare ground at the far left is the future parking lot for the ISHA Meeting Hall.
Sevadars have been busy keeping the weeds out of the garden.
There are over 50 different varieties of watermelon in the world. The ISHA Meeting Hall garden contains two; green and yellow. Here’s the green …
.. and here’s the yellow.
Pumpkins are a type of squash plant. The U.S. grows 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin each year, and the world’s heaviest pumpkin weighed 2,625 pounds! Our pumpkins are still green, and won’t weigh much over 20 pounds, but they’re sure to be delicious.
These lovely Red Kuri Squash are a type of winter squash. Inside the hard outer skin is a firm flesh with a very delicate and mellow flavor similar to the taste of chestnuts. This squash can be baked, braised, pureed, or steamed to be served as a side dish or used as a base for soups. Also known as a Japanese squash, Orange Hokkaido or Uchiki Kuri squash.
Eggplant is a species in the nightshade family, related to tomato and potato. The spongy fruit is widely used in cooking in many different cuisines and is often considered to be a vegetable, although it is a berry fruit by botanical definition. These beauties would make some tasty Baingan Bharta!
Cabbage is a good source of Vitamins K and C and dietary fiber. Cabbages can be prepared for eating in many different ways. They can be pickled, fermented, steamed, stewed, sautéed, braised, or eaten raw.
This “Sacred Green Corn” was planted by a satsangi who received it from Native American friends. It is derived from 2000-year-old seeds from Tennessee. The seeds were planted in a circle with plants at each of the four cardinal directions and double in the middle for Earth and Sky/Sun. It is not sweet corn. It will dry on the stalk before it is harvested.
Bok Choy is a type of Chinese cabbage that is a nutritional powerhouse. In a recent study, it was ranked #2 for nutrient density out of 41 nutrient-rich plant foods!
Swiss Chard (left) and Collard Greens (right) are two more of the most nutrient-rich vegetables in the world.
Malabar spinach is not a true spinach, but rather a climbing vine in a class by itself. Other common names include Vine Spinach, Red Vine Spinach, Creeping Spinach, and Ceylon Spinach. Even though it’s not a true spinach, it tastes like spinach. It will grow rapidly in the heat of summer all the way through fall. Malabar spinach is a nutritious powerhouse, loaded with Vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and antioxidants.
The Yukon Gold potato plants are looking great. This delectable variety of potato was developed in Canada in the 1960s.
These beans were used to make a delicious three-bean salad for a recent sevadar lunch at the Meeting Hall site.
These two gallon jars full of refrigerator dill pickles will be served at the Mitti Seva lunch on September 24!
With warmest regards,
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee
Paul Bauer
Chair of ISHA Building & Fund-Raising Committee