Things have been busy at Hare Krishna Valley. Besides our regular Sunday Feast Program, well attended by guests from the local area, in January we catered at the Tranquillity Fair in Ocean Grove. There we distributed over two hundred plates of our delicious vegetarian prasadam to festival-goers. In October Hare Krishna Valley devotees also catered at the Birregurra Annual Festival. Person after person told us that they wait all year to taste one of our cauliflower pakoras! People become very attached to Hare Krishna food after enjoying prasadam at the Festival year after year.

We continue to conduct home programmes, including some in Ocean Grove. These programs attract our hosts’ friends and neighbours to Krishna conscious culture.

A number of volunteers from the WWoofer program stayed with us over spring and summer. Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWoofer) is a great way to work and travel Australia. Volunteers receive free accommodation and meals in return for around four hours’ work per day. Around 1,900 farms in Australia participate. Our WWoofers have been a great help with painting and gardening around the farm. Meanwhile Manigriva is harvesting our summer crops, both for farm use and for sale to organic vegie suppliers.

Unfortunately Madhu Mangala, our last surviving bull, passed away in January. This leaves the farm comunity with one cow, one goat, two dogs, together with lots of kangaroos and parrots!

On a positive note, our friendly electrician Heath installed new LED lighting in the Temple building. The new lights are eco-friendly and create a softer mood within the Temple room. Practically every weekend last year Christian Jenkins worked to complete his house in the residential subdivision. He planned to move in by January. The new residents will give a major boost to our community as Christian and his family lend their talents to developing the farm project.

In October we completed our half-yearly wood chop. A group of kind devotee friends from Melbourne came down to the farm to help us to cut thirty five tonnes of wood. The freshly-cut wood will dry over the next twelve months for use in a future winter. That month we also hosted a Bhakti Yoga Ayurveda Retreat, attended by an enthusiastic group of participants from Melbourne and Geelong. Four participants had attended one or more of our retreats in the past few years. In February Prahladananda Swami will host an Ayurveda and Yoga Retreat.

To get a glimpse of the Valley, read the blog, or to book accommodation, visit the Valley website at http://www.harekrishnavalley.com.au. If you are interested in staying for a few days or helping to make Hare Krishna Valley a success, you can also contact Keshava dasa on 0405-577-453 or keshava.tkg@pamho.net.