Water System Update

Hare Krishna,

Thank you so much for your support in 2009 and in this coming year. Last year was full of traumatic events. Balabhadra, president of ISCOWP, had a heart attack and could not walk for 2 months due to spinal deterioration. Lakshmi, our daughter, broke her wrist and had to have an emergency operation while pregnant to save the use of her hand. They have both recovered but not to full capacity leaving a labor gap on the farm. Then we had an emergency breakdown of the barn water system.
With your help, both financial and spiritual, we have passed through these speed bumps on the road of life. We are eternally grateful. Although we were not able to thank everyone we take this opportunity to express our gratitude and wish you all a blessed new year.

Haribol!
Chayadevi
(Irene M. Dove)
ISCOWP Co-Managing Director

Water System Update

The Water System campaign was a success! All the funds needed were donated by ISCOWP members. Since it is too cold now to replace the water tank, we have put aside the allotted amount for this spring when conditions will be conducive for working outside in the barnyard where the water tank is located. In the meantime we will manage with the two tanks inside the barns. Thank you so much for helping us with this emergency. For those unfamiliar with this campaign, you can read more about it at Water for the Cows. We will discuss with you another important upcoming project in the next update letter.

ISCOWP Cows In the Winter

It was very cold and snow covered everything up until recently. It is still the winter season and more winter weather will come our way. Quite a difference from our last newsletter sent to you with pictures showing the beautiful colors of autumn and the cows enjoying the warm autumn sun. Now the cows are staying in the barn although they have the choice of roaming the barnyard. It has just been too cold, sometimes in the single digits, and too slippery underfoot for anyone to stay outside for long.

Just before the winter set in Bhakta Chris Fici came for a visit. Jahnava is enjoying the attention of both Bhakta Chris and Balabhadra. Bhakta Chris is the author of The Yoga of Ecology blog and is an active member of the Bhaktivedanta Ashram in NYC.

In this photo you can see the beginning of a bedding pack for the winter. Throughout the winter hay is laid down on top of the cow dung that accumulates in the barn. By the end of the winter this pack is in some places a foot high. This pack becomes a warm bed for the cows to lie upon instead of the cold concrete floor.

The winter care of the cows consists of feeding hay out, keeping the water troughs full and maintaining the bedding pack. When the cows eat well, have plenty to drink and have a warm place to sit, they are happy.

From our Friends

December 4

Friends of the East Wheeling Community Gardeners,

Not to make anyone jealous :), but I attached some photos of the fall crop at the East Wheeling Kids’ Garden, taken on November 24. All crops are still going strong (thanks to the heat retention from the interstate that hovers over the garden, I believe). We were fortunate to be able to provide 10 families in East Wheeling with all their cabbage, greens, and lettuce for Thanksgiving, 100% organic and as-fresh-as-can-be.

Everything else is going well at the East Wheeling gardens. With the growing season slowing, we’re working on a community greenhouse, chicken coop, and our long-awaited 501(c)(3) application.

Thanks to everyone who has given us help and advice, especially the folks at New Vrindaban and ISCOWP who have been so generous with their manure, our truck lender, financial supporters, and so forth.

Peace and happy holidays,
Danny Swan

On the Road Again

Balabhadra is traveling to England, Belarus, Ukraine and places in India to visit current and prospective cow protection programs. We will keep you updated on his travels. Not only does he distribute knowledge and encourages cow protection programs, but he also attains inspiration and knowledge from other cowherds.

Wenda Shehata makes cow dung patties for sale to support her program Hugllets Wood Farm Animal Sanctuary located in England. She and Mathew protect 41 cows and oxen, several sheep, Wilbur the pig, and assorted chickens, ducks, and geese. Balabhadra is learning the traditional way of making cow dung patties from Wenda.

A Birthday Wish

Sarvabauma das, J. Neal Carr, and now Daruka Corcoran III have donated their birthdays to ISCOWP. At their request, friends donated to ISCOWP instead of purchasing them a birthday gift. Find out how you can donate your birthday on our Facebook page.

20 years later

Twenty years ago this coming March, ISCOWP incorporated for the purpose of spreading the knowledge of cow protection and related agricultural practices. The picture on the left shows us (Balabhadra and Chayadevi) in 1994 in Ojai California. We are getting photographed for a front page article in one of the local newspapers because we were kicked out of the Ventura County Fair for presenting cow protection.

In celebration of the 20 year milestone, we are revising and updating the ISCOWP web page and hope to have the new version uploaded soon. We are also revising our monthly update letter to you. As you have probably noticed, we have been sending you different versions in the last few months. Thank you so much for your patience with our attempts to bring you an attractive, efficient and interesting ISCOWP Update. This one is the first one to maintain a Forward to Friends, Subscribe/Unsubscribe, and a Join our Mailing List capabilities. Please let us know if and when you find any glitches. We are new to this technology but realize we must keep up with the times in order to educate more and more people about cow protection. If there are any geeks out there who would like to help with Internet technology, please contact us.

Give Vegetarian Meals to Haiti

Our friends at Food for Life Global need help to feed vegetarian meals offered to Lord Krsna to the people of Haiti. Find out how you can help at the Food for Life web page.