Ananda Harvest
DCL
Yogic philosophy is deeply rooted in a connection to the planet so it's no coincidence that this relationship influenced the establishment of the Ananda Harvest, a project which began in order to grow the food for the Ananda Ashram and then took on a life of its own. For founding farmers Dave Gottlieb and Jerri Chou it all started as an escape from New York City. Both Dave, who grew up close to the Ananda Ashram and who's parents had met there, and Jerri who had spent a bit of time there, felt the need to give back to Ananda. When they realized that a portion of the ashram's land wasn't being utilized and in fact had once been a farm, they saw the perfect avenue for a rebirth of what was once there.
"Some people meditate through hatha yoga and some people meditate through their lands," Jerri said. "It's a sigh of relief from the city and a reminder of the basics of life."
The two knew Dave Washburn, the former farmer of the land and today a current farmer at Ananda Harvest. As a result they had a much better idea of what would work and what wouldn't work on the land which has, thus far, saved them quite a bit of hassle. The goal was to help Ananda Ashram pay for one of its largest expenses, food, through a method that was much more sustainable. In the future Ananda will no longer have to get much of its food from distributors, and they will know exactly where their food comes from. By the end of the year, they're hoping to provide 30 to 40 percent of the ashram's produce and then within the next 18 months all of the ashram's produce.
"Food and energy are the two biggest expenses of the ashram," Dave said. "Ananda is a non-profit working to get by and this is a great way for the ashram to be able to direct money to other areas."
While the farm isn't technically biodynamic, they use as much as possible from what's already there including compost from the ashram. And all the food is grown sustainably. The farm has been incredibly successful since it was started by 15 socially-minded friends the weekend of July 4. The initial investment was funded with Kickstarter, a funding platform which allows those that come up with bright ideas to inspire people to support their projects.
"We've already built 30 raised beds, an irrigation system, and a deer fence," Dave said. "We're growing arugula, kale, spring beans, various lettuces, and scallions."
The crew hopes to add garlic, blueberries, and raspberries in the coming seasons. There used to be an apple orchard on the farm so the crew is also working to revive the apple trees to their former glory. There are also maple trees for maple syrup.
"We'll also be offering bee keeping lessons," Jerri said. "Bee keeping is a big trend in New York so we're going to start by offering free lessons to the 15 founding farmers and after that, we're going to offer them to the public so that they can learn how to produce their own honey."
Other classes that are planned for the public include green build classes where you can learn to build your own cabin from salvaged materials like the eco-cabin Dave is building on the farm. There will also be cooking classes and plans are also in the works for a vegetarian cook-off and harvest dinners at the farm.
Volunteer at Ananda
For $108 or more, you get to become an Ananda Harvest farmer and volunteer. And with it you get a 1 Year membership to Ananda Ashram, access to a number of complementary classes as well as camping at the ashram during volunteer stays. Learn what else volunteering at Ananda entails.
