Greetings from the Garden:
After a few weeks spending time in the garden I have now seen its huge potential. Many hours have been spent trimming, pruning, and doing a thorough pest investigation of the blackberries and red raspberries. I found raspberry crown borer. The borer lives in the roots and crown of the plant. It can be identified by knots at the base of the canes and sawdust like material around the plant base. The swelling at the base of the cane is the most common way to identify. There is also a cane borer that lays the larva in the cane of the plant. It is also identified by knots or bulges in the upper sections of the cane. The infestation can kill prima canes (first year growth). The removal of damaged canes and crowns is the most efficient and organic method for the removal of borers. Now they are just about ready for spring. Our next project will be building the trellis to make for easier picking and better sunlight for the fruiting canes. Right now is a great time for anyone to catch up on winter pruning especially for brambles.
Plans for the season are starting to develop. Many of my goals will be focused on providing food throughout the season. This will be achieved with multiple plantings, up to four times, of the same crop. I am planning on three plantings of green beans, multiple plantings of beets, lettuce, kale, and more. I will be trying some new plants such as yellow watermelon and pumpkin eggplant. Also, for both their beauty and their bounty of edible seeds I am planning on a large plating of sunflowers. Looking forward to our first spring plantings. This week I would like to end with a quote by Francis Bacon~ Gardening is the purest of human pleasures.
What can really be a better occupation than glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead through the chanting of His Holy Names! 
It is amazing to see how the mercy of Srila Prabhupada and his faithful followers have influenced the lives of so many persons on this planet! They have given up all other duties and engage soul, mind and body in the Sankirtana Yajna of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu! 
Lord Krishna once overheard a conversation about how His dearest devotees, the cowherd maidens of Vrindavana, were lamenting in His absence. When He heard these accounts of overwhelming love in separation, the Lord’s hair began to stand on end, His eyes opened wide and filled with tears, and His arms and legs contracted as He went into a state of spiritual ecstasy. Seeing Lord Krishna in this condition, His elder brother, Balarama (Baladeva), also began to feel ecstatic symptoms and displayed similar features. When Their sister, Subhadra, arrived at the scene, she too became consumed with ecstatic joy. Thus the sublime deity forms of Jagannatha, Subhadra, and Baladeva represent this sweet pastime.
The festival of Ratha-yatra represents Lord Jagannatha’s longing to reunite with His dear devotees in Vrindavana, foremost among them, Srimati Radharani. According to tradition, the Lord gets lovesick once a year just prior to the festival. To cheer him up, His servants arrange for Him to go on a lavish procession to meet up with His devotees. 
New Temporary ISKCON Temple Opens in Moscow. The new rented place is spacious and beautifully renovated. But still not spacious enough to accomodate the crowd of five to ten thousand people that are expected to visit the Centre on Janmashtami. That is why, says temple president Sadhu-priya das, devotees are seeing this as a temporary place and are making continuous efforts to acquire a place of their own. But though the place is temporary, it will fulfill the spiritual needs of the Moscow devotee community. 
Devotees of Lord Krishna perform public chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord inban attractive way, to raise God consciousness to the fortunate visitors of that big park of Moscow. 
Today, Ukraine is all over the news for the worrisome events that are happening in the zone, along with government unrest and military intervention from Russia. But devotees are safe, and doing what they can to assist those affected.
Back in 1980 when Ukranian devotees Amala Bhakta Das, Kirtida Dasi, Achyuta Priya Das and Tungavidya Sakhi Dasi started ISKCON in Kiev, the country was also a troubled place, then under the communist regime. But in contrast to the situation today, back then devotees encountered extreme trials in their attempts to spread Krishna consciousness.
Throughout the 1980s, devotees were put in prison and subjected to inhuman treatment in “psychiatric wards”. One of the most prominent, Bharadvaja Das, was arrested more than 20 times and was heavily drugged in an attempt to remove his devotion to Krishna. 
Besides its beautiful location, ISKCON Laguna Beach has the only Pancha Tattva Deities in the Continental US (excluding Hawaii). Meanwhile its festivals throughout the year feature some of the most energetic kirtan and sumptuous feasts you’ll find, delivered with a uniquely heartwarming service attitude. Chief amongst these is Laguna’s regional Maha Gaura Purnima festival in honor of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, held a week after Gaura Purnima Day and attended by devotees from all over Southern California and beyond. 
This Gaurapurnima festival at Murari’s Kirtan Valley was wonderful, thanks to you, your help, and enthusiasm. We had a record turnout of souls for this special occasion, perhaps 70 people came to rejoice, chant the holy names and participate in the sacred bathing ceremony of Sri Sri NitaiGaurachandra. That is a little big for little ol Murari.