Stories From The Garden

Parnashavari in the Garden

Parnashavari in the Garden

Early in our growing season we Bruce the Slug realized that we had a big problem. The Marici Fellowship Garden is a peaceful place where all creatures are welcome. But some seemed to take more advantage of that then others. We ran into a serious slug, and tiny beetle infestation. We were desperate: slugs had gone through all our Bok Choy (8 plants total) and devoured our spinach practically overnight! We never even saw our lettuce starts, they were gulped up as soon as they popped their tiny seed heads out of the soil.

Tomato plants that we grew from seeds in our home, under lights, and then in cloches, and finally planted in the garden were suddenly covered in tiny black beetles, making the leaves look like someone was poking tiny holes all over them. We researched and found out that at that stage of beetle infestation the crop was unlikely to survive.

We desperately reached out to  H.E. Avikrita Rinpoche for help.

He knew exactly what to do. We were promptly given a special version of Parnasavari’s* Mantra to recite while sitting near the ground and ringing a bell. We began immediately. Not even 5 minutes after reciting the prayer for the first time, a large brown slug (we named Bruce) and another smaller buddy was seen leaving the tomato house!

We recited the Mantra each time we went to the Garden, After about a week or so the beetles had also left the scene! We were, and are still amazed! It has been months now since and the garden is thriving, Thank You Parnashavari!

 

 

*Parnashavari - You can find the original version of the prayer that the Mantra was based on here https://www.sakya.org/2020/02/prayer-for-the-coronavirus-outbreak/

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Children’s Dharma School Stepping Stone Project

H.E Avikrita Rinpoche has always felt that it is important that children are involved in as many dharma activities as possible. This includes The Marici Fellowship Dana Garden project. So, this summer while the kids were on lockdown due to the COVID Pandemic, they were asked if they would like to create stepping stones for the garden. Rinpoche sponsored the kits that consisted of cement mix, a mold to form the step and decorations to put into the cement. With the help of Virginia Hassinger, co-teacher for the Children’s Dharma school, the kits were dropped off to each of the children’s homes and then when completed delivered to the Dana Garden. Here are some photos of the results. 🙂 

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Happy Thirsty Bees in the Garden

Bees happily enjoy the warm sun and wet rocks in the Dana Garden