Meanwhile down on the Farmden . . .
Focused on sustainability, education, and utilization family owned and operated Three Leaf Farmden (bigger than a garden, smaller than a farm), sits in the serene Juniata valley located in central Pennsylvania. Join us for a sojourn into the world of simple living and high thinking as we simultaneously explore nature and the human quest for reconnection with the transcendental. Three Leaf promotes simple living through the production of wild-crafted and naturally grown herb based botanicals, foods and body care items through its sister company Trifolia Natural Products and Botanicals.
Gratitude increases compassion
I am getting back into the habit of waking really early in the predawn hours to savor the wholesome silence of rural living while I absorb myself in mantra meditation to begin a new day. There is something about waking when everyone else is still sleeping, almost like finding money on the ground; it's there for anyone to pick up but you are the lucky one that spotted it. The Vedas ( ancient Indian sacred texts) describe the time which occurs 1 hour and 36 minutes before sunrise as the Brahma murhurtha an auspicious spiritually surcharged time of the day that enhances any kind of prayer, meditation or japa. Wayne Dyer the motivational author and speaker who recently passed recommended rising early and engaging in japa meditation as a way of connecting with the power of intention and the source of the creative energy.
Grateful, is a wonderfully healing way to be in life, it increases productivity and is the opposite of resentful entitlement. Being grateful increases compassion which ultimately strengthens our bond to every other living entity on the planet, improves our relationships and makes us happier, kinder people that are nicer to be around. Like the best things in life it is free and plentiful.
Weed Wisdom Walks
Herb walks around the Farmden are scheduled every month from March- November last about an hour and focus on observing that which normally goes unnoticed. We will identify herbs, talk about history and uncover the traditional use of locally growing plants.There are light refreshments served afterwards.
Veg For Life
Three Leaf is also the home of the "Build your own" cooking class. Simple, delicious and cost effective meals prepared with the ease of reproduction in mind. Check out the various options on the Build your Own page. Classes
can be tailored to fit your time, budget
and interest. Taught by an intuitive gourmet cook with over twenty-five years experience and a multicultural background classes are fun, interesting and practical.
Hands and Mind
As we enter the coldest part of the year when travel slows and discussion around a hot beverage replaces a cool dip in the back yard pool, the Farmden offers a place to congregate while engaging in the productive pastime of handcrafting. You are invited to bring your knitting, embroidery, crocheting, latch work, wood whittling or something to do while listening to selected recorded classes by international scholars discoursing on the ancient and timeless philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita (As It Is), and/ or sacred chanting
"In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial"
-Henry David Thoreau
"I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-Gita. It was the first of books: it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us"
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34025889@N00/3014071655">MAO'S KITCHEN</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73422480@N00/8483183296">42/365</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/35478170@N08/5182548607">Heracleum lanatum (H. sphondylium)</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
