Vegetables picked in October

Here is a picture I took a year ago in October.  We were moving from one house to another.  We had neglected our garden terribly, and it all looked like weeds. 

During the last week we were in our old house, we wanted to get the garden looking halfway decent for the buyers, so we spent a couple of hours tearing out all the "weeds".  Imagine our surprise to find that all these vegetables had kept growing, even after we had quit watering, weeding, or caring for the garden at all for several months.

We live in North Carolina, and being a beginning gardener, I did not know the growing season was so long.  I hope that in future years I will keep planting and watering much later in the summer.

Can of seeds

I buy at least one can of canned garden seeds per year, and keep it in my freezer.  Then the next year, I use it and buy another can to store.  I am hoping that this strategy will enable me to grow a garden even if some big catastrophe happens.

Slacker Gardening

I planted a garden in the spring, and got so involved with househunting and preparing my old house for sale, and moving, that I never cared for the garden at all. I never weeded it or even watered it (thank goodness it rains so much in North Carolina!).

Last week my husband and daughter and I pulled out all the knee-high weeds to make the yard look better so we can sell that house, and we discovered so many sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, carrots and green onions, they filled an entire box. That is what I call "low maintenance gardening". I will be sure and try that again next year.

What I have learned as a beginning gardener

President Kimball said:

"We encourage you to grow all the food that you feasibly can on your own property. Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant them if your climate is right for their growth. Grow vegetables and eat them from your own yard. Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. Study the best methods of providing your own foods. Make your garden as neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities."  ("Family Preparedness", Ensign, May 1976)

Knowing we have been asked by our prophets to have a garden, I planted my first one in 2009.  I am amazed by all the failures I have had in my 3 summers of gardening here in North Carolina.  Everything that could happen wrong, happened.

I planted the peas too late.  I planted the sweet potatoes too close to everything else.  The cucumbers and squash shriveled up and died.  I let the cantaloupe plants grow so much that they never produced fruit, just vines.  I stopped planting, when I should have kept gardening clear into September and October.

I let "volunteers" grow, and discovered that they were not worth eating.  They were probably grown from hybrid seeds.

I let one tall plant grow, trying to figure out which vegetable it was.  Finally my home teacher told me it was just a weed.

Yet, even in my gardening infancy, my four little square foot gardens still produced plenty of food to eat fresh.  I didn't ever have enough to can, but we ate carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, green onions, cantaloupe, green peppers, and radishes.  And now I know what the vegetables look like, and I know what is a weed and what isn't, and I have it written on the calendar in February to get the garden ready and to plant the seeds indoors.

Everything takes effort to learn, and I am so thankful I have learned even this small amount.

Beginner's Luck- Sweet Potatoes

This was only my third summer to have a garden, and I am still such a beginner.  I had purchased 4 little sweet potato plants, and had planted them, and didn't know anything about taking care of them.  The vines spread out all over my garden plots, and basically crowded out all the other things (carrots, onions, radishes.)

I finally read on the internet about harvesting sweet potatoes, and learned that I should dig them up just before the first frost, or just after.  So last week I spent several hours digging, and it was very hard work!

Those sweet potatoes had grown lower down than my garden soil, right down into the untilled clay.  They were imbedded in it like a rock into concrete.  But I was shocked at how many sweet potatoes I had grown from only 4 plants.

My plan next year is to put them in a separate bed so they don't crowd out my other vegetables, and I will definitely plant more than 4, because they must love the climate here, they grow so well without any care at all.

Got Gardening Tools?

I am not a gardening expert, I have only been gardening for 3 summers now.  But I got to thinking, what will happen when there is no longer food at the store?  When we have economic turmoil, or natural disasters that stop our food supply arriving, or when the droughts get so bad there is no food being grown elsewhere?

 If we have to grow all our own food, I am really going to have to step up my game quite a bit.

So far I have been doing four little 4' x 4' gardens.  They are small enough for me to kneel down and dig with a hand trowel.

But if I have to go into full-scale production, I need better tools.  I just purchased this hoe and this pointy shovel.  And eventually, I hope to buy about 3 more of each, because, face it, the whole family is going to have to be out there shovelling and hoeing at the same time, and we will each need our own tool.

Sometimes you can find shovels and hoes at yard sales, that is where I hope to find more of these.  (Good luck getting to the yard sale before I do.)

Solar oven videos, Killing the bugs on my Summer Squash plants

I really enjoyed watching the eleven different YouTube videos about solar oven cooking on  http://everydayfoodstorage.net/blog .  I've been cooking with my solar oven this week, and have learned that North Carolina skies are usually clear in the morning, but they start clouding up around noon.  I have had several items that took hours and hours to cook in the solar oven because the clouds kept going over the sun.

I have also watched several videos about common garden bugs.  I learned that the bugs I found all over my summer squash plants are called squash beetles, and I learned to kill them with homemade insecticide.  Just add some liquid dish detergent to a squirt bottle of water, and squirt the bugs with the soapy water.  It really kills them, within about a minute.  It is GREAT!

April Provident Living Challenge

Congratulations to the women who each won some cookies last night!  

These women met the goals for February: Karen G, Mary Ann P, Nicki H, Amber T., Latacha D, Kayte D., and Laura H.

This woman met the challenge for March:  Amelia B.

April 2011 Provident Living Challenges:

Do one of these by the May evening Relief Society meeting and get a prize!

1. Print out at least one of the food storage booklets from the CD “Over 1000 Pages of Food Storage Information” which Amy gave out at her Apex stake women’s day presentation on March 12, or at the Morrisville Relief Society evening meeting April 7.  (If you didn’t get a CD, ask Amy for one.)  

2.Learn a gardening skill or work in your garden.

If you have never had a garden, here is the minimum assignment.  Go to Lowe’s or Home Depot or a garden center and buy at least one tomato plant.  

(Make sure you look to see if it is "Indeterminate", which means it grows as a vine and needs a trellis to hold it up, or if it is "Determinate", which means it grows as a bush.)

Keep the plant indoors, and keep it watered, until April 15.  Then you can plant the tomato outside in a pot with potting soil, or prepare the ground with potting soil and plant it in the ground. Talk to Amy if you want more instructions.

If you have had gardening experience before, your assignment is to get your garden ready and start planting things.  Anything you do to prepare or plant your garden will qualify you for the prize.

How to make a garden box

Its about time to start thinking of putting in a garden. Here is a great tutorial on how to build a 4'x4' garden box for just over $50. I a have 3 similar sizes in my yard, but Wayne made them out of (recycled plastic) decking planks. I think I want to make future ones like this video.

http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2010/05/24/how-to-build-a-vinyl-square-foot-garden-box/

Benson: Be productive and store what we produce

President Ezra Taft Benson has urged each of us to be productive and to store what we produce: 


“You do not need to go into debt … to obtain a year’s supply. Plan to build up your food supply just as you would a savings account. Save a little for storage each paycheck. Can or bottle fruit and vegetables from your gardens and orchards. Learn how to preserve food through drying and possibly freezing. Make your storage a part of your budget. Store seeds and have sufficient tools on hand to do the job. If you are saving and planning for a second car or a TV set or some item which merely adds to your comfort or pleasure, you may need to change your priorities. We urge you to do this prayerfully and do it now.” (Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 33.)

Why have a garden?

Some may ask, “Why have a garden when we can buy produce inexpensively?” One of the important keys of home production and storage is the acquisition of skills. Sometimes we may be able to buy food inexpensively, but the skills and intuitive wisdom gained through gardening and other home production projects are worth more than the time and effort they require. In a sustained emergency, basic gardening, sewing, repair, construction, and production know-how are invaluable. Provident living helps us develop these skills—and build family unity by doing it—before an emergency.


"Catching the Vision of Self-Reliance", Ensign, May 1986, 89
http://lds.org/ensign/1986/05/catching-the-vision-of-self-reliance?lang=eng

Great idea for Growing potatoes

http://tipnut.com/grow-potatoes/

Grow 100 lbs. Of Potatoes In 4 Square Feet: {How To}

Quite the clever gardening tip here folks! Today’s feature includes tips from three different sources for growing potatoes vertically (in layers) instead of spread out in rows across your garden. If you have limited garden space or want to try some nifty gardening magic, this could be a great option for you.

Gardening- Spencer W. Kimball, more from 1976

..."We encourage you to grow all the food that you feasibly can on your own property. Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant them if your climate is right for their growth. 

Grow vegetables and eat them from your own yards. Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. Study the best methods of providing your own foods. Make your garden neat and attractive as well as productive. 

If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities...Develop your skills in your home preservation and storage. 

We reaffirm the previous counsel the Church has always given, to acquire and maintain a year’s supply—a year’s supply of the basic commodities for us. We encourage families to have on hand this year’s supply; and we say it over and over and over and repeat over and over the scripture of the Lord where He says, ‘Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?’ How empty it is as they put their spirituality, so-called, into action and call him by his important names, but fail to do the things which he says. Spencer W. Kimball (April Conference, 1976)

Gardening- Spencer W. Kimball, 1976 and 1977

Ensign » 1976 » May

The Stone Cut without Hands
President Spencer W. Kimball
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=372efd758096b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

If every family had a garden and rural families had a cow and chickens, some fruit trees, and a garden, it is amazing how nearly the family could be fed from their own lot.

We believe in work for ourselves and for our children.... We should train our children to work, and they should learn to share the responsibilities of the home and the yard. ......Children may be given assignments also to take care of the garden, and this will be far better than to have them for long hours sitting at a television.

Ensign » 1977 » November

Welfare Services:
The Gospel in Action
President Spencer W. Kimball

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=51c51f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

“I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage.”

(in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, p. 125; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 78.)

Let's do these things because they are right- Kimball, 1977

Ensign » 1977 » November

Welfare Services:
The Gospel in Action
President Spencer W. Kimball

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=51c51f26d596b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

As you know, in the recent past we have placed considerable emphasis on personal and family preparedness. I hope that each member of the Church is responding appropriately to this direction. I also hope that we are understanding and accentuating the positive and not the negative.

I like the way the Relief Society teaches personal and family preparedness as “provident living.” This implies the husbanding of our resources, the wise planning of financial matters, full provision for personal health, and adequate preparation for education and career development, giving appropriate attention to home production and storage as well as the development of emotional resiliency.

I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage.

Think of the learning that accompanies a family council on the family budget. How do Mom and Dad feel when a teenage son who, because he is included and understands the budgeting process, volunteers part of his summer’s income to help replace that tired refrigerator?

We speak of literacy and education in terms of being prepared for a better occupation, but we cannot underestimate the present pleasure of our reading in the scriptures, Church magazines, and good books of every kind. We teach of emotional strength in terms of family prayer, kind words, and full communication, but we quickly learn how pleasant life can be when it is lived in a courteous and reinforcing atmosphere.

In like manner we could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward.

Let’s do these things because they are right, because they are satisfying, and because we are obedient to the counsels of the Lord. In this spirit we will be prepared for most eventualities, and the Lord will prosper and comfort us. It is true that difficult times will come—for the Lord has foretold them—and, yes, stakes of Zion are “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm.” (D&C 115:6.) But if we live wisely and providently, we will be as safe as in the palm of His hand.

I hope that in our priesthood quorums and Relief Society meetings the concepts of personal and family preparedness are being properly taught and with the kind of positive approach that we all respond to.

Best price for alfalfa sprouting seeds

I spent a long time this week checking out all the websites selling alfalfa sprouting seeds, and this one has the best prices.

http://www.mvseeds.com/index.html

(Note:  I think Walton Feed  http://waltonfeed.com/  is the closest in price, they may be even cheaper when we do the stake order.  But I didn't want to wait for the next stake order.)

Mountain Valley Seed Company sells 1 pound of seeds in a mylar bag for $5.48, and 5 pounds of seeds in a poly bag for $22.85.  They do not sell sprouting seeds packed inside cans, but a man there said they are planning to start that sometime soon.

I also bought Mung bean sprouting seeds, those are the bean sprouts that are in oriental foods.  I thought it was stupid to keep buying those from the grocery store in cans, when I could sprout them myself.  The Mung bean sprouting seeds cost $4.35 for 1 pound, and $13.95 for 5 pounds.


GARDEN SEEDS:

The one type of seeds they sell in cans are their "Canned Garden Seeds" for $55.  This contains 16 packets of 100% non-hybrid seeds, which keeps for more than 5 years if kept in cool temperatures (don't keep it in the attic or garage.)  I heard Jim Kennard, the Garden Doctor, talk about it on his radio show, and he said it was the best value for anyone who wants to save seeds for future emergency use.  (Again, I think Walton Feed is cheaper for their canned garden seeds.)