Gardening Land offered

I am so excited with the number of you who have expressed support for this insert. I hope it is useful. It is so good to be in a ward where participation in everything good is so high. What a privilege to be here.

I think this will be the last week of suggesting what food to put away since everyone is in a different place with their storage and food preferences. Pres. Hinckley spoke recently and made the whole thing of storage very simple: “Store what you eat.” That means, purchase a little extra of non-perishables that you get when you go shopping and put them away until you have a weeks supply-then add another week and so on. Be sure and know what the storage limits are on each food and rotate it. That’s one of the benefits of using what you eat. Don’t go by the date on the label, go by the recommended storage time from the extension department guidelines. I’ll try and get some of them soon.

This week we should make sure we have a start on dry or canned beans. Purchase as many as you can of the ones you like and eat. If you don’t eat them, you might want to get some anyway. Sister Schmidt says that rice and beans together make a perfect protein which is good if you are not storing much beef or animal protein, including cheese.

We have been offered some ground for a ward vegetable garden. We need to know this week how many would be interested in participating (working) in such a garden. Please call or email me if you feel you want to do it. If there is enough interest, we will take the offer.

gv3grant@gmail.com or 628-2739

look on the back for some good resources on the internet.

This is the link to the Extension service and has many good things. Look at ‘Dixie gardener’ and ‘home matters’ for some great ideas. These guys also take calls if you have questions.
http://extension.usu.edu/washington/

This is an interesting site for storage – you decide if you like it but it may be helpful. Check out the section on getting a 3 month supply in 90 days to see what you think:
http://www.theideadoor.com/FoodStorage.html

A sister in my son’s ward in Highland, Utah has this one and it is very professional and I think very good. Try it out:
Http://www.safelygatheredin.com

Then, not last, and not least – the churches web site:
www.providentliving.org
look on the left for lots of good connections

If any of you have other resources or ideas, let me know and I will share them.

PS, if some of your vegetables are not going to be used before they turn into slime in your refrigerator, try drying them or freezing them. Green peppers or any others for that matter can be cut up and frozen without blanching (dipping in boiling water). Don’t waste!

You may want to watch for a food dryer especially if you see one in a garage sale or on sale in the store. It is a great and safe way to store many fruits and vegetables.