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Cannery Date 25th at 7 PM
Please, come 10 minutes early. Since the goal is 400 lbs. grains and 60 lbs. legumes per family member this year, going to the cannery each month can help you reach this without too much pain in the pocketbook.
It's easy to eat an elephant, if you do it one bite at a time.
Spiritual Goal: Diligently, attend church meetings. "Sacrament meeting is the most important meeting of the week, the one the Lord has commanded
us to attend. It’s a time to worship the Savior. What does that mean,
to worship? It means to reverently show love and allegiance to him, to
think about him, to honor him, to remember his sacrifice for each of us,
and to thank him." W. Mack Lawrence, April 1991
Physical Goal: To get adequate vitamin D and improve mental health spend time outdoors in the fresh air every day of the week. This is easy to do if you have been walking outdoors daily. If that has not been your chosen form of exercise, add 30 minutes of outdoor time to your daily schedule. It will do your spirit and body a tremendous amount of good. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good..." Genesis 1:3-4
Financial Goal: Don’t follow the investment herd. If everyone is running toward a investment strategy, turn and walk the other way. Be a smart investor not a simple gambler. Research options like real estate, metals, stocks, and so forth. Buy when prices are low. "Wherefore, do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness." 2 Nephi 9:51
Provident Living Goal:
On Conference weekend, using heirloom,
open-pollinated seed, plant tomatoes, bell peppers, herbs, hot peppers, eggplant, and
annual flowers in large disposable cups filled with compost or potting mix. Put
in front of a sunny window and don’t forget to water. You can make each cup a tiny green house by
putting a plastic bag over the cup. Two weeks later start brassicas, such as
cabbages, Bok Choi, cauliflower, broccoli, etc. seeds similarly. Look through
fruit catalogs like willisorchards.com, starkbros.com and raintreenursery.com,
make a plan, and place your order to arrive by the 1st of May. (See article
below.) "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"
Spencer W. Kimball, April 1976
Storage Goal: Spices, condiments, vanilla, 20 pounds peanut butter or nuts per person, deodorant, lotion, etc. Copy can=use pantry or sundry item, replace with two- “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?’ [Luke 6:46.] 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 1976, 171.
Pantry Box Goal: Instant polenta and quick cook rice, flour, fettuccine, spaghetti, spiral pasta, dehydrated mushrooms, peppers, celery, and carrot for seasoning
Emergency Kit Goal: 5-10 granola or energy bars per person, 5-10 sticks beef jerky or bags of nuts per person, butane
Planting a small fruit orchard, you will have a good supply of fresh fruit for sauce, preserves, or dried fruit in a few years. Plan your orchard to have apples, peaches, pears, apricots, berries, cherries, and plums or other things your family enjoys that ripen all throughout the growing season and keepers for fresh eating all year round. We have all seen huge apple and pear trees with rotting fruit all around their base, because nobody wants to climb up to harvest the fruit. In about the same space as 1 or 2 full sized apple trees, consider a postage stamp orchard. Plant 4-6 ft. tall espalier apple and pear trees around 6-8 ft. tall dwarf fruit trees planted 6-8 ft. apart. This tiny 14X24 orchard can accommodate 6 espaliers-2 pear and 4 apples plus 6 dwarfs-2 peach, 2 cherry, and 2 plum or apricot. With a ground cover of strawberries and lingdon berries, insect attractor bee balm, pest control garlic and calendula, and a nutrient accumulator yarrow, you will have a diminutive orchard guild of multifunctional plants that bring beauty to your yard and clean your air. Within a couple years, you will eat your own fruit. The yield will be larger and more varied than one or two full-sized trees. You might take it one step further with a picket fencing and grape strewn arbor-how cute is that! It's a lot more interesting than mowing and watering useless grass.
In part-shade to full-sun, plant a perennial flower/vegetable guild with asparagus, garlic, everlasting spinach, rhubarb, and edible flowers. Guilds mimic the beneficial qualities that ecological diversity and symbiosis have in natural ecosystems. Hire a nice young man with an empty wallet and a strong back to build two 4X8X2 ft. raised bed planters (with drip irrigation if you can afford it). Alternately, ask your strong worker to dig two 2 ft. deep 4X8 beds. After the soil has warmed up to about 50 degrees F, place 24 3-year-old asparagus crowns in the bottom rear 2 ft. of each planter 8 inches apart in two rows and layer peat moss, sand, alfalfa meal, azomite minerals, compost, and dried, shredded leaves for mulch. Plant a few elephant garlic and calendula along the edge of the asparagus to discourage pests. One or two each yarrow and lupine in the asparagus fern attract insects and accumulate nutrients. Carefully, plant a couple compact, determinant, cherry tomato plants among the ferns for symbiotic protection of both plants: asparagus from
asparagus beetle and tomatoes from nematode. In the front 2 ft, alternate everlasting spinach and rhubarb interspersed with edible flowers like johnny jump-ups, bachelor button, primrose, nasturtium, or pansy. The asparagus will be easy to reach, when it comes up next spring and will make an attractive, ferny backdrop for the 'flowers' throughout the summer. In the fall, the ferns and other spent plants except the tomatoes make a great mulch over the perennials. Speaking of mulch; keeping a deep mulch on all beds saves water, and eliminates most weeding as does close planting.
Various nut trees, including walnuts, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, butternuts, filberts, and chestnuts provide vitamins, minerals, protein, and fat. Although most are too large to grow on a suburban lot, filberts (hazelnuts) can be maintained at 10 ft. and are hardy enough for zone 5/6. They make a nice privacy hedge to block the neighbor's porch light from your bedroom window, too.
Although many places have small trees, vines, and berry plants, such as local feed stores, greenhouses, Walmart, Home Depot and so forth, they are not often careful to sell varieties hardy or appropriate for OUR zone. Instead many reputable catalog sources sell and guarantee plants suitable for various climates. Using a catalog resource, you can spend time researching the qualities of dozens of varieties before you choose a few favorites. When you learn about ripening times, zone hardiness, size, taste and so forth, you are more likely to be happy and successful. Some excellent choices for small sized fruit trees, espaliers, berries and grapes are willisorchards.com, starkbros.com and raintreenursery.com.
