Growing A Garden

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Growing A Garden
http://providentliving.org/content/d...3427-1,00.html


“Self-reliance is a product of our work and undergirds all other welfare practices. It is an essential element in our spiritual as well as our temporal well-being.”
—Thomas S. Monson, “Guiding Principles of Personal and Family Welfare,” Ensign, Sept. 1986, 3

Planting a garden, even a small one, allows for a greater degree of self-reliance. With the right information and a little practice, individuals and entire families can enjoy the many benefits of planting and tending a garden.

BYU Broadcasting has produced a new television series on gardening called HomeGrown (http://www.byub.org/homegrown/), with episode information and air dates (http://www.byub.org/homegrown/episodes.asp).

The following information is provided to help you prepare your garden:

Planning a Garden

As you begin to plan and prepare for a garden, here are a few general reminders:

• Vegetables need at least six hours of sunlight a day.
• The garden site should be relatively level. If there is a steep slope, run rows of plants across it to prevent erosion.
• It is a good idea to spade (mix) the soil to a depth of 12 to 14 inches. Adding organic matter such as manure, peat moss or leaves will benefit the soil.
• Be careful with fertilizer. All fertilizers have a three-digit code. For vegetable gardens, look for 8-8-8 or 16-16-16.
• The simplest way to eliminate plant pests is to remove insects, worms, or eggs by hand. Some shake-on powder or liquid bug sprays are relatively safe to use.
• Proper depth for planting seeds is approximately four times as deep as the seed is thick.

Taken from: Richard M. Romney, “Grow Your Own Soup,” New Era, Apr. 1978, 40–43


Gardening in Containers

If you don’t have a traditional garden plot, you can plant vegetables and herbs in containers that fit on driveways, balconies, roofs, and even window sills. This activity can be interesting and rewarding for adults and children alike. The following resources provide useful information about gardening in containers.

"Gardening in Containers," Family Home Evening Resource Book, 307
Learn the soil depth, planting times, and proper care necessary to make a small garden of vegetables or herbs flourish inside your home or on your balcony.
http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.d...containers.htm


"Family Vegetable Gardening"
From construction to harvest, learn how to produce large vegetable gardens in outdoor, open-bottomed containers.
http://bensoninstitute.org/Publicati...ners_Oct08.pdf

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Recipes Using Garden Produce

After you harvest the vegetables and fruits from your garden, you can enjoy them in a variety of ways: fresh, steamed, boiled, or dried. Find a way to preserve some of your fruits and vegetables to keep in your food storage. Soups and stews are a great way to use homegrown vegetables; most cookbooks include recipes for vegetable stew, bean soup, cream of spinach or asparagus soup, corn chowder, and French onion soup. You can also try using your fresh vegetables in recipes like these:

Peruvian Stew
This stew, contributed by a sister from Peru, is an interesting way of including squash in soup. Boil two or three soup bones with meat attached, along with a handful of rolled oats and a chopped onion, until tender.
Add water as necessary. Then add:

• Several small potatoes, cut up
• Several pieces of peeled squash
• 2 or 3 turnips, cut up
• 2 or 3 carrots, cut up
• 1 or 2 apples, cut up
• 1 or 2 red potatoes, cut up
• 1 handful of rice

Boil until done, adding water as needed. Serve the vegetables and meat on a plate; serve the juice and rice in a bowl.


PotAuFeu
This dish is a mainstay of French home cooking; it is a sort of modified pot roast with lots of vegetables. The recipe was obtained from a returned missionary from the Paris France Mission. Remember that total preparation time may be as long as four hours, but for most of the time the cook is just adding water. In a pan of cold water, place several soup bones, pieces of chicken, or other favorite stew meat. The water should cover the meat. Add one?half teaspoon of salt. When the water is boiling, add the following vegetables:

• 2 or 3 potatoes
• 2 or 3 onions
• Several carrots
• 1/2 of a small head of cabbage, cut in quarters
• 2 or 3 turnips
• 2 or 3 stalks of celery, including leaves

Add a packet of spices, called a “Bouquet garni,” made of the following: 3 or 4 sprigs of parsley, 1/2 bay leaf, and 2 sprigs of thyme, tied together for easy removal before serving (some like to include a garlic clove). When the mixture starts to boil again, put the heat on simmer and let it cook for three hours. Serve with bread and Swiss cheese; grated cheese may be spooned into the broth.


Minestrone
This is an Italian soup. To make about four cups, simmer the following in a kettle for about an hour:

• 1 quart beef broth
• 1 handful chopped meat (beef, chicken, or ham)
• 1/2 cup kidney or lima beans (elbow macaroni or rice can be substituted)
• 1/2 cup fresh peas
• 1/2 cup chopped celery

Brown the following ingredients in butter or olive oil, then add to the others:

• 1/2 cup chopped cabbage
• 1/2 cup chopped spinach
• 1 small minced onion
• 1/2 tablespoon parsley, garlic, or sage according to personal taste
• 1 diced carrot
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes

Simmer for one?half hour, then serve. Some people like to add Parmesan cheese.


Zucchini Soup

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 3 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 pounds zucchini squash washed and thinly sliced (5 quarts)
• 2 large green peppers, cleaned and cut in thin slices
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup lightly packed parsley sprigs
• 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves and/or 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh tarragon
• leaves, if desired
• 1 can regular strength chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf

Preparation Instructions:
Melt butter in an 8 quart or larger pan. Put in onions and cook, stirring until soft. Add water and then stir in squash and green peppers, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for 3 minutes; then turn down heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often until squash is very tender (12 to 15 minutes).
Remove from heat; stir in parsley sprigs, basil leaves and/or tarragon leaves.
Puree about 1 cup at a time in a blender until there are 3 cups; then empty the blender and start over. Makes 6 pints. This puree can be frozen until used.

Serving Instructions:
Heat to simmering one can of regular strength chicken broth (or two cups water and two chicken bullion cubes) and bay leaf. Add one pint of the puree. Heat, stirring until piping hot. Season to taste with salt.
Remove bay leaf. Serve.

Taken from: Richard M. Romney, “Grow Your Own Soup,” New Era, Apr. 1978, 40–43

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Links to Gardening Web Sites
http://providentliving.org/content/l...6644-1,00.html

Note: The following links are not to official Church publications, but are provided as additional resource material.

http://www.garden.org
This Web site offers gardening how-to advice from the experts, a pest control library, gardening articles, and free newsletters. The site also features a children’s gardening section, recipes, and garden research.


http://www.gardenweb.com
On this site, read what other gardeners are saying about common gardening topics in the garden forum, find answers to your gardening questions in the Q&A section, browse the glossary of botanical terms, and learn from a list of frequently asked questions.


Here are some additional gardening Web sites:


BBC Gardening Site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening


Benson Institute
http://bensoninstitute.org/Publication/publication.asp


Food for Everyone Foundation FAQ
http://www.foodforeveryone.org/faq/


Gardening Advice
http://www.gardeningadvice.com/


Organic Gardening
http://www.organicgardening.com/


Square Foot Gardening
http://squarefootgardening.com/


U.S. Dept of Agriculture – Home Gardening Section
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navid=GARDENING&parentnav=CONSUMER_CITIZEN&navtype=RT


Additional Gardening Links
http://www.gardenweb.com/vl