The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden.

In April of 1978 President Kimball addressed the Saints and encouraged anyone listening to plant a garden. Who would have known that something said over 30 years ago would ever be so popular among the LDS and non church members? What with community pea patches springing up everywhere and rooftop gardens being all the rage, my sister and I decided to try it out for ourselves. Late this Winter, we started seeds in egg cartons and by the time March rolled around (about the time we thought we'd have nothing to plant in our garden because all of our sprouts would be dead) we had successful starters to place in the ground. Though some of our sprouts didn't make it, we were determined to have tomatoes and cucumbers. Instead of giving up, we bought plants of these to put in.

We cleared a little patch of our back 'yard' that was overgrown with weeds... In one night. It felt good. We were working hard, strengthening our relationship, and becoming more self reliant. We borrowed a shovel from the guys two houses down and got to work on our hands and knees digging up dead rosemary bushes and these crazy root plants that looked like sweet potatoes. We also discovered loads of onions that weren't any good and had probably been there forever. It appeared someone had just kind of thrown them in and let them take off. They were everywhere. We got it all cleared out a little over three hours later and got our plants in. It. Was. Awesome.

Today, our little garden is still growing and we are slowly reaping the benefits of our hard work. Though, not everything is producing as much as it could, we are learning how we can do better next time. We are learning hard work and patience. We are learning that even though a few of our pea plants are struggling, we can appreciate what we do have. We have now eaten about 6 peas and tonight we picked our first batch of lettuce! We have several bell peppers coming in and our broccoli is daring to poke its head out. Though our tomatoes are still far from ripe, the plants are abundant with small green bulbs and looking healthy. Our cucumber has spread significantly and our radishes are thick and bright red.

I am grateful for the self reliance that our little 6'x6' garden has brought to us. Though we are still buying our produce from that cute little stand down the road we are learning and growing for our future. I am grateful for our Prophets call to "plant a garden" and the blessings I know this will bring to my life.






Right: Our garden in it's 4th of July best!
Happy Birthday America!