Most foods originate in the soil, so your family food supply can be supplemented by developing your skills in growing vegetables and fruits with the resources available to you.*

  In the book Essentials of Home production & Storage Pres. Spencer W. Kimball is quoted to say:

  “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 planter. Study the best methods of providing your own foods. Make you garden...neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibility....

  “Whenever possible, produce your nonfood necessities of life. Improve your sewing skills; sew and mend clothing for your family. ...Develop handicraft skills as the sisters have told us, and make or build needed items.”

  Any size plot, from a flower pot to ordinary city lots, can be a valuable source of food, relaxation, and challenge to every family. You can grow vegetables and fruit with just the minimum of ordinary garden tools, shovel, rake, and hoe. Other tools can be added if your plot is large and diversified and as you become skilled in gardening.*

  Inexperienced gardeners or people with limited space should grow a few of the more productive and easy-to-grow vegetables: tomatoes, beans, carrots, red beets, summer squash, cucumbers, and chard. If sufficient space is available and you are experience, you could add others as you desire. You will have better results if you plant in full sun and fertile soil, with an adequately controlled water supply. Most vegetables respond best to high nitrogen fertilizer. Tomatoes require additional phosphate fertilizer. Vegetables do best if planted in the season of their best adaptability.*

  All plant materials and vegetable wastes from kitchen use furnish excellent organic matter for your garden. Compost them, or incorporate directly.*

  A smooth, fine seedbed is especially desirable for small, seeded vegetables. A good seedbed can be prepared easier if soil is fall plowed or spaded. A seedbed can also be prepared by using a rotivator in the spring.*

  Berries and fruits are generally more difficult to grow than vegetables.* {Check with your local government, university or other qualified sources to find which foods will grow best in your area}.

  Multiple planting—radishes with carrots, winter squash with corn—and replanting space where peas, lettuce, and radishes were with such vegetables ass beans, corn, and beets can also increase the amount grown per square foot.*

  In the May 1976 Ensign, Vaughn J. Featherstone stated:
“...Grow all the food you possibly can. Also remember to buy a year’s supply of garden seeds so that, in case of shortage, you will have them for the following spring. “...Raise animals where means and local laws permit”.

Storing Seeds

  Garden seeds vary greatly in the length of time they can be stored. Most sees will be alright for several years and will still germinate. When a seed is old, plant more to make up for lower germination. Check with your seed dealer for more details. Store garden seeds in a cool area, in air-tight containers to prevent moisture damage.*

  Seeds that lose germination quickly are parsnips, lettuce, and radishes. Corn, wheat, and beans are good for many years. All other seeds would be somewhere in between these groups.*

Planning The Garden

  Begin with a small garden plot. The garden can be enlarged as you become more experienced and become acquainted with the growing conditions.  Draw a garden plan showing the location of each type of plant. You can use this plan the next year in developing a rotation system to control the buildup of disease and insect infestation. The size of the garden and type of produce should be adapted to local conditions and to your ability to care for them properly. Several crops usually can be planted successively in the same ground during the same year

What to Plant

  When deciding which vegetables and fruits to plant, determine which are suited to your geographical area and will be used by your family. Grow a variety of foods for better nutrition and more interesting eating. In appropriate climates, berry bushes, grapevines, and fruit trees could be included in the garden plan. Consider plants rich in vitamins, especially A and C. Dark green and orange vegetables are rich in vitamin A. Tomatoes, green peppers, strawberries, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits are excellent sources of vitamin C

When to Plant

  Plan the planting times to conform to the length of growing season and to growth requirements for individual plants

How to Plant

  Fine seeds should be scattered on top of thesoil and pressed down lightly. As a general rule, larger seeds should be sown at a depth three times the diameter of the seed. Stakes or trellises may be used for climbing plants, such as tomatoes and beans. Avoid planting so closely that you will not be able to walk or work in the garden.

Mulch

  In addition to eliminating weeds, mulching promotes the retaining of moisture and the building up of soil. Straw, hay, and grass clippings are all effective mulch. Usually, you should wait until the plants are well above ground before applying the mulch.

  Elder Marion G. Romney stated in the April 1975 conference, “...We will see the day when we will live on what we produce” (Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, April 1975, p. 165).

  (All of the information on gardening was taken from the book Essentials Of Home Production & Storage unless otherwise noted.  The items with an “*” were taken from a handout called “Gardening”).