Spencer W. Kimball said the following
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 planters. Study the best methods of porviding your own food. Make your garden…neat and attractive as well as productive.
It is interesting he says to “grow ALL the food you feasibly can”. Hey there everybody ALL means ALL. This means to me we should be plowing up our backyard and planting a garden. To me it doesn’t look like he gives any excuses, like I live in an apartment. The point is to start to take responsibility for your own life. Since you feed yourself everyday then you should make sure you have a way to be able to produce some of your own food. Look I know its not easy, but quit doing the things you shouldn’t be doing(like dorking off on the internet, worrying about your neighbors life, gossiping) and be productive.
Gardening has many benefits-
- Preparedness for food supply disruptions. Have a secondary food source allows for a partial self-reliance. It is not important to produce all of your own food, but to supply a portion of it. Having a garden is like having money in the bank. If you loose your job you have food storage, money in the bank and a garden. You now have three different ways of self-reliance.
- Improved nutrition. In this day and age where most of our food seems to be processed, having fresh food is even more important. I know my health has been better by the food I eat from my backyard. I had more lettuce this year than I could eat so I gave some away. I received feedback on how long the lettuce lasted. Some said it lasted almost one month. The lettuce you get in the store barely lasts a week. By eating from your own garden you are retaining many of the nutrients lost to transportation.
- You reap what you sow. This is a valuable lesson in gardening. It is great to have a large harvest after the hard work you have put in spring and summer. Fall comes around and you have all of this great food. We still are eating the fruits and vegetables we canned from the summer. What a great feeling to open a can of peaches and taste summer all over again.
- Gardening is work. I think people underestimate the value of work. Most things in life are not handed to them, they must work for them. Just like the Gospel. You must work to gain a testimony. You must work to feel the Spirit. One of my favorite quotes it by Gordon B. Hinkley, “Pray for wind and row your boat to shore”. He who works receives the blessings.
- It teaches you not to be idle. He who is idle gets nothing done. It is ok to learn and grow in knowledge, but if we do not apply it we really have not learned.
I look at gardening as a temporal law. Obedience to all laws are important since all commandments are spiritual. I ask as you think about spring coming up, you start to plan a way for you to start producing some of your own food. Realize the wonderful blessing that will come to you as you do so.
Ric
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