Garden Update...

Garden Update

Mother Nature is doing her best this season to dampen our spirits and cool our zeal for gardening. However, my lot is cast in favor of the indomitable spirit shown by the laborers in the Lord’s vineyard, or in our case the Lord’s garden. Time and time again last year members of the ward rose to the occasion and overcame each and every obstacle and were rewarding with an outpouring of blessings the likes of which had never been seen.
Obstacles faced and overcome included delays in getting the ground prepared, delays and problems getting our irrigation system in place, difficulty finding plants to transplant on short notice, poorly germinating seeds, drought, wind storms, insect infestation, choking weeds, fruit rotting on the ground, organizing weeding, harvesting, preparation and distribution and early fall freezes. .
Yet, we had over 70 different individuals make one kind of contribution or another. Literally hundreds of service hours were donated by dozens of selfless members. Members donated equipment, expertise, labor and gardening supplies. Families held Family Home Evening weeding parties. Home teachers took produce to their assigned families with needs. Families struggling with depleted food storage due to hard times had their storehouses replenished. Members receiving assistance from the church had an opportunity to repay with their efforts.
Members learned the skills of master gardening and food storage from each other. Priesthood quorums and Relief Society became stronger because of united efforts. YM/YW spent countless hours of service planting, weeding, harvesting, processing and distributing. We had several ward get-togethers to enjoy the fruits of our labors.
The garden became a center for missionary efforts and fellowshipping. In the end we harvested, processed and distributed hundreds of pounds of potatoes and onions, even more ears of corn, bushels upon bushels of pole beans, cucumbers and peppers. Oodles and oodles of tomatoes were salvaged and the harvest could have been better with better staking and harvesting strategies. Testimonies were strengthened, and the true love of Christ permeated the ward and community as a result of the project
We expect no less this year. If you were among those who joined us last year, recommit and redouble your efforts. If you missed out on the opportunities and blessing last year, make commitments this year to join us..
Once the weather breaks we will have regular scheduled times each week to contribute. We will have a Saturday morning time slot and at least one-week night. We will begin with planting and setting up the structures for staking plants. There will be initial plantings followed by staggered planting times to spread out the harvest. Weeding is a never-ending challenge and there will be needs each and every week. We may need help with insect infestation or wind damage. We will need help harvesting, distributing, processing and food storage.