Weekly Challenge and Assignment (Week of February 27th)

Hi Carson Ward Family,

Congratulations Donna Janet! Donna won our February FREE Monthly Drawing. She won an Emergency Tri-fold Shovel and a Combination Hatchet, Crowbar and hammer for her 72 Hour Emergency Family Pack/Bag.

February is almost over, and Spring is just almost upon us! I love Spring! Everything is new, flowers, plants and trees are blooming, birds are singing and teach their young to fly, and the air is fresh and cool. March is gardening month! Time to get out the shovels and dig up a space for your vegetable garden and/or purchase containers for a container vegetable garden, add vegetable fertilizer, purchase vegetable plants and seeds and plant your garden. Remember, your vegetable garden needs at least 8 hours of sun a day. This month's Ensign (March 2011 issue) has a fabulous article about gardening, "Seeds of Self-Reliance", page 61. For those of you who do not get the Ensign see below how to access the article online. Remember, if you need help planning and planting your vegetable garden please ask me and I would love to help you. If you need help digging up an area for your vegetable garden, I am sure the Young Men and/or Priesthood would love to help you. Someday ,the only way to get vegetables may be to grown them ourselves, why not start now so you will know how when the time comes, it will be the only way to get produce. In the Summer we will have classes on how to freeze and can what we have grown. Let's all find some way to be Self-Reliant!

Quote:

"The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the Ark was to the people in the days of Noah." President Ezra Taft Benson

"We will see the day when we live on what we produce." President Marion G. Romney

""Let us be in a position so we are able to not only feed ourselves through home production and storage, but others as well." (President Ezra Taft Benson, October 1980 Conference talk or Ensign, November 1980, page 34)

Weekly Assignment:

72 Hour Emergency Family Pack/Bag:

Please add the following:

1) compass (You will need this if you are away from home to help you know your direction with your street maps. You can purchase these at most camping supply stores, survival stores, department stores in their camping/sports section. If you have the 5-in-1 Survival Whistle form emergencyessentials.com it has a compass included (should be in your individual stressor kit in your 72 Hour Personal Emergency Bag), $2.95, on sale for February $.99 plus $6 shipping. Great to add some other items on the list from Emergency Essentials to off-set the shipping price.)

2) sun block (one tube or bottle, you may be out in the sun, you do not want your family to get sun burnt)

3) insect repellent (one tube, bottle or can, you may be outside in the evenings, you do not want mosquito bits or other insect bites.

4) pocket knife (you can purchase this at camping/sport goods stores, survival stores, department stores)

This finishes up our 72 Hour Emergency Family Pack/Bag except one item that will be up to you if you want to include it.

Each family should have one good set of Walkie Talkies. Why? You never know when you might become separated or have to separate. This way you can communicate with each other (adults) as far as the Walkie Talkies will work. Make sure you keep extra batteries with them. You have a choice if you want to keep them in your 72 Hour Emergency Family Pack or one in each of the two adult 72 Hour Emergency Individual Backpacks. When our daughter and her family moved to Missouri they were driving two cars. Sometimes cell phones did not work in some areas, but the Walkie Talkies did, it allowing them to communicate with each other. You never know when you might have to take two cars to evacuate or one needs to leave to check on other family members or ward members. Cell phones will probably not work if there is a major disaster, texting will probably work if you have texting on your phone.

Weekly Challenge:

Planting a Vegetable Garden:

"Seeds of Self-Reliance" by Allie Schutle--such a great article about how important it is, and that anyone can grow a vegetable garden, even a small one. I tried to cut and paste the article here but was not able too. If you do not get the Ensign, to read the article in this month's March 2011 Ensign, "Seeds of Self-Reliance", go to lds.org, click on Ensign, March 2011, scroll down through the table of contents and click on the article or go to "Seeds of Self-Reliance by Allie Schutle" on Google (2nd item listed).

This week's Challenge:

Continue to work on getting your vegetable garden area prepared for planting or purchasing containers. Do not put the vegetable fertilizer in until you are ready to plant. The article above has great ideas. We should start planting the middle of March. Plan out what you want to plant. Involve the whole family, children love planting and what them grow. Only plant what your family will eat!

Plants I buy: tomatoes: bell peppers, onion bulbs (green and brown/yellow ones), lettuce, celery, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and broccoli.

Seeds I buy: zucchini, pumpkin (they take a lot of room), cantaloupe, cucumber, carrots, peas, corn, beans (all types), green onions.

Next week I will share with you some great tips on planting the vegetable plants and seeds to have a successful vegetable garden.