Fruits and veggies

My family has been trying to eat better in the last little bit. Lot's more fruits and veggies, basically. And there is good reason for it! Check out this chart of many of the fruits and vegetables you might normally eat to see what specifically they can do to improve your physical and mental health.

Make sure to have plenty in your food storage!

Click on the image to see it larger.

Companion Planting

Here is a neat list of plants that are good to plant together, and some you should avoid having together.

Happy gardening!

Poston's experience without electricity

Yesterday was our second challenge. This time we were supposed to turn off the lights and electronics, and pretty much everything that used power, other than your fridge. 

I forgot about starting this challenge in the morning, so we only did a half day. We only had two of our four children at home yesterday, which worked out alright, since the two that were gone would have most likely been afraid of the dark.

After Morgan, (our six year old) understood that there would be no electronics used for the afternoon and evening, he stopped complaining. Though he did ask a time or two, "why do we have to do these challenges?" Which was a good teaching moment.

We didn't use the stove, oven, or microwave for dinner. We didn't do anything fancy though. The children ate sandwiches, and David and I had leftovers that were heated up on the grill. 

As the evening progressed and the sun went down, we congregated to the kitchen and used a kerosene lantern to see. 

Morgan and Lydia colored.

We are definitely a card and board game playing family, but we never actually got them out last night. However, I did teach David (and sort of Morgan) the rhythmic cup tapping game that I learned at girls camp! I asked Morgan to take pictures of David and I playing, but with the combo of low light, and six year old photography skills, nothing really came out. Here's the best shot.

Before heading to bed, we had our family scripture study.

Lydia found a blanket and crawled into my lap and cuddled, and for the first time since she was just an infant, she fell asleep in my arms. Aww.

When the kids were in bed, I admit, there was some temptation to break the no electronics rule. Instead, David and I read a book together. We went to bed much earlier than normal, too. 

At one point, David made a comment about how he understands now why people used to go to bed at 8:00 and wake up at 6:00. Not having good lights really makes staying up late not make much sense. 

We had fun with the challenge. It was good family time. I think we decided that we should get another kerosene lantern or two, and stock up on kerosene. 

How did it go for your family?

Prepare for the Days of Tribulation

Click here to read an excellent talk by President Ezra Taft Benson.

Potato Tower

These potato towers are cool and can be tucked in the smallest of gardens!

Step 1: Resources

Here is a list of resources you should have on hand:

1. 3 to 4' tall Wire fencing - something with sufficient gauge to retain its form, and be used for a few years,
2. Wire cutters,
3. Some sort of twisty tie or pliable metal,
4. Straw or hay,
5. Pure compost (no manure! not even composted!!),
6. Water source,
7. Potatoes (go for a mix, prettier that way),

Step 2: Create the frame

Use the wire cutters to cut out a section of the fence to create a cylinder container, about 2.5 to 3 ft in diameter. I personally find that a 4' tall, 14 gauge fence works well.

Use either a twisty tie, a piece of metal wire, or a pipe cleaner to tie the fence ends together.

The end product would look something like the bin to the left.

Then collect your compost. I tend to like a clean (meaning no rocks, plastics, etc.) leaf compost, which doesn't have a lot of large woody chunks.


3. Create the first layer

I personally like to use straw to create a barrier inside the bin to both help keep in the compost, and to reduce water-loss due to evaporation. Though it can be done without the straw, just make sure to use a fence with smaller holes to keep the compost from spilling out.

I first lay down a 2-3" layer of straw on the bottom then create a 'bird nest' inside the bin. The straw naturally supports itself up the sides as you spread it, leaving a large central area for the compost.

Next, shovel in the compost. I aim to put in my first layer of potatoes about 1 ft above the ground, allowing the bottom layer of potatoes plenty of room to form potatoes.


Step 4: Lay-down potato layer and water in... thoroughly!

Lay the potatoes about every 5-6" along the very outside of the bin. They can be literally right next to the straw layer, with the eyes pointed out. (See picture to left for an idea.)
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A note about potatoes:
Use certified seed potatoes if possible... they are guaranteed disease free. Though, I have personally used potatoes from the previous year, and even from the store, and had great success. Though it's a little like playing Russian (..er Irish) Roulette.

Potatoes only need 1-2 eyes per piece to grow, so feel free to cut up the larger potatoes into 2 or more chunks, at least as big as a golf ball. The smaller potatoes can be simply planted whole. Ideally, cut the potatoes 24 hrs prior to planting, allowing time for a scab to grow over the cut, thereby reducing disease/rot issues. Though as a child, we would always cut and plant on the spot, and I always remember having to dig a lot of potatoes in the late summer...(where were those child labor laws when you really needed them??)

If the potatoes are already sprouting, no worries. If the sprouts are less than 3-4" long, go ahead and plant them. Or you can simply break off the sprouts, as they will regrow. You can actually do this up to 5 times before you start affecting the potatoes ability to grow. Resilient little suckers for sure!
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Next, it is important to absolutely soak the compost, as it often is on the drier side of things. Do this after every potato layer is planted.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3 and 4, laying down a new layer of potatoes every foot or so until finished. The whole bin will use about 4 lbs. of potatoes.

Step 6: Toppin' er off...

There are a couple options for finishing off the potato tower. You can finish it off with a top layer of potatoes (with about 5" of compost laying over-top) along both the outside and also an inner circle (these will sprout out the top of the bin - see image below).

Though I chose a different option at Growing Lots. I lay down 3 layers of potatoes along the outside (up to 3 ft), but then lay down a thick layer of straw and filled the top 1.5 ft with a soil/manure/compost blend for veggies. Then I planted a variety of plants into the top of each living fence post.


Step 7: Keep it well-watered...
It is important to keep the bin moist, from top to bottom. I have found the easy approach to watering is to create a moat along the top of the bin, and then put a hose in the moat at a flow-rate so that it is absorbed at about the same rate. Do this for about 20 minutes, once per week, and you should have sufficient moisture.
Step 8: grow, Grow, GROW!

In about 10-14 days you will see your first little potato shoots sprouting out the side of the potato tower.

In about a month's time, the Potato Medusa is born! This picture is one of the potato towers planted through Backyard Harvest. You can see in this potato tower, we did not use straw, and simply used a fence with smaller holes.






Step 9: The Harvest
Once the potatoes have all died back in the late summer/fall, it's harvest time! No shovels, no digging.. simply tip over the potato bin and pick out the potatoes. Experience has shown that a bin that uses about 4 lbs of potatoes can produce upwards of 25 lbs of potatoes. Of course this will vary depending upon the potato variety chosen, and if any disease problems cut short the potato plants life.