Learning to Live on a Budget
Filed under: Physical Preparedness, Preparedness Basics, Provident or Frugal Living
When people learn that Mormons are taught to compile a year’s supply of food and other necessities, they often picture paranoid people stockpiling for doomsday or a nuclear disaster of some kind. While some people have used their supplies in a crisis, such as Hurricane Katrina, most use it for much more ordinary moments, such as unemployment, illness, or even just to save money. Read more
Gardening With a Black Thumb
Filed under: Living Off the Land, Preparedness Basics, Year Supply - Food
My mother was an expert gardener. I knew it was really spring when she headed outside with her marigolds each year. Somehow that gene-and all the other domestic ones-bypassed me and everything I tried to grow died. Eventually, my children grew a large vegetable garden under the guidance of a family friend, and I stopped worrying about it. We moved a great deal in the later years, and gardening was not a priority.
However, today, we seem more or less settled for a while and the gardeners have grown and moved on. Every year I talked about starting a garden, and this year I finally got brave enough to try. The Mormons are counseled to have a garden in order to increase their ability to be self-sufficient and it was time for me to get going on that part of the gospel.
I chose containers, in case we find ourselves moving again. I also chose plants that were already growing, to give myself a head start. I decided to start small, so I didn’t get overwhelmed. To my surprise, this is turning out to be fun. Maybe it helps to be older, or maybe it’s just that I have adapted a more relaxed attitude this year. My self-esteem is not at stake this time. If it fails, it fails.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
1. Start small. Grow just a few things the first year to see how it feels. If you like it, add more the next year. It has to be easy at first, or you won’t keep it up.
2. Plant things you really like, even if they’re not supposed to be easy. You’re more likely to enjoy caring for them. I picked the marigolds because they remind me of my mom, who died last year. The others are things I like. I just keep picturing chocolate covered strawberries as I work. Motivation is important.
3. Containers minimize the actual work. There isn’t a lot of weeding to do and my work takes just a few minutes a day, and less if it rains.
4. The plants I bought in peat pots survived the transplant process. You just put the whole pot into the larger pot with more soil (which I purchased to cut out the weeds) and that apparently helps them avoid shock. Do whatever it takes to increase your success. You can choose cheaper options after you have confidence, if you want to.
5. Put the containers where you can see them. My plants are near where I park my car, so I see them every time I come and go. I can also see them from my desk, where I work all day as a writer. It’s harder to forget about them that way. Often having a black thumb really just means being absent-minded about plants.
6. Do a fair amount of reading about gardening, but don’t try to follow every bit of advice. I read lots of things that contradicted each other. I just picked what sounded good and manageable, and tried it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll try a different technique next year.
7. Don’t give up if everything doesn’t grow. I started with tulips, tomatoes, strawberries, and marigolds. The tulips died practically the minute I transplanted them and the tomato plant doesn’t look great, but the marigolds-some of which fizzled at first, but came back– and strawberries are doing beautifully, at least to my untrained eye. I choose to see that as a success. After all, even though only fifty percent of my plants are thriving, that is two more plants than I’ve ever grown before. (Really, it’s more than that, since there are two strawberry plants and eight marigolds.) It’s a start.
8. Cultivate friendships with gardeners who can advise you, preferably the kind who will cheer when you produce your first less than perfect strawberry.
9. Keep a full watering can right by the plants. The easier it is to water them, the more likely you are to do it. Often, as I’m passing by, I remember to check the moisture and can water them without having to go in and get water. If I go to get water, I tend to get distracted and never return. Buy a really cute watering can if you think it will help, but for myself, I just bought one that was huge.
10. You can’t frame your first strawberry, or even save it for long, so eat it. Take a picture first, if you’d like, but then enjoy it.
Secular and Spiritual Learning
Mormons have long been supporters of education, both secular and spiritual. Joseph Smith organized adult education schools to further both his own learning, since he’d had little schooling, and the learning of others. Mormon pioneers opened schools even before they were completely settled into Utah. Today, Brigham Young University is recognized as a quality school. Education is a key factor in the Mormon faith. Read more
Plant a Garden
Filed under: Living Off the Land, Personal Preparedness, Preparedness Basics, Provident or Frugal Living
Michelle Obama announced this week the White House was planting a garden and growing its own food. While it will be cared for largely by the staff, a group of local school children will also be helping out, as will all members of the Obama family, including the president. This is the first full vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt planted a victory garden and encouraged others to do so as well. The purpose of that garden was to make sure there was enough food during wartime.
Today’s garden announcement was made to encourage healthy, organic, and locally grown eating, and the garden, placed near the Obama children’s swing set, is especially meant to encourage children to eat well. However, when the country is in the midst of a recession, a garden is also a way for families to cut food costs without resorting to cheap, but unhealthy alternatives.
The Mormons have been promoting gardening for many decades. They teach their members to build a food storage against hard times, and a garden is a part of that plan, creating a renewable food source that cuts costs and provides fresh food even in difficult times. A former Mormon prophet named Spencer W. Kimball said, “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 … can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. Study the best methods of providing your own foods. Make your garden … neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 170-71; or Ensign, May 1976, 124).
President Hinckley, having spent his childhood summers on the family farm, was a strong advocate of gardening, but other leaders have also encouraged it. Growing your own food allows you to eat a healthier diet with food grown locally and in season. After the initial start up costs, which can be small, the costs are minimal. In a time when you might be too ill or too poor to shop, it’s reassuring to have fresh food right outside your door. Even if you keep a supply of food for hard times, people in this situation often find themselves longing for fresh produce.
In addition, gardening is good for children. It teaches them hard work and responsibility, since a garden cannot be neglected. It’s meaningful teaching with very tangible results the children can actually eat.
To get children excited about the new family garden, let them participate in the planning. When my children planted their first garden, each of them chose one food to plant and care for. Because it was something they enjoyed, they were eager to take care of it and to share the harvest with their siblings and parents.
If you’re able, grow enough for yourself and a little to share with your neighbors, a food bank, or someone in need. By doing so, you increase the value of your garden. Now, you’re not only teaching hard work, responsibility, and respect for nature, you’re also teaching Christ-like service. Document the project in pictures and make a fuss over the results. When a child grows his own food, he is more likely to eat it, and there is great pride in watching everyone else enjoy the food the child grew. Follow the harvest with cooking lessons, allowing the child to create a product from seed to table.
If you’re Mormon, teach your children the song, “The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden.” If you’re not, you might substitute the words “the prophet” with the words First Lady and sing the song anyway.
Is Self-Reliance a Biblical Concept?
Filed under: Personal Preparedness, Preparedness, Preparedness Perspective
Some people think the Mormon concept of self-reliance is a sign of having no faith. They quote scriptures that say to trust God and suggest that if we do anything to prepare for hard times, we’re not trusting God or are even violating commandments. Is there Biblical evidence that God expects us to take care of ourselves as far as we’re able?
Mormons do teach people to trust God. However, God is a parent and a perfect one at that. Those of us who are parents know that if we wait on our children hand and foot, doing everything for them, we ruin their lives. They will never be able to live on their own, cook their meals, clean their homes, or do their own laundry. God loves us too much to do this to us. He wants us to become everything we are capable of being.
Of course, there are some things that are beyond us. No matter how carefully we prepare, we may find ourselves unemployed for too long, or ill and unable to work. At those times, we trust God, and God does His work through others, which is why we’re commanded to serve. However, before God steps in, He needs to know we were willing to make a few sacrifices to prepare ourselves as best we could. Before we make others sacrifice for us, we should be certain we did as much as we could.
To believe otherwise, to think we can plop ourselves onto a patch of ground and expect God to build us a home, put food on our table, or money into our bank account is to turn God into our personal servant, taking direction from us. This is not what the Bible teaches. It says we are to serve God, not the other way around. It is God who gives us everything, but He expects us to earn what we have as far as we’re able to do so, and then He makes up the difference. We can never repay God for what He’s given us, but we have to put in an honest day’s work for it.
”Well God, thanks for this great job you’ve given me. After paying the bills, there’s a lot left over, so I’ll buy a big screen television, a fancy car, and an overly large house, and when I lose my job, you’ll have to take care of it. I have no intention of sacrificing my pleasure when it’s your job to take care of me.” Would you talk to God this way? Of course not, and yet, this is what we do when we spend our money on extras without taking a moment’s thought to being responsible human beings.
Those who feel we must trust God and not prepare usually have jobs. They don’t expect God to pay the mortgage this month. If it’s okay to get a job so you can care for yourself, then it is equally okay to set aside food and money for a rainy day. It has nothing to do with trust, and everything to do with being a responsible child of God.
Let’s look at the Bible for some examples of this. When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they had everything provided for them without effort on their own part. This was the very last time God ever did this. It gave them time to adapt to mortal life and to build their relationship, taking the place of the childhood the rest of us enjoyed.
Once they left the Garden, they were told, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.” (Genesis 3:19 ) Adam was told he was to work for his food, not sit around waiting for manna to fall from the sky. This is self-reliance, learning to grow his own food and take care of his own family. God made up the difference.
When it was about to rain for forty days and forty nights, God didn’t hand Noah an ark ready-made and filled with animals and food. He instructed him in how to build it. Now, it wasn’t raining at all. Noah trusted God-that’s where the trust scriptures come in to play. He did trust. He didn’t know how to build an ark, but God did. Noah did his part-he followed instructions. However, he had to have help in the form of instructions. Noah did his part and God made up the difference. Noah practiced self-reliance. He built the boat, gathered the animals, and stored away food. Manna didn’t rain down from Heaven with the water. Noah had to store food away, enough to last the entire time he was on board.
The story of Joseph emphasizes the need for self-reliance and preparation. Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream to mean there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. The Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of using those seven years of plenty to prepare for the lean years. They stored away food, and when everyone else was starving, they had food. Because of this, Joseph was able to save the lives of his own family, as well as the lives of some people who didn’t prepare. But someone had to be self-reliant for any of this to happen. If no one had stored food, everyone would have starved.
1 Corinthians 16:2 says: Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
Jesus taught the parable of the Ten Virgins. While this is, on one level, about spiritual preparation, it is also about temporal preparation. The women needed to have enough oil on hand to meet their needs even when something unexpected happened, in this case, the delay of the bridegroom. When the need arose, it was too late.
Mormons believe it is irresponsible to buy luxuries with our excess and then to expect others to use their hard-earned money to take care of us in times of unemployment or illness. If we’ve done what we can, then it’s appropriate for others to come and help us. While the giver must never decide who is or is not worthy of help, the receiver must be certain he isn’t living on someone else’s work when he could have taken care of himself with a little preparation and sacrifice of comfort.
Being prepared to care for ourselves as far as we’re able is one way we show our gratitude to God for all He has given us. He’s given us the ability to have a job and to plan. He gave most of us what we need to care for ourselves, and we use those gifts wisely, not asking of Him what we could do for ourselves or wasting the gifts. Then, in times of need, we go to Him for help and trust Him to make up the difference between what needs doing and what we were able to do ourselves. As a wise parent, this is what God wants of us.
Preparations for Economically Challenging Times
Filed under: Physical Preparedness, Preparedness Basics
As the economic situation worsens, many people are beginning to panic. It’s important to remember that fear cannot improve any situation, and in fact, will make it far more difficult to manage the difficult times.
Even if you haven’t prepared in the past, it’s not too late to begin to make small preparations for the future. Even a little preparation will build your confidence and peace of mind, and ease the harder times.
Start small. Don’t go out and put a year’s supply of food on your credit card. That defeats the point of preparedness. Instead, purchase a little at a time, taking advantage of small amounts of found money. It’s unlikely your budget will notice a few extra cans of food each week. If you buy something on sale, drop the savings into a jar and periodically use the fund to buy storage items. Try altering your lifestyle in small ways, such as skipping lunch out, or giving up a convenience food. Use the savings for your storage. Can you cut a dollar a day out of your budget? A single dollar saved each day can buy a surprising amount of storage if you shop carefully at discount outlets and watch for sales.
LDS.org suggests building a three month supply of foods you normally eat, buying a few items at a time as you can afford them. Rotate them regularly, shopping from your pantry for everyday use, and placing what you purchase into the food storage. Label foods so you know their age.
Build a longer term supply of wheat, white rice, beans, and other foods that would sustain life in a serious, long-term emergency where it might not be possible to shop. Many of these foods will keep for more than thirty years if they are stored properly.
You also need water storage for emergencies. Particularly in weather emergencies, there may be a lack of clean water.
Be sure to have enough non-food supplies as well—medicines, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene items. Pay attention to the types of things you use in your daily lives and keep them in stock.
Savings is another aspect of preparedness. Even if you can only save a few dollars a week, do so. Over time, this money does add up and can be the difference between survival and failure in a temporary period of hardship.
Simple preparations will help you feel confident in the event you lose your income for a brief time, and allow you to minimize your expenses.
To learn more, visit Provident Living.
Preparing a Needful Thing
Filed under: Personal Preparedness, Physical Preparedness, Preparedness Basics, Preparedness Perspective
We are taught in the Doctrine and Covenants 88:119, “Organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing…”
In today’s blog I want to present a practical part of preparedness and discuss a very needful thing. Having been through many different kinds of disasters, including being without employment or a paycheck for over eighteen months, I have a different perspective than many on what is needed to really be prepared. But prepared for what?
For hard times and down times it is extremely important that you are able to have comforting things, and that includes comforting things to eat.
With that in mind will you ask yourself a question? What will be your stash? Before any emergency arrives at your door, consider having a “stash” of goodies. (Not to be confused with supplies on the pantry shelf. “Stash” meaning kept in reserve, or as in kept from view or common knowledge.) Know what your comfort foods are whether they are chocolate covered raisins, hard peppermint candies or granola bars. Then when the worst of the panic calms down, the crisis is finally handled and the dust begins to settle you can sit for a moment and take stock of the situation with a comforting treat to help get you through. A rule while you munch is to be sure to count your blessings!
While going through the above mentioned financial disaster of “no work, no money”, one of the things we did as a family was to often have a fire in the fire place, spread a blanket on the floor in front of that fireplace, and then pop popcorn with an old fashioned, long handled popcorn popper. We would talk or tell stories or play “pretend,” play board games or anything else that came to mind. The only light in the room came from the fireplace while we munched. It was a together time. The important part was that it was a time to concentrate on something positive, be happy and be grateful for popcorn. ‘Tomorrow” we could return to dealing with the “no work, no money” situation. Today when our family gets together and we reminisce, our children mention the popcorn and fireplace evenings far more often than the “no money.”
A storage tip is to remember that chocolate or anything with chocolate as a main ingredient will melt, mush and warp if exposed to heat. Even an especially warm cupboard will be considered “being exposed to heat.” A stash in a box, large gallon bottle or large plastic bucket, labeled and kept in the coolest closet corner will keep your “comfort foods” much longer. Another keeping quality key is to make sure the items you are relying on are edible. For longer storageablitiy stash only items that are without nuts. Nuts have a high rancidity factor as well as a high “bug factor”. If you are counting on a treat to help lift your spirits, bugs and bad taste are not what you want to find.
Of course the hard part of this is keeping your family members and yourself out of the stash until it is needed. Perhaps you will need to specifically qualify need.
I think that even in the examples given to us in the scriptures such as found in 1 Nephi 17:6, where Nephi and his family ‘go down into the ship” with their “provisions,” surely they were blessed to have things that would allow them to have something that was a treat for them.
That’s what you need to do, as you try to be practical in preparation. Have something “stashed” or prepared to lighten your tough times, something that is a comfort food for you. Believe me, it will be needed.
In My Opinion – Preparedness Sermon #3
Filed under: Preparedness Perspective, Spiritual Preparedness
I wanted to follow up on the “Real People Do Get Scared“ blog. In it I mentioned the oft-quoted scripture found in the Doctrine and Covenants 38:30,
I tell you these things because of your prayers; wherefore, treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men reveal these things unto you by their wickedness, in a manner which shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth; but if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.
Then I described a few of the experiences we had going through just one of the disasters in our life, the Loma Prieta earthquake. I indicated that even though we were prepared, I was still very frightened.
In today’s blog I want to make sure that you understand that it is okay to be frightened while being prepared. I also want to make sure you understand that preparedness is part of my DNA, including the testimony of obedience that is part of that.
Many times we, as well as many others, may have questioned, or struggled with the enormity of being prepared. Or perhaps we have not been able to find the creativity to pursue the work and effort required to be prepared. Or maybe we’ve just not been able to find the extra money that we thought it required. Whatever the reasons might be for not being prepared to take care of ourselves during the crises that come into our lives – I would like to suggest to you that none of them matter!
Now that is a pretty strong statement. But it is a very real statement. None of those reasons matter! Let me tell you why.
In my opinion, the principle of being prepared may just be the simple principle of obedience. I really don’t think that being prepared is a suggestion.
However, with that in mind, there is a resource or answer whereby you cannot fail to accomplish it; no matter how hard you think you may have to struggle.
We have been told in 1 Nephi 3:7
“… the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them.”
I personally love that scripture and believe it wholeheartedly! The way will be prepared for you to accomplish it!
Then there is another guideline to follow, that of a Prophet of God. In October 2005 general conference President Gordon B. Hinckley reminded us of our need to be prepared, as well as it being a principle of obedience,
“We can so live that we can call upon the Lord for His protection and guidance. This is a first priority. We cannot expect His help if we are unwilling to keep His commandments … I have faith … that the Lord will bless us, and watch over us, and assist us if we walk in obedience to His light, His gospel, and His commandments. (“If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear,” Ensign, November, 2005, 62)
It has been my constant experience and that of my family, that over the years as we have struggled to be obedient, even when there was no visible money, even when there was no visible pantry space, no seemingly possible ways or means to obtain the commodities needed to fill our shelves … “preparedness” always happened. Being obedient to the principle of being prepared became a way of life. Finding sales to stretch one dollar to five dollars worth buying power happened. Learning to glean fields while living in the middle of LA, CA happened. Friends who would share special deals that they received happened. On and on the miracles followed. Not the parting of the sea for us, just seemingly slowly, seemingly impossible, until when our many crises and personal disasters descended we were always able to provide for our family. Our shelves were full enough to take care of us at each particular time.
When you are doing the very best you can with the resources you have to be obedient, you simply turn to Heavenly Father and request the help that you specifically need in order to be able to be prepared.
In a blog about preparedness this may sound like sermon # 3. It is!
Evacuation Kits? Beware of rumors!
Filed under: 72-Hour Kits, Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Evacuation
A lot of people are interested in either obtaining or creating a kit to “grab and go” in case they must be evacuate.
A key point that I make is that “all kits are not created equal.” With headlines blaring about the natural disasters taking place world wide more and more newspapers and TV ads are touting their solutions for the best evacuation kits on the earth. For that reason I thought today’s blog should contain some words of caution to help you make your decisions – or even re-make – your evacuation kit decisions.
Emergency preparations can easily be driven by rumor, fad or panic. Before you let yourself get all stirred up, use your head and think!
For example, not too long ago I heard a very opinionated person in a store declare: “Never use a bucket as a kit container if you have small children because you can’t carry a bucket and carry your child – you’ll have to leave one or the other behind.” Talk about absurd! It was all I could do to keep quiet.
First, if your kits are ready and waiting to be grabbed in an emergency, you’ll have plenty of time to put both your kit and your kid in the car, stroller or wagon, or whatever mode of transportation you’ve already decided on.
Second, it is one of my recommendations that buckets make much better kit containers than many other options.
In “personal preparedness,” the operative word is personal (unless of course you are making a different point, and then the operative word is preparedness). You choose which container – of all the good choices – will best fit your needs and find the ways to make it work. (It sounded to me like someone had something to sell – and it wasn’t a bucket!)
Before you jump on any faddish bandwagon, think it through first and then sensibly make up your own mind.
To illustrate this point I just had to share the following story with you. It is a true one. For a long time “they” (and you know who they are) have continued to recommend that garbage cans should be used as a container to hold the contents for an evacuation kit. Read on:
During a mock disaster and evacuation drill in the summer of 1985 the following “garbage can incident” was reported by a Red Cross director in Provo, Utah. The mock evacuation center was established. As the drill progressed, it was brought to the attention of the authorities that an elderly, disabled lady who lived across the street from the command center, required help to evacuate. Three male volunteers were sent to “rescue” her. It took several more volunteers to bring out her evacuation kit. Their response was, “It weighed a ton!” “It” was a thirty-gallon garbage can, filled to the brim.” (Excerpt from Preparedness Principles, Salsbury, Horizon Publishers, 2006, p. 240)
We have been counseled many times to do what is necessary to be prepared. In the August 2007 Ensign, President Gordon B.Hinckley was quoted as saying, “Let us do all in our power to ‘walk in obedience’ and be prepared.”
And again I would add, in your preparations, “use your head and think.”
Real People do Get Scared
Filed under: Disaster Preparedness, Personal Preparedness, Preparedness Basics, Preparedness Perspective, Spiritual Preparedness
Okay, it finally happens! When in a crisis or extremely difficult time, it is natural that you will feel anxious and scared. The important thing to do is to try to keep calm. You can reassure your family members with phrases such as, “We are all still together, I won’t leave you alone,” or “You don’t have to worry I will look after you. We will get through this.” Tell them what has happened and let them know what you are doing about it, what you can do about it and also what you can’t do about it. This is the time when practice sessions for your emergency preparedness really pay off.
It is okay to admit that there are some things you cannot control, resolve or bring to an end. You just have to cope as best you can.
I still vividly recall, the conversation I was having with myself, as the floor pitched and rolled under me during the Loma Prieta earthquake, “Calm down Barbara. You have to find your shoes, Barbara. Try to calm down, Barbara. Think! What is it you have to do? CALM DOWN, BARBARA! Don’t scream – yet,” and so on. At that point I was beyond being scared silly, me the one who was supposed to be prepared. Yes, I was a total basket case. My bones had turned to Jell-O.
And so I repeat, you just have to cope as best you can.
Communication is the key in such situations. Let your family members talk about what they are feeling. Listen to their worries and dispel as many as you can, while still allowing them to deal with reality. And it’s OK to tell them “it’s Ok,” to be afraid when you don’t know what is going on. Sometimes the most important thing is to just be able to talk. One of the best things to do is to try to stick to what is “normal” as much as possible. Fixing “meals,” washing hands, saying prayers or reading stories: simple habits emphasized during difficulties create calmness. Decide before the need arises to make normalcy a priority.
Let’s consider the well known quote from the Doctrine and Covenants 38:30 “ … If Ye are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear …” Following is a bit of personal insight, Barbara doctrine, you might say. Many times this scripture is quoted with emphatic pronouncement (inferred) that if you have your 10,000 pounds of wheat under the bed (literary license taken here!), that you will (or should be) be as calm as the wind in the eye of a tornado when your disaster descends.
There is a great deal of difference between peace, confidence and the ability to move forward, doing the required tasks to get through a chaotic situation and the perceived state of euphoria while singing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” as the other side of that tornado comes at you full force.
At midnight, the night of that Big One, I sat on the floor in the middle of the rubble in our living room. As the floor and I continued to shudder, I wrote in my journal by camping-lantern light, while tears streamed down my face. Prayers are answered and calmness comes … eventually.
Just remember, try to be practical in your preparedness, coping as best you can.