Today I planted my first Grow Box.  I planted Basil, Oregano, and Dill.  Might be a little early, but I wanted to get it done.  One thing I found out, Oregano seeds are really, really small.  If they don't sprout I will get seedlings and transplant them.  I don't really like growing from seed indoors and then transplanting either.  I think next year I will let someone else start the seeds.

Here's the planted grow box:

Gardening update

Today I planted two squares of spinach, nine seeds per square.  They should sprout in 8-10 days.  So far, I have strawberries, peas, and spinach planted.

I have started some seeds indoors, with more to come.  I have broccoli, cauliflower, leaf lettuce, eggplant, and sweet peppers planted in a starter container that is usually sitting on the dining room table near a window for sunlight.  Below is a not-very-good pic of my starter box.

Here are a couple of photos of my young strawberries.  They are the only green plants in the garden so far.  There are way more than are shown in the pics, though.  I counted 18 I think.  I can't plant much else until the danger of frost is over.  I saw on the weather channel that the temps are supposed to dip below freezing for a day or two around the middle of next week.  Grandma Haines, when she was alive, said that gardeners should wait until after May 10 before planting anything that wouldn't be able to stand a dip below freezing.  I don't know if they let her garden in the spirit world.  She always had the old fashioned row gardens, not the cool new square foot garden.

I will probably wait until after May 10 for most things, but some can handle a little cold.

Wow!  I gave up on blogging for quite a while!  I'm back now, mostly because I have begun a square foot garden this year and want to keep a log of how it goes.  I'm excited about having lots of veggies to eat.

For the past two years I have tried the straw bale gardening method.  Basically, that method involves placing straw bales on their sides and planting stuff in them.  It's pretty water intensive, but as the wet bales decompose from the inside the rotting bale is supposed to provide nutrients for the growing garden plants.  The first year it worked pretty well, and although I only had eight bales I got a lot of tomatoes.  The peppers didn't do well, but I have never had peppers do well.  I had a few green beans too.

Last year I had good plants but low yields.  Dunno for sure why.  Fewer bees to polinate?

Anyway, Cathy and I were in Salt Lake City earlier this year, and during our obligatory visit to Deseret Book I found a book on the New Square Foot Garden method by Mel Bartholemew.  I bought the book and became fascinated by his method.  As soon as it started to warm up I got busy and began building garden boxes.  I ended up with four, pictured below.

The only things planted so far are strawberries and garden peas.  It's a little early in the season to plant much else yet because it's probably going to freeze again.    I will update as I get things going.

I also recently found an item called the Grow Box.  I ordered my seeds from Gurneys and when the arrived the came with an ad for the box.  It looked really good too, so I bought three of them.  What's cool about the grow box is that it can be used anywhere, and contains its own water supply.  I am going to compare the square foot garden to the Grow Box garden and see how they do.  Below is a photo of a grow box ready for planting.

The square foot boxes are situated so that the irrigation for the lawn will also water the boxes.  The Grow Boxes have their own four-gallon water supply in the base.

Thought for the day

"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey."

--Steven R. Covey.

The generations of heaven

I went to the temple in Monticello today, and while I was driving down I pondered on the plan of salvation, where we all have the chance to grow, progress, and maybe eventually become gods. I thought about Jesus, when he said that he was doing the things he had seen his father do. When you think about that, then at one time God the Father was once mortal, or half mortal, on an earth, and atoned for mankind on his planet. How did Jesus see him do that when our Heavenly Father was still mortal and didn't have any spirit children yet? One of the prophets, maybe it was Wilford Woodruff or John Taylor, said that Jesus saw what his Father did through revelation. Anyway, what got me thinking was if Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for us, then doing what his Father did must mean that Heavenly Father was also a Savior during a mortal ministry, which would mean that Heavenly Father must have a Heavenly Father. So do we have a Heavenly Grandfather, or does everyone become equal when they reach godhood? Are there generations of Gods like there are generations of humans? Dunno on that one. Maybe becoming a god is the final progression, and you just add glory and dominion after that. I am sure I won't know the answer to that in this life, but it was a lot of fun to think about. I will have to think about it some more.

Lincoln goes to Hollywood

Ethically, morally, I submit to you that one of the highest privileges and responsibilities of a woman is as custodian for the rights of her child. The child cannot protect itself, in the womb as well as for some years after birth, and it counts on the mother as its protector. This is a high calling of womanhood, one that breeds great nobility of soul.

The above quote was written by Jay D. Homnick in an article titled "Lincoln Goes to Hollywood" written on 2/28/11. It's in answer to a question regarding whether a slave owner's rights over his slave could be compared to a woman's right to choose (abortion) over her child. It's one of the best answers I have ever read to the abortion question. It was posted in the American Spectator online.

Have a great day!