My Mormon friend did. And in the middle of a big city. He'd spend afternoons picking his fruits. He swore his OJ was the best ever.

He and his family wasted so much time on this especially considering his daughter worked at Walmart. He was rolling his own oats. I bought mine for $1.73.

I'm surprised his neighbors didn't complain about the chicken feces everywhere. And personally, I couldn't eat eggs from a pet chicken.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/18/2011 11:56PM by newcomer.

OOOHHH! Struck a nerve here you did!

That “have and nurture a garden” BS that is just another show of obedience to the church. My ex made me clear space in the back yard, which I did. Add good dirt that we paid money for, which I did. Tilled the good dirt into the clay (pain in the arse) which I did. Bought the seeds, planted, weeded, watered, de-bugged, fought off the rabbits, kids, birds and anything that would harm what I had worked my but off to create. All because the ex wife, not me, wanted a garden as the prophet told us. That garden wouldn’t feed a Nat (except for the cherry tomatoes, they were insane).

SHE NEVER TENDED OR PICKED SAID GARDEN! It was all me.

The entire exercise was about “her” being obedient and me being “her” whipping boy to her need for obedience.

Well five years ago and two before I resigned the “garden of the gods of obedience” was done.

“There’s the shovel and the weeding hoe, dear. I’ll go get you some seeds from the store if you like”

You guessed it! No more garden! What was good for the gander was apparently too much to ask for the goose.

I had grown up on a farm and I wanted no more of farming at any level. If the world goes to shat, then I will farm. That includes an 8x20’ patch of clay in the back yard.

My friend said he had his for the end times.

In general, your story illustrates one of my biggest pet peeves: people who ask you to do something they'd never do on their own.

I've been reading this site for months and have never heard anyone talk about a church-ordained garden. My friend must be a religious fanatic?
AmIDarkNow? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OOOHHH! Struck a nerve here you did!
>
> That “have and nurture a garden” BS that is
> just another show of obedience to the church. My
> ex made me clear space in the back yard, which I
> did. Add good dirt that we paid money for, which
> I did. Tilled the good dirt into the clay (pain
> in the arse) which I did. Bought the seeds,
> planted, weeded, watered, de-bugged, fought off
> the rabbits, kids, birds and anything that would
> harm what I had worked my but off to create. All
> because the ex wife, not me, wanted a garden as
> the prophet told us. That garden wouldn’t feed
> a Nat (except for the cherry tomatoes, they were
> insane).
>
> SHE NEVER TENDED OR PICKED SAID GARDEN! It was
> all me.
>
> The entire exercise was about “her” being
> obedient and me being “her” whipping boy to
> her need for obedience.
>
> Well five years ago and two before I resigned the
> “garden of the gods of obedience” was done.
>
> “There’s the shovel and the weeding hoe, dear.
> I’ll go get you some seeds from the store if
> you like”
>
> You guessed it! No more garden! What was good
> for the gander was apparently too much to ask for
> the goose.
>
> I had grown up on a farm and I wanted no more of
> farming at any level. If the world goes to shat,
> then I will farm. That includes an 8x20’ patch
> of clay in the back yard.

Doing it because some bloated gas bladder in a suit and tie who thinks he's a prophet tell you to do it? That's not one of the good reasons.

Fresh organic tomatoes? Good reason.

Fresh organic corn? Good reason.

Fresh organic beans? Good reason.

But if you aren't in a place where it's practical, there's no sense in killing yourself to get a few tomatoes.

That's always been the problem with the Mormon leaders. They're always giving out this inane one-size-fits-all "guidance" for the members that turns out to be wildly impractical and nonsensical for a substantial percentage of the members.

As John Denver sang, "There's nuthin' in the world like home-grown tomaters."

I live in town in farm country. I planted fruit trees in the space between my house and the neighbors in a strip and one corner. I made an artificial stream with rocks and now think it was a mistake to plant my nectarines around the stream bed as its harder to keep my footing when I have to look up or reach to pick the fruit. It was easier & more ornamental when they were baby trees. But its great river rock really large with some boulders & apricots. The scotch broom & ornamental shrubs died, the lavender died, it needed water. But the apricots are still there. One for may, one for early June, one for late June- early July and a strange one, a little minature with huge fruit.

I wanted to be able to eat breakfast without cooking summer mornings, so I planted local stone fruit (apricot, nectarine, peach, plum, pluot) It worked. I wanted the figs I remembered but I got different figs (apparently soil, water, and sun changes flavor) but I like them. Citrus barely worked mostly because I need to pick them when I'm at work at my real job.
The white peach tree never worked the fruit tastes like nothing but it will not die. I think I have to cut it down or graft more interesting fruit onto it. There's just a branch left of my favorite nectarine.
In my opinion the apples were a big mistake. Just ask Eve just kidding. They're out of zone. They're full of bugs. They're falling everywhere. I think I'll make applesauce.

Umm I don't pull weeds. I don't spray for bugs. I just grow trees. I trained my dogs to eat the fruit that falls when I go camping even pomegranites they (the dogs) won't eat the apples.

My family were enjoying gardening and all that goes with it before they'd even heard of the morg.

I love my garden and it has nothing to do with the church. Although it was always remarked on as though I was following 'holy' commandments. Nope - an English garden is part of our culture and that's that.

That's why we have an organisation over here - called the Royal Horticultural Society. This weekend I'll be visiting Tatton Park for the latest extravaganza. I doubt there'll be any mormons there for what it is worth.

Lupin or what?

Briggy

I've done "it all" as far as being a farmer's daughter goes except maybe milking a cow. My dad always had some new item he could grow on a spare acre or 2--corn, tomatoes, cantaloupe, potatoes. Spent my "UEA" vacation every year picking up potatoes on my hands and knees. Hoed beets every summer from 6th grade on (and then helped harvest sometimes). Hauled hay, picked tomatoes in the biggest cloud of mosquitos ever--picked corn in the mud. You name it. I even developed an allergy to corn husks and thankfully couldn't pick it anymore. Then we'd sell it in front of our house . . .

I DON'T DO GARDENS. I DON'T CAN. My kids have never had a REAL tomato and they are almost 26. My ex is growing tomatoes in pots this year on the front porch.

There really is nothing like a homegrown tomato--but that was one of those things I REFUSED to do as a mormon--no matter how many guilt trips people laid on me.

I did. While at BYU we had a garden every year. Fresh veggies, can't beat it. Of all things Mormon, the admonition to have a garden was a good one.. if you leave off the food storage and other bullshit.

Ron

I used to think I needed to know how to garden in case of the apocalypse.

But now I garden because I enjoy it. There's something about getting into the soil and growing my own stuff. I don't grow massive amounts of regular tomatoes any more, but I love finding new varieties I've never seen in stores and giving them a try.

Some crops, like winter squash, certain greens, and a few others are actually far cheaper to grow than to buy in the stores.

Believe it or not, some freaks, like me, actually have a green thumb independent of Mormonism.

fruit trees, will have livestock eventually and I know it is directly linked to my Mormon heritage. Some things you just can't give up. In my defense, I have a high stress job and if I didn't have my garden I'd have to kill somebody.

We always had gardens and crap for the Church reason's.
They never worked except one year we raised the bed on the garden and had great soil underneath.

It was amn old rental house so the soil had been there for years. We packed the plants in to tight and way to many. The saving grace was that the plants that tight together kept the rabits and other animals out but helped the bugs. We had tomatos and fresh salsa for months the plants would just not die even in the colder months.

The ones I really remember were the chruch slave farms. We would work the fields and pull in crops for nothing more then the inflated feeling that we were "helping" out the poor.

Only recently did I realize that we were most likely adding to the surplus of food that is purchased by name brand growers.

The only real fun was jumping in the creek after a long hot day.

I have 5 55gal drums of"old" water on hand in the garage...

we live next to a sring creek that has been running since the dawn of time.

Figure that one out... my wife will buy anything the Mo say's to do.

PS anyone need any 40 year old rice, beans or wheat?

When my mother dies we will have an entire garage of 50 gallon barrels of wheat and rice to clean out- all about 50 years old. You can keep yours.

and as a kid somehow I did associate our garden with being mormon. And of course we put it our time at the church farm.

But now, I have a garden because I like to know what is going on with the food we put into our bodies. And the fresh stuff tastes so much better! We are also getting chickens because we love those fresh eggs and we know what is going into the chickens.

For years, though, I refused to garden because I thought of it as mormon.

Sorry, maybe you did not mean that last line about the pet chicken to be funny, but you really got me LOL here big time on that one!
You are bright and funny for sure.

Don't suppose you could eat the chicken either if you were starving to death, nor could I.

I hope it only took him 10 min. on the rolled oats from planting and weeding and growing to harvesting, cleaning and finally rolling, if you know what I mean, or else Walmat just has it all OVER him. haha.

And he could have even saved the gas for the trip to Walmart since his daughter works there.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2011 12:52PM by think4u.

It's just so foreign to me to eat a pet's egg. Nasty.

My mom doesn't eat eggs that have sat on the counter for an hour. You'll never know how long an eggs has been outside and on the ground.

think4u Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry, maybe you did not mean that last line about
> the pet chicken to be funny, but you really got me
> LOL here big time on that one!
> You are bright and funny for sure.
>
> Don't suppose you could eat the chicken either if
> you were starving to death, nor could I.
>
> I hope it only took him 10 min. on the rolled oats
> from planting and weeding and growing to
> harvesting, cleaning and finally rolling, if you
> know what I mean, or else Walmat just has it all
> OVER him. haha.
>
> And he could have even saved the gas for the trip
> to Walmart since his daughter works there.

We bought a house with way too big of yard because of the importance the church and my mom place on being able to grow your own food in times of emergency. Turns out, I really don't like to garden much. I have a little herb garden and two fruit trees that I'm very happy with. I will also plant a couple of tomato plants and a zucchini plant but then I'm done. I don't really like the whole gardening process and could have made do with a yard one-third the size we have. Now I'm saddled with tons of yardwork I never get to and our yard looks pretty neglected - except in front where people can see it. I'm about to plow the whole thing under, plant grass and be done with it. If we move, I'm going to look for a house with a yard in line with what I'm really able to accomplish - not one that will feed the masses in a disaster.

I'm just thinking, in case of the apocalypse, I don't think there will be much left to do anything with, much less garden. Like where are you going to get water that won't poison you through your food...ok, so you with the 5 55 gallons of water, how far do you think that is going to go...enough to grow your garden, watering for what a few months to get a sprout?

I know if I keep a bag of flour in a tightly sealed jar, I still sometimes get bugs...this is after a few months, I can't imagine after 50 years. Seems like a pest control company dream job.

I live near a nuclear plant, that was on patrol by fighter jets after 911 (here in the southwest)...I think if the apocalypse happens, I'm gonna be toast.

They stunk up the neighborhood for a month or so every spring.

I used to wish that the old guys would come up with a commandement to shovel the snow off your sidewalks -- Both sides if you lived on a corner -- then maybe these oh-so-obedient neighbors would do that and hubby and I could take our nightly walk without the treachery of the ice and snow on their sidewalk!

But they were too busy being righteous to have time to be considerate (or even follow city ordinances for that matter).

I feel like saying "you big idiot" everytime he brags about squeezing fresh orange juice. I remember one time he was in a foul mood because he saw a tarantula on his tomato plant and tossed the entire thing!

That's a message from god: buy your food from the grocery store like everyone else.


Laban's Head forgot her password Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They stunk up the neighborhood for a month or so
> every spring.
>
> I used to wish that the old guys would come up
> with a commandement to shovel the snow off your
> sidewalks -- Both sides if you lived on a corner
> -- then maybe these oh-so-obedient neighbors would
> do that and hubby and I could take our nightly
> walk without the treachery of the ice and snow on
> their sidewalk!
>
> But they were too busy being righteous to have
> time to be considerate (or even follow city
> ordinances for that matter).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2011 02:14AM by newcomer.

We always had a big garden. It was just a way of life in our small town. I don't think it had anything to do with the mormons,,just a basic of farm life. We also ate a lot of deer,,elk,,antelope,,some bear,,geese,,quail,,sage hens and anything else that helped feed the family.

unworthy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We always had a big garden. It was just a way of
> life in our small town. I don't think it had
> anything to do with the mormons,,just a basic of
> farm life. We also ate a lot of
> deer,,elk,,antelope,,some bear,,geese,,quail,,sage
> hens and anything else that helped feed the
> family.


You live in a small town. I an understand you having a garden.