Self Reliance

Leadership Business Corner:

Updated list of stake welfare and self-reliance committee members:

Pr. Ted Griffis, Stake Presidency

Br. Steven Sarver, High Councilor, new addition to the committee

Sr. Chiemi Bentley, Stake Relief Society Presidency

Sr. Cynthia Prevatke, Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist

Sr. Debra Goodwin, Co-chair, Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist

Br. Michael Goodwin, Co-chair, Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist

APRIL 2025 NEWSLETTER -The Nature of Nature

Leadership Business Corner: 

I wish to thank all who attended and participated in the Stake Self-Reliance Conference. Turnout was wonderful with lots of education for all. A Rockford Area Community Resources for Immigrants and others needing help document was made available after the conference. This was provided by Carla Woodson, the Area Welfare Manager, visiting us from Minneapolis for the Self-Reliance Conference. Rockford Area Community Resources for Immigrants 2025 Woodson.pdf 

Gardening tips: 

The Abundance of seeds. Have you ever counted the seeds in one dandelion blossom? I will, the first chance I get. Matthew 13:8, in the parable of the Sower, we are reminded: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. You may have heard my accounting of a cherry tomato producing 89 seeds, a black cherry tomato producing 122 seeds. Many more than for our own needs, allowing some to be stored and shared. I mentioned in the March newsletter about two local seed libraries starting up this year, one in Rockton and one in Stillman Valley. There are also seed libraries in Freeport, Belvidere, Roscoe, Loves Park, Sycamore, Beloit and other areas, all needing your extra seeds and support. Please consider helping them. Rolland Hallet Shumway (R.H.), a world-famous Rockford seedsman, wanted to be known for providing “good seed cheap”. I am supporting libraries to help provide good seed Free! After all, God provided us with seed free during the creation. His only requirement is that we till and take care of the Earth. I heard a recent sacrament meeting talk about the parable of the talents, Matthew 25. It hit home when I realized that one of my talents consists of burying things in the ground. 

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To get earlier production of your tomatoes, etc. try the pot in a pot method. When you buy a package of seeds, you should see a “days to maturity” value on it. This indicates the average number of days from when the plant is actively growing in the garden to the expected time of harvest. Read, days from the last transplanting of the plant, or in other words, days from the last transplant shock the plant receives. For the Amish Paste tomato, that value is 80-90 days. That’s almost 3 months! What if you don’t transplant the plant into the garden? What if there is no transplant shock? You can save, let’s say 60 days of maturity time by doing your final transplant 60 days before you plant the plant in the garden. What if you plant the 60 day old plant into the garden soil, or final growing pot, without taking it out of the existing pot, thereby avoiding transplant shock. That’s right, plant the plant, pot and all into the ground. The small pot the plant is growing in will support the plant very well, it has for the last 60 days. Plant the pot deeper in the ground by at least 6 inches if possible. Remove the lower leaves is necessary and fill dirt around the pot and stem to ground level. Two things will happen. The plant will send roots down into the soil through the holes in the bottom of the pot to help the plant grow. The stem, buried in soil, will generate adventitious roots, growing outward into the soil, providing moisture and nutrients to the plant. 

Herb(s) of the Month Showcase: 

To mention dandelions again, I’ve heard of the sunflower being called sunshine on a stick, I see the dandelion flower as sunshine on a stem. Besides being one of earliest blossoms of benefit to pollinators, if you only knew the rest of the story! It is a great source of bitters, a somewhat nasty tasting substance. When you taste something bitter on the tongue, a miracle happens. Bile is released into your digestive tract providing increased assimilation of the food you are eating, increasing absorption of nutrients into your body. Wow. The early leaves included in your salads can give you that bitter taste, and the dried roots are a wonderful liver tonic herb. Lettuce used to be a bitter too until the bitterness was bred out of them. https://thepracticalherbalist.com/advanced-herbalism/herbal-encyclopedia/dandelion-the-liver cleanser/#google_vignette https://draxe.com/nutrition/dandelion-tea/ 

Another lowly herb is the plantain. As mentioned in the March newsletter briefly, it will relieve the sting from bees and mosquitoes, as the young women can testify of, relieve blood poisoning and be a cell proliferation. We trample both of these two plants underfoot without giving it a second thought. Alma 46:40 talks about the excellent qualities of the plants and roots that God has placed on the Earth to remove the cause of diseases and for the benefit of man. And how long did he do this before man was even placed on the earth? From this site, you can learn more about ailments, etc. for specific herbs: https://herballegacy.com/ From this site, you can review the complete course work about medicinal herbs from a LDS Army Herbalist. Great reading and learning.  https://online.snh.cc/files/2100/HTMLredacted/ 

The Nature of Nature 

Let me preface this newsletter with the facts that: April is Earth Month, the 22nd of each April is celebrated as Earth Day. April is National Garden Month. Have you ever wondered where Nature’s landfill is? Nature never produces waste; it is simply the raw materials for the next step in the cycle of life. When you throw something away, where is away? To some place on the planet, continually being filled with “waste” until it is full and then another spot is located for the process to continue? I think we need to change our thoughts of waste management as resource management. One man’s trash is another man’s goldmine. If we recycle, reuse, reduce, re-purpose, repair our waste stream, it won’t have to flow downhill to a hole in the ground. I got a lesson on this principle at the temple last year. I provided over 400 plants around Mother’s Day to several units. Each plant was contained in a plastic pot, which I recovered and recycled from my employment in a garden center. While visiting the temple, the landscapers were making the area beautiful by replacing old plants with new. I saw a stack of empty plastic pots on the sidewalk and asked what was going to happen to them. I was told they would be thrown away. I asked of I could be their garbage man and they happily agreed. I recovered over 500 pots headed for the landfill to replace the pots I gave away earlier. God works in mysterious ways. I visited Costco and their landscapers were busy at work replacing old plants with new. I was able to recycle their “waste” pots and reuse them. Opportunities abound for loving the earth. Let’s talk about fresh water: How many times do we flush 4-6 ounces of urine down the toilet using about 1.6 gallons of fresh, pure, treated drinking water to do this? When we flush it away, where is away? The next/current shortage is for fresh water. As the fresh water icebergs continue to melt and be lost and be diluted in the salt water of the oceans, our resources of fresh water diminish. I remember a Readers Digest article over 30 years ago talking about the Water Wars. Thinking about the water shortages in the West over the last several years, the water wars are continuing in the struggle to provide fresh water for cities, agriculture, fire fighting, etc. The RD article mentioned that ocean freighters wanted to dock in our Great Lakes, filling up with fresh water to transport it back to the orient, because they have a lack of fresh water. Countries in the Middle East have used up all of their water resources so are purchasing land in our West, along with the water rights, to grow alfalfa hay to ship back to their homes to feed their dairy cows. We are pumping water out of our aquafers at a non-sustainable rate. Conservation is the only remedy we have in order to have enough water for our very existence. I pray we can treat the earth with respect and utilize the resources in the best possible way. 

Respectfully Presented,

Michael Goodwin

Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist

779-203-0451

MARCH 2025 NEWSLETTER

Garden Planning and Food Production

NOW is the time to start planning your garden.

Have you reviewed the new seed catalogs yet? Is your mouth watering?

Have you inventoried your left-over seed supply for the coming season?

How is your compost pile faring? Do you need to add more nitrogen this coming fall to carry it over the winter? Great adjuncts include nettles and comfrey, loaded with nitrogen.

Aim for a C:N or carbon nitrogen ratio of 15:1 to 20:1; but mother nature is not too critical. Remember to aerate it if it starts to smell and add water if too dry. Bacteria require food, air and water to do their work and create the best potting medium you could ask for.

Some overlooked indoor gardening techniques. These are wonderful ways to EASE into gardening. Note: use seed specifically designated for eating purposes. Purchased garden seeds are not recommended unless you grew the sprouting seeds yourselves.

Sprouting

Soak and grow sprouts from seed to have fresh vegetables in a couple of days. Without soil, much light and in the dead of winter. Varieties can include alfalfa, clover, dry beans (some taste like fresh corn on the cob), etc.

Microgreens

An extension on the sprouting principle. Actually grow trays of greens and shoots to eat in your salads and sandwiches. Varieties like radish, kale, cabbage, sunflower (I won’t yuk your yum), broccoli, onion, chives and many others grown in soil with light for some pretty quick and nutritious food. Have you ever heard of pea shoots or tendrils? Very tasty.

Gardening Workshop Document.pdf – Newly revised edition.

This is my ‘book’ in process and highlights the 7 P’s of Gardening.

Some entries are just ticklers for me when I give lectures, some provide food tor thought and good items to research.

http://selfrelianceclub.com/Gardening%20Workshop%20Document.pdf

I encourage everyone to save seed, banking them for a day of need. I buy seed this year for next year, as recommended by Bishop Featherstone.

April 1976 Food Storage conference talk, Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone said:

“Follow the prophet. He has counseled us to plant a garden and fruit trees. This year don’t just think about it—do it. Grow all the food you possibly can. Also remember to buy a year’s supply of garden seeds so that, in case of a shortage, you will have them for the following spring.”

Methods to Save Seed:

1 – use less seed, plant sparingly, no thinning required. Make every seed count.

2 – save balance of seed packets not planted, keep for second crop or next year.

3 – save seed from ripened fruits and vegetables for next and subsequent years.

4 – get 4-6 more plants from 1 seed by propagating cuttings early in the year, including hybrids.

5 – plant a row specifically for seed banking

You might also try winter sowing seeds for an early start, especially with seeds requiring cold stratification to break dormancy.

https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/ym105

A modification of the hot bed/cold frame techniques commonly used.

Look to help your local seed libraries and seed banks. They always need volunteer support.

A quick guide to starting you own plants from seed.

https://www.southernexposure.com/a-beginner-s-growing-guide/

A timetable showing when to start seeds based on last average frost date:

http://selfrelianceclub.com/Dates%20to%20start%20seed%20-%20Spring%202025.xlsx

Hope you have a great gardening season, indoors and out.

Respectfully Presented,

Michael Goodwin

Stake Welfare and Self-Reliance Specialist

779-203-0451