A wrap up of January’s Proactive Pursuit, “YouNeedABudget”. I have dipped a toe, nay, up to the top of  one leg into this new endeavor of zero based budgeting. I got all of our  expenses renamed and categorized for my small business budget and I am still working on our personal budget. I spent about 20 hours total working on both budgets through the month of January and really enjoyed doing it.

It feels good to be responsible.

I now get on and do ten transactions a day, which is a quick 5 minutes to keep on top of it. My cue is when I get done blogging, I jump on the YNAB site. The reward is that it is getting easier and more manageable. It makes me happy everytime I do it! I have been launched! What is great  about YNAB is once you name things that are imported from your checking account it is named forever, so doing your budget every month will get easier.  One pursuit down and eleven to go!

My second proactive pursuit from my list of twelve is…which one should I pick for February?

1. Using my not-opened-for-6 years-new-serger
2. Learning to make Thai food.
3.  Planting David Austen Roses in my yard.
4.  I have a  12 generational genealogical fan chart that is half filled out from two years ago that needs finishing and framing.
5. Making and canning Salsa from scratch.
6.  I was into making jewelry 15 years ago and still have all the stuff. I would like to make some things for gifts and repair some of my own jewelry.
7. Written plan for my vegetable garden.
8. Making lavender candles.
9. Revitalizing my  emergency prep and home food storage.
10. Photo Book of my “before and after” remodel of the house we are living in now.
11. I have bought two “healthy” cookbooks  and want to master some recipes out of them.
12.  I want to try the new website, “You Need A Budget”  at youneedabudget.com. I do need a budget.—Done!

I really want to open the  not-opened-for-6 years-new-serger!!! Arggghhhhh! Please?!!! I need to be practical and do my garden plan. I know peas can be planted in March so I can’t put it off.

President Spencer W. Kimball was my prophet when I was a teenager. In this  landmark 1976 General Conference talk on family preparedness, he makes the point:

“Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” In other words, the Lord is saying, “Why do you call on me but then don’t do what I ask?”

Here is where President Kimball talks about growing a garden.

“Brethren and sisters, we’ve gathered here this morning to consider the important program which we must never forget nor put in the background. As we become more affluent and our bank accounts enlarge, there comes a feeling of security, and we feel sometimes that we do not need the supply that has been suggested by the Brethren. It lies there and deteriorates, we say. And suppose it does? We can reestablish it. We must remember that conditions could change and a year’s supply of basic commodities could be very much appreciated by us or others. So we would do well to listen to what we have been told and to follow it explicitly.’

“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 or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. Study the best methods of providing your own foods. Make your garden as neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities.”1

Our children have loved/hated growing a garden! I will post more on that later. This is from May 2017, when we were planting tomatoes.

 I am just the garden photographer–I don’t do any of the actual work! I realize not everyone has the space or climate to grow a garden but there must be some aspect of gardening you can do.  President Kimball lived through the Great Depression and knew what that was like. With the Dow falling a thousand points yesterday, it highlights the volatility  of our markets and food  distribution systems.

My motive is to be better prepared but also the benefit of having vegetables without pesticides on them. Last year the broccoli, the cucumbers and the tomatoes-of course!- tasted so much better than store-bought. The broccoli tasted 50 percent better than what it tastes like from the store. It was out of this world delicious! Just planting tomatoes would be worth it to me. Garden tomatoes taste amazing! Our favorites were the little yellow ones we planted.  They were pops of sunshine and sweet in your mouth.

We put our vegetable garden in our front yard because it has the best sun. I wanted it to look decent because it was in the front. I found an old iron fence on KSL Classifieds. We need a fence because the deer eat everything.  Then we found someone who built wooden grow boxes and we had him build it higher because we didn’t want to break our aging backs. I will post more about grow boxes. They take most of the work out of gardening.

Last year we did all that and put in a sprinkler system but the planting part was willy-nilly. I didn’t maximize space in the planter boxes and utilize the different growing seasons.  A PLAN! I NEED A PLAN! How exciting! A new procrastinated, er, proactive pursuit to pursue! Also—any hints, tips, or broad suggestions are welcomed. What successes or failures have you seen in your gardening journey?

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/04/family-preparedness?lang=eng1