Okay, here's just a reminder about this week's Relief Society meeting ... and before we get started, I thought I'd offer a few pictures to get going (and possibly toot my own horn). I'm pretty proud of my little herb garden I have on my back porch. It's pretty and easy to saunter outside while I'm cooking and pick a few fresh herbs. As you can see, I need to take the buds off of my basil so that they will get more growth in the leaves and less in expansion. But I'm sure you'll hear more about that on Thursday evening.

First of all, the meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Babysitting will be provided for those of you who need to bring your children. The topics will be gardening (no matter what circumstance you are in) and eating from your garden. As an aside, we'd like to offer you the opportunity of bringing your favorite recipe using fresh produce as well as a potluck dish highlighting the recipe. This is encouraged, but not mandatory.

We don't plan on having a dinner, but we would love for you to have the opportunity to taste each other's specialties and hopefully get you more excited about starting a garden. For those of you who can and cannot come, we'd really love for you to upload your recipes to either our blog or facebook page. Let's share with each other!! If you don't know how to do so, the easiest way is to make a comment and you can then enter your recipe. There is no limit (as far as I know) to the amount of recipes blogger will allow you to share. So, please share your best, I know I for one will be happy to try them, especially if they have your stamp of approval. If you can't figure out how to upload your recipe, then feel free to email it to me (lorraine.dunnington@gmail.com) and I'll post it for you.





I'm so excited about my potted tomatoes. See the first cherry tomato?!! I go outside everyday and check and make sure that it's still there. I don't know why, I guess I'm afraid the ducks and geese that waddle through my yard are going to steal my tomatoes before I get to taste them. Anyway, just another example of the "NO EXCUSE FOR FRESH PRODUCE" (how do you like my rhyming) mantra that we each should own. No matter what your circumstances, you, too, can have a little tomato on your back porch, or windowsill, even your garage or basement (with grow lights of course).

So, please, please, please, come and join us. Even if you know that you will never have a garden large enough to feed your whole family for the year, or even if you think you wouldn't even want to have a container garden of herbs in your window sill. You might, just might, feel encouraged enough to save that dying plant in the corner, or purchase a REAL plant and keep it going. You never know until you try! At the very least, we would love your company and to share our fresh foods and recipes with you.

Much love,

The Notre Dame Ward Relief Society

Update, Update, Read all about it ...

Okay, here's the latest on next week's Relief Society meeting ... and before we get started, I thought I'd offer a few pictures to get your mouth watering ...

First of all, the meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. Babysitting will be provided for those of you who need to bring your children. The topics will be gardening (no matter what circumstance you are in) and eating from your garden. As an aside, we'd like to offer you the opportunity of bringing your favorite recipe using fresh produce as well as a potluck dish highlighting the recipe. This is encouraged, but not mandatory. We don't plan on having a dinner, but we would love for you to have the opportunity to taste each other's specialties and hopefully get you more excited about starting a garden. For those of you who can and cannot come, we'd really love for you to upload your recipes to either our blog or facebook page. Let's share with each other!! If you don't know how to do so, the easiest way is to make a comment and you can then enter your recipe. There is no limit (as far as I know) to the amount of recipes blogger will allow you to share. So, please share your best, I know I for one will be happy to try them, especially if they have your stamp of approval.

I'm really excited about this event, not because I love weeding a garden, or all of the dirt you get in your fingernails ruining your expensive manicure (can you tell I spent many an hour doing both?), but because of the wonderful memories I have of hot southern summers where we would eat fresh veggies from the garden for dinner and then fresh peaches with cream (from the milk we got at a local dairy). It was heaven, and made all of the work definitely worth it. Looking back, I believe that money was tight that year, but I never knew it at the time because to me we ate like kings and queens. The food tasted that good to me.

I still remember many family home evenings where we spent time together as a family working along side each other as we made our garden beautfiul, whether it was the flower beds, strawberry beds, or vegetable garden. I also remember climbing trees trying as many methods as humanly possible to keep birds away so they didn't eat our fruit - by the way ... really small netting was the only thing that worked.

I also remember the first year where my father didn't have any idea how many okra would produce in the perfect conditions we lived in and we had it growing out of ears and trying to find enough people who would eat it. Thank goodness for the ward as we would bring what seemed like bushels of okra to church on Sunday and put them outside the RS room so that people could take them home. We planned our garden to only have 1/2 a row the next year!

So, please, please, please, come and join us. Even if you know that you will never have a garden large enough to feed your whole family for the year, or even if you think you wouldn't even want to have a container garden of herbs in your window ceil. You might, just might, feel encouraged enough to save that dying plant in the corner, or purchase a REAL plant and keep it going. You never know until you try! At the very least, we would love your company and to share our fresh foods and recipes with you.

Much love,

The Notre Dame Ward Relief Society

Here's a Quote I think applies by Victor L. Brown:

"We are very much aware that we live in difficult times, perhaps as difficult as any recent period in history. The economy in general seems to be out of control; there is high unemployment in many areas. Inflation is running rampant in most countries of the world. Personal debt is staggering. It seems almost impossible for young people to buy a home. Many who have purchased a home have monthly payments which leave no room to handle the slightest emergency.

We have been taught that we should build our reserves over a period of time, that we should not go into debt to do so, that we should buy those things we use and use them on a rotation basis, that we should use common sense in preparing ourselves to be independent and self-reliant. There has never been extremism or fanaticism associated with these teachings ...

My brothers and sisters, I feel our anxieties are justified. It is the opinion of many that more difficult times lie ahead. We are deeply concerned about the welfare of our people and recognize the potential privation and suffering that will exist if each person and family does not accept the word of the Lord when he says, “Prepare every needful thing” (D&C 88:119), and “It must needs be done in mine own way” (D&C 104:16).

May I again implore you priesthood and Relief Society leaders to see that all members of the Church everywhere understand the responsibility they have for their own welfare, that our people will be blessed to live provident and righteous lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Now the interesting part of this quote ... It is from October 1980 General Conference entitled "Prepare Every Needful Thing."

Update for Relief Society Activity

Dear Sisters,

Due to conflicts for several of our committee members, the Relief Society activity scheduled for this Thurs. will be moved back one week to Thursday, May 31st.  The topics will center around gardening and eating what you grow.  And, for those of you who don't think you can garden because you don't have enough space ... this will be addressed.  So no party poopers!  We all can learn, green, brown, pink, or purple thumbs included - please don't ask me what the other colors wrought ... but I'm sure it's something interesting.

Also ... Welcome to any and all newcomers.  Please send the word out if you have already met some of our newbies so that they will know about our blog page.