Being in northern Florida, I know we are a lot farther along in the gardening season than most of you, but thought our experiments and experiences might be helpful to some.

We have had our new solar dehydrating unit operating for over a week now, and I am very pleased with the results. I have a 5 gallon pail of spinach already dried, and 2 batches of cabbage--each 2x3 ft tray (there are 7 trays) holds one medium-size chopped cabbage, and a couple of trays of swiss chard. We have more spinach and cabbage drying, a half tray of green peas, and a half of sliced yellow squash, and my husband has been chopping large sweet onions, and, separately, the green tops today.

We had a couple days of higher than ordinary humidity, so the spinach stems didn't dry as quickly as the leaves, so I brought it in and finished drying it overnight on pizza pans in my gas oven with pilot light. I did blanch and freeze a couple of quarts of green peas for regular use...I add them to potato salad with eggs, onion, celery seed, and chopped ham or Spam for our Sunday dinner sometimes. And we have had a couple generous servings of peas with our meals.

Our peas have grown beyond all expectations. My husband put in 3 seventy ft rows, 2 of them low plants, and the other the telephone peas. He measured the tall ones yesterday, and they are 84 inches high! And every plant is loaded with pods. The 2 rows of green beans are in bloom now, and I expect to be working some pretty long days to keep up with it all from now on. He told me the corn is tasseling today. (!) And the juice grapes are forming on the fence, and the wild blackberries, of which we have many, are already in the green stage.

Some of our ward members are coming out to see what we're doing, and how we're doing it. My cousins are diligently tending their gardens, too, on this 40 acre haven we call home, and they have finally realized that it might be well to prepare for what's ahead. Now, if we can just convince them that the gospel and preparing spiritually is just as important! God is so good, and I give thanks every day for having the gospel in my life, the priesthood in my home, and a living prophet to guide us. phylm