Family Home Storage

"Our Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth, with all its abundance, for our benefit and use. His purpose is to provide for our needs as we walk in faith and obedience. He has lovingly commanded us to “prepare every needful thing” (see D&C 109:8) so that, should adversity come, we can care for ourselves and our neighbors and support bishops as they care for others.

"We encourage members world-wide to prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings.

"We ask that you be wise as you store food and water and build your savings. Do not go to extremes; it is not prudent, for example, to go into debt to establish your food storage all at once. With careful planning, you can, over time, establish a home storage supply and a financial reserve."

—The First Presidency, All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage,
All is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage Feb. 2007, 1

		Three-Month Supply Build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet. One way to do this is to purchase a few extra items each week to build a one-week supply of food. Then you can gradually increase your supply until it is sufficient for three months. These items should be rotated regularly to avoid spoilage.
		Drinking Water Store drinking water for circumstances in which the water supply may be polluted or disrupted. If water comes directly from a good, pretreated source, then no additional purification is needed; otherwise, pre-treat water before use. Store water in sturdy, leak-proof, breakage-resistant containers. Consider using plastic bottles commonly used for juices and soft drinks. Keep water containers away from heat sources and direct sunlight.
		Financial Reserve Establish a financial reserve by saving a little money each week and gradually increasing it to a reasonable amount.
		Longer-Term Supply For longer-term needs, and where permitted, gradually build a supply of food that will last a long time and that you can use to stay alive, such as wheat, white rice, and beans. These items can last 30 years or more when properly packaged and stored in a cool, dry place. A portion of these items may be rotated in your three-month supply.

Grow Your Own Popcorn

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Some of our friends and even a few relatives have had their family/kids/teenagers put up some resistance to gardening. The concept of growing their own popcorn may be just exciting enough to get them started.

Most of us have only seen popcorn in a bag or jar at the grocery store. Even gardeners who grow sweet corn may have never thought about trying to grow one of America's favorite snacking foods: popcorn. Aside from the traditional yellow color, popcorn kernels can come in blue, white and red, as well. But before you pick a variety of popcorn to plant, find out your area's growing season matches that of the popcorn variety as it takes longer to mature than sweet corn. Popcorn has more starch in it than sweet corn and although their growing needs are the same, it's the harvesting that makes the difference.

• Add compost or composted manure to the garden bed where the popcorn will be planted. Corn is a warm-weather, needy crop that requires plenty of water combined with rich soil. Another good idea is to add a fertilizer that's high in nitrogen to apply right after you have planted the seeds.

• Plant popcorn seeds directly into the garden bed 1 ½ to 2 inches deep and about a foot in between each other. The corn rows should be about 8 inches apart. If the corn is planted any closer together, you will harvest fewer ears as they won't be as filled out as corn that has plenty of room to grow. You can also start your bed from seedlings. However, keep in mind that popcorn seedlings will be harder to locate at a local nursery.

• The silks of the corn are the female flowers and the tassels are the male flowers. Corn depends upon the wind for pollination, therefore it should be planted in blocks of at least 4 by 4 feet.
  

• Generously water your corn bed from planting day all the way until harvest time. If during the growing season, the lower leaves start to become yellow, give them another shot of nitrogen. Add soil amendments whenever you can as corn is a very heavy feeder.

• If you live in a windy area, the corn may need to have a wind break placed around them or stakes to help hold the corn upright as they have notoriously shallow roots systems.
  

• When the husks have dried and the kernels are plump, shiny, and full of color, harvest the ears off of the stalks. Take the husks off of the corn and lay the corn out in a well-ventilated and cool area. Leave them there for a month or more.

• Popcorn kernels pop because of the moisture content and this is controlled by the curing process.
  

• Take off some of the kernels and test-pop them. If you are happy with how they popped, remove all of the corn kernels from the cobs and store them in glass or ceramic containers. If the popping action is weak, there's still too much moisture in the kernels. Test pop again every couple of days because the kernels can actually become too dry.

By eHow Contributor, Chris McLaunglin

How to Grow Your Own Popcorn

Types of Popcorn Seeds

Popcorn is a favorite of every American household. Surprisingly, there are many different types of popcorn seeds on the market; they come in a unique variety of colors, flavors and sizes, which makes it easy to eat this healthy, fiber-filled snack everyday.

Yellow

1. Yellow popcorn is the most popular brand throughout the United States. It is the largest when popped, and is the cheapest available.

Red

2. Red popcorn has a small kernel that expands to a rather large piece of popcorn, and tends to have a nutty flavor.

White

3. White popcorn is large and fluffy when popped, and tastes mildly like corn.

Blue

4. Blue popcorn has a unique flavor and pops into large, white kernels with blue speckles.

Baby Rice

5. Baby Rice popcorn is a very flavorful, hull-less popcorn with small, tender kernels.

Black 

6. Black popcorn has a very crunchy, medium sized kernel. Although the un-popped kernel is black, it becomes very white when popped.

By eHow Contributor V. L. Hamblin

Popcorn Seeds