The YF Garden

INGREDIENTS:

• - Olive oil for greasing the foil
• - 3 large eggs
• - 1/2 cup whole milk
• - 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• - 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• - 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
• - 3/4 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
• - 2 teaspoons of salt
• - 1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• - 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
• - 1 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
• - 1 pound lean ground beef
• - 1 pound ground pork

Makes about 20 Meatballs

PREPARATION:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easier cleanup. Lightly oil the foil or paper liner. Set the baking sheet aside.

2. Place the eggs, milk, garlic, oregano, basil, thyme, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the cheese and bread crumbs and stir to mix.

3. Using your hands, break the beef and pork into small chunks and add them to the bowl. Blend the mixture with your hands until just combined, working the mixture as little as possible.

4. Gently form the meat mixture into 2-inch meatballs, and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet so they do not touch each other.

Frequent breezes kept us cool throughout the day, and a few clouds drifted by to block the sun's rays. We started at 9 o'clock in the morning by first heavily watering our plants. Temperatures have been rising and moisture evaporates quickly, so daily watering is crucial.

Our main objective for the day was to mulch the large flowerbeds that border the front of the garden, as well as the YF flowerbed in the center. Even with several inches of mulch, weeds can still be problematic, so we put down a layer of black plastic first. We cut up almost 800 sq. feet of plastic into several sheets and then placed it over the plants after cutting holes for each one. Plastic isn't only for keeping weeds out, it also helps to keep the water in. Playful gusts of wind kept things interesting, and we had to run after a few stray sheets.

Mulching took a while, and we ended up using three truckloads (about 140 cu. ft.) of black mulch. We enjoyed the fellowship and sang a few hymns as we worked together. The scenery and the beautiful weather was inspiring and the atmosphere wonderful.

The grass walkways grow fast, since they benefit from the frequent watering, so we carefully mowed the whole area and then trimmed around the 72 beds with a weed-eater.

Even with daily watering, some of our plants didn't seem to be keeping enough moisture, so we put straw over some of the dry beds. It will also help prevent the fruit from rotting later on by keeping it off the ground.

Only a few weeks ago, the ground of the garden was bare except for the transplants. Today almost everything is flourishing. We're thankful that the Lord has blessed us with healthy plants, good weather, and wonderful fellowship. We finished up about 3 o' clock and left for home after saying our goodbyes.

We sure have been busy! We are finally finding some time to catch everyone up with what we are doing. Many of us have shared how vegetables are constantly on our minds and that we are even dreaming about them. The excitement is still as strong as the first day we stepped out onto the grassy quarter acre that was to be our garden. We have been coming out almost every Saturday of the month, and even some evenings we work in our garden. We are staying quite busy. From day one of taking off the sod, to the present day of finishing planting and taking care of our veggies, it has been an experience that is helping us to grow and mature along with our plants.

The moment that we step out onto the soil and walk into our garden, there is such a peace and happiness that fills our hearts. Many of us have commented on the enjoyment and stress relief that we find when we come together in the garden. So many times the stresses of this world and the evil get us saddened. Once we are working in the garden, we feel like we have our own special place to think about the Lord and admire His amazing creation while we are taking care of our vegetables.

When we were planting the flowers in the front, we were all a jitter inside because we could see the pretty shapes that were forming and the instant pleasure of our work. Each session in the garden brings us closer as friends too. Together, we have all been learning what “gardening” truly means. We all have a common purpose; to make the garden grow and prosper just like we as Christians all have the common goal to tell others about Christ and continue to make ourselves ready for His appearing.

You will see the development in the slideshow of how we got started and each step that we have done so far, such as: removing sod, digging up our ground for aeration, adding topsoil and manure, planting flowers and vegetable plants/seeds. We find that it types the process to how a Christian’s life starts. We have to take off the world, cleanse ourselves of all evil, and completely die to ourselves before we are ready for the Lord to come inside of us and live in us. Once that Seed is living in us, it is a daily work for us to water and protect It from all worldly enemies or anything that might cause the Holy Spirit to move away from us. What a blessed people we are to have this opportunity.

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When planning the YF garden, our research led us to choose “BioIntensive” techniques to increase our yield and make the most efficient use of our land and time.

Soil Preparations

We chose 5’X 20’ raised beds, which allows us to reach to the middle of the bed easily on each side and gives us 100 square feet of planting area. As we mentioned earlier, our plans included removing the sod (to prevent grass growing in our garden area), tilling the soil 8-12 inches down, then adding another 8-10 inches of fresh topsoil.

With the soil deeply aerated, the roots will grow deeper and keep the plants healthier, producing more vegetables.

Planting

Instead of using rows, we used “intensive” planting, placing the plants close in a triangular pattern. As the plants grow to maturity, their leaves will overlap and create a canopy, a mini-ecosystem. With such close spacing, there is less room and light for weeds to grow, and pollination amongst the plants is improved.

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We also decided to use “companion planting” methods to deter harmful insects and increase production. Rosemary and sage both deter carrot flies, and nasturtiums repel squash bugs. Some plants also improve the growth and flavor of other plants, such as basil does with tomatoes. It is also important to know which plants dislike each other or can transmit diseases. We carefully positioned our garden plants so that "enemy" plants are far apart, and friendly plants are close together.

We chose non-hybrid (open pollinated, heirloom) plant varieties wherever possible. When shopping for seeds and plants, we told the plant nurseries about the project. They were very helpful, and several gave us pricing discounts.

Garden Maintenance and Watering

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As we researched and planned the garden, we realized quickly how much work was involved in maintenance – especially the daily watering required by many plants. We’re working on setting up a timed watering system to help with this. As our garden continues, we will try to publish more details about how we are planting our vegetables and the techniques we use.

Learning about gardening is fun and exciting, but the real joy is the wonderful fellowship with each other. Everyone has been eager to lend a hand with the garden, and several brothers from the church have even offered to lend equipment and machinery. We have really been enjoying one another’s fellowship as we talk about the Lord, what He is doing in each of our lives, and His Word. We’re very thankful for the chance to work with other called out Message believers, and enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather the Lord has blessed us with.

As we work in the garden, we find it hard not to see God everywhere we look; in helpful hands, in the sunset, in the gentle breeze, in each living plant that pushes through into the sunlight. As we watch plants bend around obstacles, following the sunlight, we are reminded of the spiritual Light that keeps us growing as Christians. How precious that Light is to us, and how important it is that we never stop absorbing it!

Today is the day we have been looking forward to for several weeks, the ground breaking day for the YF garden; the hours of planning are ready to be set into action. The Lord has given us a perfect evening to break the ground for the garden. I can almost taste the fresh vegetables in my mouth that we are going to grow. Everyone is excited to gather around in fellowship and have the opportunity to be with other young Christians and talk about the Lord and His Word, with the bond of love for this Message. Many of the young people have spent their time researching gardening methods and learning about how to grow vegetables. In this electronic age, for many youths gardening is a new experience.

As we drew nearer to one another to begin the breaking of the ground, we asked Brother Joseph to lead us in prayer to dedicate the garden. What a blessing it was in how the Holy Spirit’s presence was so strongly felt amongst us, as he dedicated the garden and we put our licks of fire together to speak to our Creator.

4/25/08

Early Friday morning we started the renovation of the quarter acre lot for our garden. After some coffee and donuts, we carefully plotted the dimensions for each 28 5’x20’ , 8 partial beds and two quarter circles as we prepared to remove the sod from each one. With two brothers on the sod cutters, and others behind them rolling up the fresh cut sod and removing it from the beds, we quickly made progress. It was not long before we had all the beds stripped of their sod and were ready for the next task. We then went from each garden bed and made sure each one was accurately squared off. While all this was taking place, we had several dump trucks unloading fresh compost topsoil to our garden site, for a total of 64 yards. We will place this on top of the garden beds after they are tilled. We plan on tilling the ground soil 8-12 inches on Saturday and then placing another 8-10 inches of fresh topsoil on top of that. This will allow us to have deep, aerated soil and will enable our plant roots to grow deeper, which will keep them healthier and allow them to produce more vegetables.

After we completed the sod cutting process, we dug up the front entrance flower and herb beds and a few of the vegetable beds. By the time we placed topsoil on our first tilled bed, it was about time to clean up the equipment and call it a day.

4/26/08

This morning it rained, causing us to cancel our early breakfast plans and early work since the soil was too wet to dig or to do any work with. As soon as the soil was dry enough , we gathered our crew and started our exertion for the day. Our topsoil was already delivered earlier so we were ready to spread it among our 36 raised beds. It was hard work. As our day progressed along our bodies were getting worn out, but the visualization and excitement of our plans being nearer to completion lent us more energy to continue on. We sang and worshiped the Lord with old time simple gospel hymns. Being outside working in the Lord’s soil gave us such a satisfaction. We worked from noon until dark knowing that the preparations for our garden needed to be completed soon. At the end of the day we left with a sense of accomplishment of all that we had gotten done.

Just like a physical seed needs to be planted, watered, and given the correct amount of sunlight, the spiritual seed also needs the right conditions to grow and thrive. The Jeffersonville YF group is learning these lessons first hand both physically and spiritually.

These young brothers and sisters have taken on the responsibility of planting and maintaining a garden as an opportunity to learn about God, while spending valuable time with other like-minded young believers.

Keep an eye out for a new link on the bottom of the Young Foundations page. Once it arrives, it will take you to a new garden page that will be regularly updated by the local youth. They will tell you about the garden, how it is growing, what is working and what isn't. You will be able to view their garden work schedule to see the amount of time that they are investing into their project. You may also get stories about the lessons that they have learned from the garden. This is their garden and they will be making all the decisions and providing all of the information concerning it.

We encourage you to take on projects like this with believers in your area. Use this as a guide if you wish to, or come up with your own project. Write in and tell us about it. We would love to post pictures of projects like this one sprouting up in other areas and churches around the world.

Brother Branham said:

But listen to this: every Word of God is a Seed. Jesus said so. And every promise of God will come to pass if you will receive it and don't doubt it, can place it in your heart, and believe it come from God, and water it with faith, it'll spring forth of its kind. Don't never forget this statement. I make this from my heart. The right mental attitude towards any promise of God will bring it to pass. You believe that? ...?... Amen. If you'll take the right attitude, that it's God's Word, and God is behind His Word, and the Word is God, it'll bring to pass what it says.55-0813

God bless you,

Young Foundations