January 20th, 2010 by Lee Bradshaw

Over and over again I am asked “aren’t you afraid that you will come up short, or lacking, in this endeavor” or “is this project to big” or the one word question “Why”? Every time someone asked me this I am reminded of my favorite saying, this is such a good quote President Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first Black President, used it in his Inaugural speech. Here it is…

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and
fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to manifest the Glory of God that is within us.

It’s not just in some; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others.

By Marianne Williamson

January 15th, 2010 by Lee Bradshaw

This has been a great week for The ByHp. We have been invited by seven City in S.L. County to give presentations for grant money that is available to us. I have two people looking for a building with a walk in refrigerator that we need donated. Both people think they can get one at no cost to us. I secured the pledge of 1000 boxes of Bees today and received a pledge for a 5 acre property with a house for my family, two guest houses, a shop, and two green houses. God is good!

Next week we have more visits with Mayors. A very important appointment with a lady that specializes in valuation’s of non-profits. After our meeting with her I expect my need to be slimmer. Good things are happening. As I said before God is good!

bees, ByHP, mayors, refrigerator, the backyard harvest project

January 8th, 2010 by Lee Bradshaw

I have been asked over and over again ” how do you find the food” It is unbelievable easy. Donation, Donations, Donations. In just two phone calls last year we received almost 10,000 lbs of Cherries. Without even asking I have recently been promised bees for 1000 boxes. the catch is I need to build the boxes. so I am currently looking for the lumber and labor to help us accomplish this task. After researching this gift we have found out this gift is worth $50,000. and the ability to earn $150,000 yearly in pollination fees and honey. Obviously this would go far in help us be more self sufficient not to mention how many people that could be blessed by having fresh honey in their pantries. I do need all your eyes and ears to help in finding the fruit trees that are neglected as well as orchards and fields that can be gleaned.

I am currently working on two grants that would help us find and be able to process a huge amount of food. Even though we are applying for these grants we still need private help with all kinds of donations. As well as fresh fruit and vegetables we need canning supplies, gardening tools, ladders and labor. We also need financial assistance from private sources. Personally my family invested $8,000 last year and hundreds of man hours. We are just as committed to make this this year a success but we need your help more than ever to meet our goal of collecting 500,000 lbs of food this year. We are a 501 (c) 3 corporation so all donations are tax deductible so  please help.

January 8th, 2010 by Lee Bradshaw

I picked up this article on the counter of a local credit union. I thought that it might be of interest.

Have you heard of the “dirty dozen”? They are the fruits and vegetables that test highest for pesticide sprays. Top of the list is Peaches. My suggestion is to plant a peach tree! I have three. Here are the others in the top 12 to buy organic or grow yourself, whenever possible:

Peaches                                 Cherries

Apples                                   Kale

Bell Peppers                        Lettuce

Celery                                  Grapes

Nectarines                          Carrots

Strawberries                       Pears

Spinach has moved down on the list, out of the to 12, which is nice. sometimes I get taken to task by those who buy ONLY organic produce for not being a purist on the topic.

Here is what I have to say about that: if you can afford to buy all organic, that is EXCELLENT! Go for it. But I am above all trying to bridge the gap here for the majority in the middle, who have to balance health concerns with budget restraints. I always say, remember  (a) that animal protein and proccessed food have higher pesticide concentrations than conventioal produce, and (b) almost all the studies documenting the powerful effects of fruits/vegs in our diets were using CONVENTIONAL produce. Therefore (c) don’t avoid eating produce ( and eat something else) because you are afraid it may it may not be organic, but (d) wash your conventional produce well using a good fruit/veg wash.

Here is the bottom 13 of the produce ranked by the Environment Working Group examining 87,000 studies by the FDA and USDA between 2000 and 2007. These would be produce I would feel more comfortable about buying conventional and washing well:

Broccoli                     Sweet peas (frozen)

Watermelon             Papaya

Eggplant                  Cabbage

Kiwi                          Asparagus

Mango                     Pineapple

Avocado                 Corn

Onions                   Tomatos

May I make another summertime suggestion: before you cot up your melon, rinse the rind before cutting it up, because the knife slices through the pesticide-coated rind, and those chemicals end up on your fruit.

December 9th, 2009 by Lee Bradshaw

Care for the Children was formed eleven years ago. Back then it was called Nourish the Children. They have provided 30 million meals to hungry children in third world countries around the globe. In 2001, NuSkin bought Nourish the children, and David moved on to be Foundation Director of Heritage Schools. In 2004 he learned that Nuskin had only bought the name Nourish the Children. He was appointed as executive Director and the 501 (c) (3) was renamed Care for the Children Foundation. Two years later he was made President (CEO) of Care for the Children.

David has over thirty three years exoerience in the non-profit arena. Some of his other works include,Chairman/Originator/Creator of Utah States’ Vietnam Era Veterans Memorial, and as a Director of the  American Red Cross Disaster Services.

David will be and already has been a great mentor

December 9th, 2009 by Lee Bradshaw

In late 2008 I (ByHP) was introduced to David Gardener (Care…).  Immediately we knew we wanted to work together. Later in the sping of 2009, it was talked about ByHP working as a DBA under Care…, but as stated, ByHP took on a life of its own. I was literally so busy I forgot to call David, and since I already had a non-profit registered I worked under that 501c3. In september I stopped by to see David ,and gave him an update of my work. I honestly was worried that David would be angry with me for “dropping of the face of the earth”. David looked over the summary, and immediately looked up at me and said, “you’ve been busy”. After further talk, it was decided that David and Care for the Children wanted to shift their focus homeward to our own backyard so to speak. A number of reasons were discussed why. Corruption and the worry that more harm than good was done creating dependency of nations for the food that was given. Also, with the shift in the economy here at home, we have children right here in Utah going to bed hungry. It was decided to appoint me ,(Lee Bradshaw), to the board of Care for the Children ,and to make The ByHP a program within Care for the Children. I will act as direstor of the The ByHP. If a donor came forward and said that he would only make a donation if we helped children in third world countries, we can still accomplish this through David, but my position as director of The ByHP is to gather food and distribute it to families in need right here. I hope this helps decipher who we are and what our goals are. David has already been a great mentor and friend. I look forward to working with and learning from him.

December 8th, 2009 by Lee Bradshaw

I have been asked over and over the last few days: who is The Backyard Harvest Project and who is Care for the Children?

I’ll explain.

The Backyard Harvest Project (ByHP) is a idea that has been bouncing around in my mind for at least eight years now. The idea first manifested itself when I was in the construction field and my friend James Ray and I were siding a house together.  Over the years I have done almost everything in the trades.  We were in a home owners backyard and it was about mid September.  In that backyard were a few fruit trees that, from the looks of it, hadn’t been harvested for years.  Right there we saw ripe beautiful peaches falling to the ground.  I commented that it was very sad to see, and James responded that if I could figure out a way to harvest all the food that went to waste in peoples backyard I would control the biggest orchard in the world.

Now it has never been my intention to corner the market in peaches or any other commodity, but maybe I could help stop some of the waste.

As I said, the idea bounced around, but everyone that I talked to told me that it was too big of an idea or that I needed the “perfect” business plan in place before I did anything.  Well this last spring it was really eating at me that I hadn’t done anything with this idea, when out of the blue a gentleman saw a powerpoint that I had made.  While visiting with me and walking through my families garden, he asked what, if anything, I would do differently in my own garden. Without thinking I said “nothing, I just need more space”.  He invited me to immediately follow me to his home where he showed me three building lots that he owned next to the property he lived on. He asked me “is that enough land?”.   I was speechless.

He donated the land, irrigation, fencing, and the use of his Kubota tractor. A few days later, another gentleman donated 7000 heirloom vegetable plants.

Poof!  The ByHP had grew its own legs.

The next few month were a whirlwind.  The first call I made yielded 1500 lbs. of Bing Cherries and the next one yielded 6500 lbs. of Pie Cherries.  Things happened so fast and without to much effort, put into finding the food or volunteers or families that needed the food.  Over 50,000 lbs. of food had been donated or grown from donated plants, on donated land, watered with donated irrigation.

I have never been so blessed as I have been in these last few months. I  am closer to my children, wife and friends than I ever thought possible.  Yes, financially I have done better in other ventures but I have learned that keeping up with the Jones’ isn’t all it cracked up to be.  Putting others needs first has truly blessed my life and the lives of my family.

Bing Cherries, ByHP, Cherries, commodity, donated, fruit trees, heirloom, irrigation, perfect, Pie Cherries, tbyhp, the backyard harvest project

December 8th, 2009 by Lee Bradshaw

Just thinking of this past year and all of the blessings that came with it.  One funny highlight that comes to mind is when we planted a garden for a less fortunate family.  We had just tilled in some mulch and my son Delaney and I were leaving to pick up the vegetable plants to put in their garden.  The home owners son was outside so I asked him “what is your favorite vegetable”?

His reply: “cheese and bananas”!

Delaney almost fell out of the truck.
I can’t help not laughing every time I remember that day.
By the way his sisters favorite vegetable…banana splits!

Make it be a good day. Do something good.

bananas, cheese, Delaney, family

December 7th, 2009 by admin

The Backyard Harvest Project received a major donation of fruit from people with small to medium fruit trees as well as an exceedingly generous donation from a major cherry farmer.  It occured to us that some people might want to know a little more about how to winterize their smaller trees and keep them healthy through the winter.

You will need the following:

• Tree wrap
• Some Mulch
• Window screen or 1/4″ mesh hardware cloth

Young trees are susceptible to sun scald during winter months, a problem caused by fluctuations in temperature. During the day if the sun is shining, bark temperatures will rise higher than air temperatures. Yet when the sun sets or is blocked by clouds, the bark temperature drops rapidly, damaging plant tissue. We want to prevent this from happening by wrapping the trunks of trees with ‘tree wrap’. Wrap the trunk from its base upward to just below where the canopy starts. Make sure you remove the wrap in spring so it does not impede the tree’s growth.

We also want to protect your tree’s bark from hungry rodents during winter food shortages by constructing a cylinder out of window screen or ¼” mesh hardware cloth. The cylinder should penetrate the soil to a depth of 2-3″ if possible and should be about 3″ larger in diameter than the trunk of your tree.

Another important factor in keeping your trees healthy during the winter months is maintaining the moisture content of the soil. Avoid fertilizing your trees in late summer to early fall so they have a chance to harden off. After deciduous trees lose their leaves but before the ground freezes, give them a good dose of water. Next, mulch around your trees. Start from the outside of the wire cylinder and mulch the entire area under the tree’s drip line to a depth of about 3″.

This should give your tree a dynamic chance at not only surviving the winter months, but thrive them.  Just make sure when spring rolls around you give The ByHP a call and donate the unused portions of your orchard to those in need.  Together, we can Care for the Children…

cherry, food shortages, fruit, mulch, tbyhp, the backyard harvest project, tree wrap, winterize

December 1st, 2009 by Lee Bradshaw

This last week was very busy and heartbreaking.  My family has been helping a older couple clean out their food storage room.  It is huge, 21′X 16′, with cement floor, walls and ceiling.  It is amazing the time and effort these folks have gone through to be prepared in a time of emergency. It was wall to wall food.

Now here is the heartbreaking part:  As we started cleaning out this room we found that over 75% of it had to be thrown away.  There was food that was bottled in 1960.  There were 5 gallon metal buckets of honey that had rusted through the bottoms and leaked all over the floor.  Can goods that were bulging and ready to burst.

As an organization that prides our selves as saving food and not letting it go to waste, it was a sad week.  But as I told my wife, this stuff in these bottles ceased being food long ago.  Yes, they have found food stored by the Egyptians that is still edible, but this wasn’t.  Bottled food is best if used within three years.  Fpur years should be the max.  I don’t see this as a problem because we should be eating the food that we are storing. Many experts have said that storing whole wheat for the future is a grave mistake unless we start using whole wheat today to make our bread.

Now why does that make sense?  I’ll tell you why: we need to change our diet slowly starting today so that when we have to rely solely on our food storage, our bodies are used to processing it.  Otherwise, we are going to bloat up and have serious health issues when we try to force our bodies to process only whole grains.  We have conditioned ourselves to use processed garbage foods for fuel.  It’s foolishness to think we will be able to instantly convert to a higher food source without serious injury, when our systems are not acclimatized!  These whole grains are great for our bodies but it will shock our systems if we don’t change over time.

It would be my suggestion that people store what they eat and then rotate what they have stored.  And of course learn to eat good whole foods.

Egyptians, food, food storage, processing, storage, whole grains