Pat Fugal is not one to let grass grow under her feet -- nor weeds, either.

On her front porch, there is a mat with the saying "Ring bell. If no one answers, pull weeds."

She said that's not likely to happen, for two reasons. For one, people wouldn't do it, and two, whenever she sees a weed, she automatically pulls it.

"I love pulling weeds," she said. "If I see a weed at church, if there is no one looking, I pull it."

Along with being a gardener, Fugal is a firm believer in being self-reliant.

"I want to do everything for myself that I can," she said. "I don't want to depend on other people." To that end, she does some things that others don't.

"I found recipes on the Internet to make my own chili powder," she said. "I will also try making my own yeast."

She said she often likes to experiment.

"I like to try different things," she said. "I am always learning something different."

There has definitely been a learning curve.

"I actually have no background in gardening," she said. "I just learned a little bit at a time. I thought that green beans were like cherries, that you pick them once and they are gone. At the end of the year I went out and saw these really big beans."

Now employed responding to telephone questions for the Extension Services, she started out there with a little bit of knowledge and grew into the job.

"I took a plant sample into the Extension Service and saw a lady with insects on her desk," she said. "She was answering the phone and gardening questions. I asked them if I could wash windows or do anything in exchange for the chance to eavesdrop. I was there for a few hours and they decided I knew enough that the next day I was by myself, answering questions. I could always take their names and call back if I didn't know the answers."

She has done volunteer work at BYU's Bean Museum, sorting insects. To give her more knowledge, she took an entomology class.

"I think my interest in bugs came when I was in the garden, saw some bugs and wanted to smash them," she said. "Then I realized I didn't know if he was a good guy or a bad guy. For example, a lot of beetles eat other insects."

Fugal said there are times to be traditional and times to be creative.

"I have made ketchup and spaghetti sauce," she said. "With things like that you need to stick to the recipes to keep the items safe. When corn is ripe and you can't eat all of it, I like to dry and grind it. Then I make cornbread with a small amount of sugar. That's because it is sweet corn instead of field corn." She explained that field corn is what is used to make standard corn meal.

She has used her creativity to make time-saving devices.

"I developed this thing for cutting cherries in half," she said. It includes grooves in which the cherries roll. With a couple of quick motions, she can cut many in half in preparation for drying them.

Fugal has cherry trees, in addition to several varieties of apples, plums, pears, apricots, nectarines and peaches, hazelnuts and walnuts. She cans and preserves them along with vegetables.

"I have grown just about everything there is in the seed catalogues," she said. "I like to can. I have canned everything from asparagus to zucchini."

Her garden has a relatively new addition, however.

"I got a hive of bees," she said. In addition to getting the honey, it has had other benefits.

"I didn't realize my strawberry production would double with the bees," she said. "But they take a lot more care than I thought."

"They are fun to watch," she added. "I really enjoy watching them."

Her family members have enjoyed the benefits of her production efforts through the years. She told of one of her daughter's first experiences with school lunch. She had been used to corn quick harvested and frozen. When she ate canned corn at lunch, she came home and said she didn't like "plastic corn."

Fugal and her husband Mac often ride bikes to church and other local destinations. A Relief Society president in her LDS Ward, she often bikes when she visits people.

"I don't like putting gas in the car and spending money on gas," she said. They have been riding their bikes since the price of gas was around 75 cents a gallon, however. "I have liked the exercise and being outside."