During World War 2, Americans were asked to plant victory gardens in every available patch of soil. This resulted in 20 million victory gardens producing 40% of the nation’s fresh vegetables. Today’s pandemic, complete with empty shelves at many grocery stores, created a new level of interest in home gardening we have not seen in years.
Victory Gardens / War Gardens / Food Gardens For Defence
Victory gardens are also known by the terms, war gardens or food gardens for defense were planted in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Germany during both World War 1 and 2. They were designed for both relieving food pressure and help improve morale. The Victory Garden, a PBS program about gardening and other outdoor activities, first aired in 1975. Today you can view past shows and learn about landscaping, agriculture, nutrition and ask questions of experts here compliments of PBS.
Today many are using the shelter in place as an opportunity to improve their homes and outdoor living areas. This includes working in gardens. Reports from garden centers, garden tool makers, and nurseries suggest business is booming. People are hungry to create something beautiful and useful in their homes. Gardening during stressful times is excellent therapy and rewarding. It is hard to beat the flavors from homegrown vegetables.
In places like Southern California, where temperatures are perfect for growing fruits and vegetables year-round, there is no excuse not to try. During World War 1, communities like Santa Monica reported over 300 lots were planted. People were so enthusiastic to plant; they even asked the city for permission to plant in the green spaces between the sidewalks and the street. By 1918 there were over 5 million war gardens planted in the Los Angeles area.
Many gardeners are going to discover growing vegetables is harder than it looks, and while there will be failures, I am betting on the American spirit to keep trying to win out. As more urban families grow their own food, the garden will become a point of pride for many in the neighborhood.
Here are some excellent tips for your Victory Garden:
- Get a soil a test for your garden. Here is an excellent article on how to complete a soil test.
- Get the complete home garden irrigation kit from the Jain Online Store or any other local store, manufacturer or other online retailers like Dripworks and Drip Depot.
- Order seeds online. You may have to make a few phone calls too. I know to try to find tomatoes this spring was a challenge.
- Use a gardening app to keep taps on the vegetables and fruits you would like to grow this year, this ensures you are not overwatering, under watering or over fertilizing your plants.
- Most nurseries are considered essential businesses and are open. Be careful about social distance and try early or late when crowds are down.
- Grow what you want to eat.
- Stagger your planting times, so you don’t get all one vegetable at the same time. Space the plantings out by 5 -7 days, and so you get a steady supply.
Victory Gardens provided a substantial boost to food production in the past and can certainly contribute to food production today. In addition to safer, more plentiful food, many get mental health benefits as well. If this sticks, this may increase interest in growing more food in urban areas, which are often a better choice than some of the water-loving plants we see that are not edible.
The images above were used from external links, since these links are part of the public domain we have listed them below, please do contact us for any queries or issues on the usage of these images here.
Featured Image By Artist: Morley Size: 27″x19″ Publication: [Washington, D.C.] Agriculture Department. War Food Administration.Printer: U.S. Government Printing Office –http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/pages/about/newsletters/vol_15/no_1/WarPosterImages.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2030283
Second Image Source: https://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/sow_the_seeds/sow_the_seeds.html Originally from en.wikipedia; description page is/was here.
