Economic Woes May Bring Back Victory Gardens

Centre Daily Times ^ | Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009 | Bill Lamont

[nickcarraway]

I can remember my mother talking about the victory garden she had in the backyard of their home during World War II. My dad was in the Navy in the Pacific theater during the war and my mother felt that she was supporting the war effort with her little garden.

If you look up victory gardens you will find that during World War I and World War II, the government asked the residents of the United States to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. It was one way to bring the people together in support of a common goal and to make them feel that they were contributing to the war effort. It is estimated that millions of people planted gardens. In one article that I read it is recorded that “in 1943, Americans planted over 20 million victory gardens, and the harvest accounted for nearly a third of all the vegetables consumed in the country that year.” The article also stated “emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort, not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty.”

Jump forward to 2009. Given the not so rosy economic picture that the country and individuals are facing maybe we need to revisit the victory garden concept. If you go to www.revivevictorygarden.org/ you will find info on victory gardens. Victory gardens are not much different from vegetable gardens of today and the gardening principles and practices followed in the victory gardens are still the ones we use today in our gardens.

I would say that during World War I and World War II, everyone was encouraged to plant a garden, even if it was a small container on the patio or balcony.

Think if everyone planted some kind of a garden today. The amount of produce produced would be considerable and would dramatically increase the consumption of fresh and locally produced nutritious vegetables that would add to the well-being and health of our society, not to mention the positive impact to the family budget.

I am sure that many of the vegetables produced in the victory gardens were also canned and put up for use during the winter months, which in our society today is a dying art, but one that could be revived.

I see many positive aspects of encouraging victory gardens today. It seems to me that they hit the nail on the head when they said, “emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort, not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty.”

It seems to me that we need more of that kind of activity, commitment and spirit in society today. Make plans to have an economic victory garden in 2009.

[gardengirl]

Hey y’all!

Sorry you’ve been sick, both of you.

Ja—friend is doing much better, thanks. It was just the original diagnosis/treatment and drs didn’t want to keep prescribing antibiotics.

Red—glad it wasn’t anything more serious than what it was.

Take care, both of you.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

My SIL had a bout with diverticulitis a couple of years back and it was pretty tough. I'm so glad that you've recovered.

I checked my Sam's location on the landscape fabric and it is showing unavailable as well, so hopefully it is a seasonal thing and will show up in the next couple of months. It cost around $36 a roll.

I bought 8 rolls last year, but I seem to remember that I only put down 6 of them. My rows are 100' long, so I was able to cover exactly 2.5 rows with one roll. Each row of fabric overlaps the next by about 4 inches, so one row of pins down the middles holds the fabric of 2 rows. I did buy some extra pins at Lowe's because I like to place a pin every 5'. That close is not essential, but the fabric had held up against the remnants of several tropical storms and hurricanes.

I do have a couple of holes that armadillos have dug and torn, but I'll patch those with a short piece of fabric and some weatherproof tape.

[girlangler]

Thanks for the response justa.

Gosh, you have been through a lot, and I am so sorry to hear about this.

I’m glad you posted about your experience, because, from what I a reading, Lyme Disease is much more common than the medical community is admitting.

I had a really nasty tick bite in early summer last year. It didn’t produce the red ring around the bite, but I had a rash and it took forever for it to go away.

Back in the 1980s I lived in Missouri, and this particular summer the ticks were so bad I’d take my dog outside to potty and could see ticks crawling up my leg (in a mowed, manicured lawn). I did pull a tick off then and had the red ring around the bite. I went to the doctor and he also shrugged it off, but gave me a test, which he said was negative.

About two years ago there was a thread on FR about President Bush being treated/tested for Lymes. It had a lot of posts, and there were several posters providing good information.

I hope you are getting better as I type this, and that all freepers on the gardening thread will be aware of the dangers of tick bites.

[IYAS9YAS]

Everything tastes better for starters.

Drooling over the seed catalogues. I can't wait to harvest some good tomatoes again.