Posted on 05/03/2021 7:30:22 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — A program from the past is coming back to northeast Ohio.
The state's Department of Agriculture (OHDOA) is growing its "Victory Gardens" program during the pandemic, and some of those gardens are going in plots at the Canterbury Community Garden. The garden, started in the 1940s, is in the corner of the parking lot at Canterbury Elementary School in Cleveland Heights.
"When World War II came about, there was even more of a push for people to grow their own vegetables," said Deb Franke, the garden's co-leader. "And this was created in about 1943 as a Victory Garden. And it's so it's been a vegetable garden since World War II."
This summer, several gardeners with growing space planted seeds that came from the OHDOA program. The agency partnered with The Ohio State University's Extension Offices across 25 counties. 2020 was the inaugural year for the program. Last year, there were 10 counties with the program, and this year, it doubled.
"And we hope in the near future to expand it to all 88 counties," said Dorothy Pelanda, the director for the OHDOA.
The program hands out free seeds to people who want to plant and then provides support through a blog run by OSU extension.
In early April, the program gave out "lettuce, cucumbers, beets and sunflowers," Pelanda said.
"They picked things that I think are pretty easy to grow. And - don't you know, you can absolutely put the seeds in the dirt," according to Franke, who said she is the daughter of a gardener.
Victory Gardens have a long history. Started in World War I and World War II, these gardens helped ease the burden placed on larger farms, which were sending food to the troops overseas. Food from Victory Gardens stayed local.
"Having the ability to have fresh food from your own backyard is an amazing opportunity to people, for people to feed their families good food," Pelanda said about the potential of the program.
The seeds don't have to be used by community gardeners.
"They can take a small plot of land or maybe just a small area where they could put a box or pots and grow some food for themselves," Franke said.
Pelanda and Franke said a few weeks of fresh food from a garden can help cut grocery costs for families.
Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing prices in local grocery stores have gone up 2.6% since last March. The higher prices come from lower product availability. "Our goal in the Victory Gardens is not only to address food insecurity, but to educate the general public about some foods that maybe they've never, ever been exposed to," Pelanda said.
Franke said the second year of the program will give more people access to the seeds they need to start their own gardens.
"I hope that we experience a period of growth," she said.
They have ‘community gardens’ in Anchorage.
Most sit unused - the “homeless” (squatters) kept stealing the food, so folks stopped using them.
Worse than rabbits or deer....
ping
That’s too bad. I’ve heard of that happening in some of the larger cities, too. :(
Comrades!
Our comrades in the government are trying very hard to keep the supermarkets stocked.
Unfortunately, our Comrades in China have had a tough year and they need food more than you do.....or they will quit sending the Democrats money.
Smaller portions are good for you!
Meat gives you gas!
Skip three meals a day to help the Party....the Democrat Party.
People used to be largely honest. Not true anymore.
A lot of home sites around the DFW area have lots big enough to have at least a small size gardens but the HOAs forbid them.
We grew corn, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, honey dew melons, and peas--maybe some other things.
We also had chickens, but no one--even my father--wouldn't eat them because they became pets. We had raised them from chicks. One was named Mary though I could never tell them apart.
My father accidentally killed one; so he cooked it, but everyone sat around the table unable to touch it as though it were the family dog. I thought it might be Mary.
My parents also planted flowers, though they always had.
Victory over what? Looming shortages?
That's why they don't have them around where I live either. I grow peppers on my terrace because nobody can get to them but us.
My neighbor 3 doors down, lives on a corner, turned her whole front yard and side yard into a community garden. Quite a few of the neighbors with kids participate. She also has a book trade out thing, and a giving bench for canned foods etc. There are always cars parked around her house and people in their yard. She did it all because of COVID. To show she cares.
Personally, I don’t want random people stopping at my house and roaming around my yard. lol
Walmart doesn’t list seeds on their site. But then they don’t list a lot of items. Their seed packets used to be 10-25 cents.
Lowes’ prices start at about $2.
You can use the seeds from your grocery produce such as dried beans, tomatoes, melons, potatoes, garlic, onions and peppers.
Food wasn't the only thing grown in victory gardens.
Sweet Marijuana Brown--The Barney Bigard Sextet (1945)
When I was growing up we all lived off these gardens. It was just common in our part of North Carolina.
We were poor, but boy we ate good. And we traded with others too. And people would let you just come and pick their extras.
I’ve tried to duplicate that with my family. We grow, freeze and can everything... My kids hate anything store bought. It just doesn’t have the same taste.
I wish people would adopt victory gardens now. It’s a smart way of living.
We always had a backyard garden, growing up outside of Cleveland, but then, everything west of Cleveland was mostly farmland anyway. Really getting back to their roots. LOL.
I have a neighbour who plants free greens for anyone who wants them. The garden plot is far from his home though.
My father grew up in WWII Britain, every single family on his street lost somebody from the war, more from starvation, malnutrition, etc than from fighting.
They had an Anderson bomb shelter in the back and a huge garden, his mother made lots of soups that stretched their supplies. Some shelters survived and are used as tool sheds.
Victory.
I was born and raised in Milwaukee, but my Mom and all the other Aunties would farm us kids out to Aunt Alice’s farm for the summer school break.
It really was an awesome childhood to have the best of both worlds. Milwaukee used to be a safe, awesome city to raise your family. My Uncles were all Cops or Firefighters or worked for Miller Brewing.
Some of my City Cousins didn’t take to Farm Life as readily as others. We had the same situation when we had Veal for dinner one night and my Mean Country Boy Cousins told little Georgie that he was eating the veal calf he’d been tending all these weeks. It was pretty traumatic for him.
Georgie got his revenge, though. One of the mean boys was ‘accidentally’ pushed and fell through the trap door in the floor of the barn - right into the manure pit. ;)
“Victory over what? Looming shortages?”
That and the ‘Unreported Hot Civil War’ we’re currently in.
I love stickin’ it to Mother Government by living under the radar and being as self sufficient as I can be. My garden this season is huge. HUGE! No other way to live, IMHO.
Those of us that can bake bread from scratch, shoot straight and sew on a button (or stitch up a wound) are going to rule this world one day. ;) Not that we WANT to - we’d rather be left alone, LOL!
Walmart here got rid of seeds through most of last year. Playing Gretchen Hitler’s game.
I bought a bunch from Baker Creek aka rareseeds.com — They grow nothing but heirloom variety seeds. Other companies do too of course but Baker Creek has a huge selection and they happen to be about 100 miles away from me so I know they’ll be well acclimated to my climate here in the Ozarks. I don’t drive to get them of course. Been meaning to get to one of their festivals but haven’t yet. They’re not having them right now.
They sold out of seed last year
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