Victory Gardens

Pattie Baker, of Foodshed Planet, is challenging everyone to plant a Victory Garden. Here's a one-minute video that explains the idea. Whether you have gardened before or not, we have some resources to share with you.

The original Victory Gardens were introduced in the United States to ensure an adequate food supply for civilians and troops during the world wars. Government agencies, civilian organizations, and popular media produced colorful posters and articles in newspapers and magazines to help get the word out. In gardens of all shapes and sizes, millions of people grew food for the folks at home. This trailer park garden of the early 1940's, left, comes from the Smithsonian's American History Museum.

In post-war prosperity there seemed to be plenty of produce to go around. But in 1975, in response to the oil crisis, the Public Broadcasting System began a television series called The Victory Garden, about gardening and other outdoor activities. It has continued for over three decades and now has an online presence. In addition to a large bank of resources, this site contains a question and answer department.

There are some great gardeners in the Carolinas. At right is a living salad bar, part of a victory garden in Mt. Pleasant, SC. We can see why the owners don't spend much money on salads. Beth Molaro, a gardener and blogger of Asheville, NC, is a staunch supporter of urban gardening. In An Urban Plot, she gives a history of victory gardening as well as links to valuable resources.

Farmtopia, a mini-farm near Asheville, is combatting high food prices with a victory garden. They show how to make planter boxes, left, according to the instructions at No-Dig Vegetable Garden. No digging? that's a fine idea. The site has a wealth of information; it might be the place to get started on a great garden!