Victory Gardens

As most of you know, home gardens, also known as Victory Gardens, were encouraged by the government during World War II to help lower food prices by decreasing demand. Nearly 20 million American's joined in the effort and from 1943-1945 it is believed that produce garnered from these Victory Gardens accounting for about 40% of produce consumed nationally, and may have been equivalent to the amount of commercial production in those years. Not only did home gardening increase, but home preservation as well. In 1942, 66,000 pressure cookers (used in only one method of canning) were sold, and it 1943, that number skyrocketed to over 315,000.

What was truly amazing about this effort was not the amount of food produced, but WHO was producing it. It was people without a traditional farm, people living in townhouses, apartments, and suburbs. People grew these vegetables in their front yards, on terraces, fire escapes, and even rooftops. Communities worked together, different neighbors growing different items and sharing, community gardens were built, and it became not only a act of patriotism, but a national pass time. With oil prices at an all time high, the cost of food production, and transportation is rising as well, especially with the average commercial food item in the United States being shipped over 1500 miles from farm to table.

In todays' Hot topic politics, it is unlikely the government will work on such an effort, so its up to us to do it for ourselves, and encourage our friends and neighbors. It may seem an odd time, early fall, to start talking about gardening, but it is the best time to get your plots preapred for the abundant planting in the Spring and Summer.

What you will need:

Garden Shovel





Rake







Hoe


Twine
Scrap wood posts (paint sticks actually work well)
Time
Soil test kit

How to do it in 10 easy steps:

1. Choose a spot in your yard with a good mix of direct and indirect sunlight
2. Decide what you want to grow, and do some research as to how much room you will need for each plant, this will help you estimate the size you want your plot to be.
3. Measure out your garden, place your stakes in the ground at each corner and a few along the edge lines for added support if your plot is large.
4. Rope off your area with the twine by wrapping it around the stakes.
5. Using a shovel (you can rent a rotor tiller from local rental places if you don't want to do the work by hand, this does release emissions, but you will more than make up for it by growing your own) dig into the sod and turn it over. Repeat this until your whole area is overturned.
6. Use your hoe to break up the sod clumps, the grass will most likely die on its own, but if you want to be sure, shake the soil out of the sod clumps and no not put them back in the garden.
7. Once your area is relatively broken up, run over the area with your rake to spread the dirt evenly. Perform a soil test to see the basic composition of your soil and determine what you will need to add to make the most of it.
8. Take any organic matter you have such as grass clippings from the lawn mower, leave you have raked up, etc. and spread it in an even layer over. You may need to add some other nutrients to your soil, a good mix is bagged manure and blood meal for nitrogen, bone meal for phosphate, and oyster shell lime for acidic soils. You may also wish to use Shellfish fertilizer, derived from Blue Crab shells and Shrimp Meal, which provides a wide variety of nutrients. Mix any of these additives into your compost and keep this up until you have a layer at least 2-3 inches thick.
9. Just before the first snows, cover your plot with a thin layer of hay or straw, this will help insulate and create an ideal environment for decomposition, which will turn your compost into healthy rich soil.
10. It's a long wait, but when Spring is finally here, use your rake to get rid of the straw/hay, and get the hoe and shovel out and turn the soil. You may want to test your soil again and see if it needs anything so that you have time to add some more nutrients early in the Spring so they have time to work into the soil before growing season.

There you have it, and it may seem like a lot of work, but once you have good soil and a cultivated plot, you have it for life. Once you see, and taste the fruits of your labor, you will know that your hard work was worth it.

A few sidenotes....

• If your soil is particularly poor, don't be afraid to bring in some top soil, or peat to help get you started.
• If you don't have space for a garden, consider mixing some vegetables and herbs in your flower beds, utilize patio, porch, or balcony space for container gardens, try to find, or better yet start a community garden, see if a neighbor with space would let you use some in exchange for fresh produce.
  
• While I encourage organic gardening when possible, weigh your options and decide what is best for you, I fully admit using some miracle grow when starting plants from seed.
  

Look for future posts on gardening techniques, organic pest control, and recipes.