A few months ago, I watched some members of my community prepare a garden in the alley behind their house. As of mid-July, they have created a veritable produce stand as raspberries, Swiss chard, peppers, and cucumbers are flourishing. Dinner, anyone?
I am collecting pictures of hidden victory gardens–unexpected urban spots where people are growing food to eat, sell or donate to those less fortunate. Please contact me in the comments section with links to your favorite hidden victory garden photo.
Photo from my own collection.
Actually, Victory Gardening predates WWII…the term goes back to England at least to the 1600s–when invasion from Spain was a common fear. Moreover, part of the rational in both WWI & WWII was to conserve fuel for the war effort. Depression Gardens (which were pretty much the same thing) were more oriented to “victory” over high prices or hunger per se…but the intention (gardening for self-sufficiency) is the common current throughout.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the reference to victory gardens, but in case some might be tempted to this of the label as a reference to victory over high prices or hunger, Victory Gardens were encouraged during World War II to increase the food supply & deal with shortages. With all the animals roaming loose, fencing as shown in the picture is necessary, although I would worry about pollution from car exhausts, etc. if the gardens are too close to driveways or roads. Still, it is a good idea & truly fresh, vine-ripened fruits & vegetables are really something else.
Matt
All gardens need water. The only time I think growing fruit could do more harm than good is if you are truly living in a desert during a drought. But proper irrigation helps farmers all over the world grow tons of fruit–look at Israel.
You’ll love this site if you’re into Victory Gardens:
http://tinyurl.com/5r5nsq
An interview about my Localvores Yahoo! group, which is a good idea in any state. Nice job… picked you up on Twitter! 🙂
No commercial farmer in this country, or in any other country, relies solely upon Mother Nature for water. OK, maybe a few do, but very few do. I live in farm country, and the farmers here *do* have a nice underground source of water, but they augment it with water brought in from elsewhere. Mom is just too darned capricious.
Beyond that, though, is the knowledge that what we grow ourselves usually tastes a lot better than anything we buy in a store. Curiously, what we buy at the local farmers’ market, or local fruit stands, is usually about as tasty as what we can grow on our own. Most local farmers save their best stuff for local buyers.
Bottom line: you can’t be perfect, so you might as well do a little for yourself; you’ll enjoy it a lot more when you eat it 🙂
I have often wondered what is more beneficial, to buy fruit or grow fruit. What makes me wonder is the amount of water that I use to water my garden versus the farmers that let god water their garden. Now compare water use to carbon produced in moving the food to my house.
When you’re ready for desert, let me know; we have a plethora of seedless (purple, not Thompson) grapes this year 🙂 We’re giving them away to co-workers and neighbors, as we can’t begin to eat them all ourselves. Completely organic: the only thing we use on them is water and a little mulch.