The 1940's was an amazing era. Patriotism was high, love for your fellow neighbor was abound, women were really allowed to show what they were made of; working hard in the factory and running the home simultaneously, while their men were off fighting an evil tyrant and power. 'Rosie the Riveter' became the face of the women's workforce; an inspiration for women to work the factories, making munitions and supplies for our 'Boys at War'. Support of our troops and our armed forces was of the utmost importance. But, the reality of food scarcity was at the forefront. Our resources and our resolve were being tested in a much different way.
Food is a necessity. It is vital to life, as is clean water and air. Even in the 1940's, we were still only mostly gardening to keep our families fed, but not like before. We just made it through WWI, the 'Roaring Twenties' that turned into the Great Depression and the 'Dirty Thirties' (so called because of the 'Dust Bowl' and poor agricultural practices that ensued during the depression). Then, December 7, 1941, our lives changed dramatically and we entered into WWII with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We were starting the food fight all over again.
We were told to garden and grow enough food to feed the family at home and help ease the burden of commercial food production, so we could feed our troops. There were war-time posters of what to grow and how to grow it; called the 'Victory Garden'. But, did you know, that's not where the term actually started? Nope. Victory Gardens were coined as such, but this is not where they actually began.
In 1914, during WWI, Victory Gardens were then called War Gardens or Liberty Gardens, and it was due to an order from President Woodrow Wilson, asking Americans to plant vegetable gardens to ward off food shortages; all because of an idea by George Washington Carver; an African-American son of a slave owner from Diamond, Missouri.
Carver is credited with saving the south from financial ruins with his ideas for crop rotation of peanuts and cotton. He was a college-educated botanist, with a Masters of Science in Botany from Iowa State University, where he was the first man of color to hold such a tenure. He then moved on to teach at the Tuskegee Institute. His work as a professor and scientist has led to the idea of Victory Gardens, sustainable agriculture and farm-to-table eating, as we now know it.
Now that you know some history, what exactly is a Victory Garden? What methods of gardening do you use? What do you even plant? Well, that, you see, is where it can now be left up to you to decide. Frankly, we just need to adapt our Victory Garden to fit our current situation and family need. We are in the middle of a world-wide pandemic and an undeniable crack in our food chain supply.
How do we adapt this type of garden, to feed our families and not rely so much on the food system we presently have? Well, what do you and your family like to eat? What do you like to grow or want to grow? What kind of gardening experience do you have? These are just some of the questions that only you can answer. General ideas, however, are that you need to grow things to eat fresh, things to can and things to freeze. You're going to be doing a lot of preserving of your produce, whether it be vegetables, fruits or nuts, or even meats, so it's probably a good idea to learn how to do those types of food preservation while you're growing your present crops.
The very first thing you must do, though, is plant a seed, a bulb, a root; care for it as it grows. When you harvest that labor of love and process it, preserve it and then prepare it in a meal, you'll be full with the feeling of accomplishment, as well as pride that you were able to produce food for your family.
I have included pictures of what a war-time Victory Garden poster looked like. What you will need to do, is get the general idea from the picture, adapt it to the needs of your family and what you're trying to produce in the end, and plant. A Victory Garden is the original idea in growing your food for self-sufficiency. There are no set rules. It's an idea and a guideline, perhaps. You should grow what you want to eat and preserve (make sure it's suitable to grow in your zone) and just start growing. You can research methods of gardening/growing your own food. You can find your growing/plant hardiness zone through this website
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Default.aspx
You should absolutely do more research on Victory Gardens. There is no price one could ever put on knowledge. You have access to it at your fingertips; use your time for more than just watching a show...unless it's about informative subjects.
Blessings and Happy Growing!
Live from the Earth. Play in the dirt.
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