Victory Garden

With some people getting panicky about further violence and panic buying at the markets, it might ease your mind to make a Victory Garden next spring.
These were common in World War II.

Did anyone here have a Victory Garden back then?

And what did you grow?
What was rationed back then?

I do recall my grandmother raising chickens on her farm, and my mother supplying our neighbors in Detroit with eggs and home made butter every week. Also buttermilk and whipping cream. Apples & grapes & strawberries too.
Butter was rationed, so they really appreciated my grand-mother's cows! My grand-mother had more customers than she could handle.
Then my other grandmother supplied the Hamtramck Police Department with Homemade Hootch...but that's another story...

No daffydill - I did not have a victory garden around the time of WWII, but do remember seeing the many allotments springing up all over the place back home when I was a girl. These were little areas of garden space given to people by the council in order to grow vegetables. They still have them too. I'm looking forward to putting in my veggie garden next year :-)

Hi Daffydill,remember some things,not all' Most everyone shared what they could' Gasoline stamps were used to purchase fuel' Sugar,flour was also rationed' Everyone's lights were to be put out by 8pm,I recall' Tires were also a "precious commodity" everything was for the war effort' Oh another,coffee was rationed too'

Ayuh

Our own cow, pigs and chickens.

Made our own bread and butter.

Big veggie garden, shared a lot of it.

Byron

I had the same thoughts as DaffyDill, and started researching the WWII Victory Gardens.

Here are some links I found that give some ideas for things to plant, and history behind the original idea:

http://www.cityfarmer.org/grandpasVG.html
http://americanhistory.si.edu/house/yourvisit/victorygarden.asp
http://www.scc.rutgers.edu/njwomenshistory/Period_5/victorygarden.htm
http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/news/062301/gardendocs/victorygarden23.htm

Well, I am far too young to have even seen a real victory garden, but I am going to have one next year. My Dad is going to help me set it up this fall (he always does something in my garden for my birthday, last year it was a raised bed). I would love to hear more about them, though, so I can better plan mine. Dad and I had planned to build another raised bed, and he's bringing me some manure for my birthday. Anything else I can do this fall?

Thank you,
Cedar

Community gardens have been around a long time, really helped families feed themselves during the depression not every hungry person had a back yard! They became Victory Gardens during WW2...known as the biggest amateur harvest in history. Planting things symbolizes hope for the future. Cedar...I just discovered a great book called Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew...ask for it for your birthday too if you want to grow vegetables. Dee

Dee, I do indeed have Square foot Gardening - on semi-permanent loan from dad, who is currently too busy for his own garden.

Thanks!

Square Foot Gardening (the book) is a good present - to yourself or from "Santa". But if you want to learn more about the concept now, there are a lot of websites you can browse.

Here's one with lots of links: http://members.primary.net/~silvest/garden/sqft.html

The BBC ran a series on gardening during the wars. Dig For Victory was a famous catchphrase and constantly on posters at the time. They also included recipes that were made during the time and the way of making it, some of the gypsy ways of cooking were utilised. I'm not old enough to remember but my Mother lived in the country during WW2 and had to go out picking potatoes and various other vegetables on the estate farm like everyone else in the village. Grandfather was away fighting at the time so my Grandmother had to do everything on her own.

Butter, cheese, meat, bread and eggs were rationed along with other food stuffs and very often even if you had your ration book the shop would run out of what ever it was you needed to buy. Most gardens had to be turned over to vegetable growing, most of the flowers were only what the veg put out. Everything was bottled or pickled it seems even tomatoes.

British cooking is much maligned because the majority of our recipes are what were eaten during the wars when things were thin on the ground, before then it was much more flavoursome.

I think there is always room for a veg patch in the garden, if nothing else the food you grow yourself always tastes better. As my grandad would say 'Can't taste the copper in in it.'

Coffee rationing??! OH NO!!!! Now that is something I'd HAVE to stock up on! You'd not want to see me when I haven't had any coffee <:(

In peace or war, there is nothing as good tasting as homegrown produce. :)

LOL Bloomer a good coffee substitute can be made with dandelion roots!

Can't we grow our own coffee bean plants? Thanks for all the info on victory Gardens.
Anybody tried to grow coffee?