Why A Victory Garden?

Have you heard of the victory gardens of WW2?  I can’t remember where or when I heard about them first.  I do remember my Mom telling me about the food shortages at the time, the rationing of sugar, gasoline, coffee, butter, among other things.  It always seemed so meaningful to me, the idea of saving up your ration coupons to back a cake for someone you love.  Deciding on who was coupon-worthy does have a certain romance!

The goals of the victory gardens at the time were to “free(d) up agricultural produce, packaging, and transportation resources for the war effort, and help(ed) offset shortages of agricultural workers. Victory Gardeners increased their health through physical activity, and their families enjoyed better nutrition. The program also fostered morale, patriotism, and a sense of community among participants.”https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/victory-gardens-on-the-world-war-ii-home-front.htm

With the news reporting on a possible recession by year’s end and items missing from the shelves possibly in the coming weeks, I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a bit antsy.  Do you ever feel like we are missing, in a very deep way, a sense of community these days as well?  I do worry about food shortages and the poor.  I hope to share some of my bumper crops with food banks.  Been reading, too, a canning book I’ve had for years, just thinking about making some pickles, or at least “quickles” and jam.  I dunno….I just keep coming back to the idea that a simple life is, in the end, a happy life.  I’ve found making/growing things soothes my soul in these troubled times.

So…What’s Growing In My Garden?

Admittedly, my approach has not been organized, more of a stream of consciousness, flight of ideas that may or may not pan out with anything edible .  I’m at the beginning of a garden expansion, whose end I’m just not sure of.  The nights are still cold here, with some days with a slight chill.  Definitely, sweatshirt weather most days, warming up in the afternoon.  So, I generally water the garden every day or two, with a special “watering can level of attention” to all my little seedling starters.  One needs to be gentle to not disturb the soil too much.

Most of my seeds are still hiding due to the cold.  Only  radishes, tomatoes, sunflowers, peas and one very sturdy and lonely pole bean plant have shown their face.   I’m hoping some of my lettuces and kale pop up soon too, as I never feel better than when I’m eating one of my salads.  My dressings are muy delicioso!  Ultimately, I did breakdown and buy some nursery starter plants, mostly squash, tomatillo, cherry tomato and a raspberry plant which I placed in a container, just outside the kitchen door, in the hope of picking berries for my cereal in the morning, that is if the bugs and birds don’t find them first!

Thankfully, my pre-existing garden from prior years is fairly hardy and reliable.  Lovely bird of paradise, plumeria, roses, daisies, lilikoi, peaches, banana, macadamia nuts, fig, lemons, celery (Pst…, plant one celery plant and next year you’ll have twenty cause those tiny seeds fly everywhere!) bouganvillea, hibiscus, nasturtium and various herbs are coming back to life big time!

Plants and trees are like us.  We do better when we have adjusted to our environment for a while and, generally, know what to expect.  There is something about the fact that a plant or a tree that is well established, knows the dirt well that surrounds it, the pattern of the sun just does better than fragile, new seeds and plants.  Our green friends need to adjust, like we do, to a new neighborhood.

What Are My Summer Garden Goals?

1. Re-learn how to can food…I did it once in West Virginia with my Mom.  We canned peaches from Monticello and they were delicious.
2. Make pickles, or “quickles”.
3. Pick fresh flowers and arrange them in vases around the house.
4. Make organic, homemade bug/snail/fungus sprays and keep spraying, so I don’t lose all my hard work!
5. Learn to thin the fruit of my peach tree:  Thinning Timing: Thin the fruit about a month after bloom.  Thinning Techniques: Remove smaller peaches, leaving the larger ones spaced 6-8 inches apart to allow them to develop fully. 
6. Learn how to grow sweeter tomatoes. Here’s a video that I think is quite helpful –   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_NBPKBzAi0&t=54s
7. Finally use that dehydrator I bought two years ago that is sitting in the closet, to dehydrate food I grow before they go to waste.
8. Do SOMETHING with all the figs I get, or give them away.
9. Do SOMETHING with all the mac nuts I get….try making nut milk?
10. Make the best home grown, home made pasta sauce the world has ever known!

 

Um….so like, if anyone ALREADY has a recipe for the best home made pasta sauce in the world and is willing to share with me, I would be most grateful.

Happy Gardening people!  Build community.  Defeat Fascism.  Bounce on a trampoline and listen to Pink Pony Club.  It creates smiley faces from deep down in your soul.  And, ah…turn off the news.

Peace out,

Sassy