Victory Garden

[Oldguy]

After you've decided where you'll build your Victory Garden, you need to decide what to grow in it. Think about what types of food your family likes to eat, and grow those kinds of fruits, herbs and vegetables. Here are some ideas for early spring planting:
Plant March 15-May 1


•Asparagus "â€

[Oldguy]

Is it time to grow a Victory garden?
By Leslie Allen • Special to the Reno Gazette-Journal • February 12, 2009

On Monday, when we celebrate Presidents Day, I will be reflecting on our nation's history and the requests each president has made of us. This year, we have a new president who is asking us to recapture the spirit of the previous wartime generations by working hard, saving money and conserving resources. Seems to me this is a great time to revive the Victory Garden.

Growing a Victory Garden was a common American wartime practice, and it was considered a national duty to grow food for your family and community. Indeed, our government had a War Garden Department that vigorously supported the cultivation of home and community Victory Gardens. By some estimates, Victory Gardens provided 40 percent of the nation's food supply. In 1943, more than 20 million Americans were growing Victory Gardens in their front and back yards, on rooftops and in vacant lots. Even our wartime presidents grew Victory Gardens. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden on the White House lawn during World War II. Woodrow Wilson grazed sheep on the lawn rather than mow it during World War I.

Victory Gardens galvanized the nation and gave everyone a common purpose. These gardens brought people together over the back fence or a plot at the community garden. People shared the abundance, learned self sufficiency, gained independence and had pride in their community.

The benefits of Victory Gardens are equally true in this time. Some agricultural scholars say that our current food system is not sustainable because it requires too much energy.

Did you know it takes an average of 10 fossil-fuel calories to produce one calorie of food energy? About a quarter of America's greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to how we grow, process and transport food. On average, our food travels 1,500 miles before it reaches our plate. These food miles equate to a lot of fossil-fuel energy. Growing a Victory Garden will reduce the miles your food travels; in fact, if you grow your own food, the distance it travels might be just a few seconds.

Growing your own Victory Garden also will insulate you from food cost fluctuations. If money is tight, growing your own food will provide your family with tasty, nutritious food for a fraction of the cost. Also, growing your own Victory Garden can be a healthy family-bonding activity. You and your family can pick produce and cook meals together. If you are particularly thrifty, you can even try preserving your Victory Garden abundance. Home food preservation was another common wartime practice.

Planting a Victory Garden is a true American pastime that is as relevant today as it was in the past. In this modern wartime, we have the additional battles of a weak economy and a planet in peril. Isn't it comforting to know that the simple act of growing a Victory Garden can help solve many of our modern problems?

Leslie Allen is commercial horticulture program coordinator for the western area of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. She also is a 2008 Nevada EcoNet Golden Pine Cone award recipient.

[Ugly Dougly]

Bravo!

I never thought of growing horseradish. Tried growing wasabi, but it's very finicky.

[Oldguy]

My father loved sliced red radishes. I prefered horseradish paste on saltines. We both loved fresh green onion sprigs. Nothing tastier than homegrown veggies, vine ripe and bursting with flavor. Pulled out of the ground, hosed off, and then shared on the back porch in the spring sunshine...good times.

[theCryptofishist]

Tried growing wasabi, but it's very finicky.

Not to mention, those teeny, tiny seeds are really difficult to control.

[jkisha]

Anybody ever try square foot gardening? It really makes taking care of a garden easy, and you can even do it on a small patio.

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

JK

[Oldguy]

I've done bag gardening. You put a tomato transplant in a bag of soil mix. X cuts near two edges put in 2 plants with a couple fertilizer sticks. Good for apartments with south facing windows for urban gardens.

I've planted bean and corn in old peach lug boxes. Easy to move around for most sun, and to bring them in for severe weather when they are young. Easy to nail some woodstakes on the sides for the vines later on too.

I've done squarefoot with railroad tie edges, plastic garbage bag liner to prevent weeds. Mix sterile vermiculite. compost, manure, and clean loam. I kept the soil very friable and had great yields.

I had a plot at UC Davis experimental gardens in 1969. Giberilic acid or some such was a popular growth hormone. My turnips were the size of melons. I did major thinning (secret harvesting) and still got great yields.

[betrdanevr]

Nothing tastier than homegrown veggies, vine ripe and bursting with flavor. Pulled out of the ground, hosed off, and then shared on the back porch in the spring sunshine...good times.

Oh, yessss!!

And the sweet corn -- pick it, husk it, silk it and take it straight to a pot of boiling water. GOOD EATS!

[joel the ornery]

OG, i applaud you for initiating this thread.

let's hope everyone grows something this year.

[Simon of the Playa]

i've seen a system, passive hydroponic that uses salvaged gutters attached to the sides of houses to grow all kinds of yums, cheaply, efficiently, and with very little space.

they are using it in the barrios of rio, etc etc.


will try to find link again.

great thread.

[AntiM]

I have a garden, but not the energy to tend it ... the rhubarb and strawberries and chives take care of themselves, but I've never been successful with much of anything.

And the raspberries ... they grow themselves.

[ygmir]

check out these guys.......

http://jappleseedfoodgarden.com/

part owned by a burner........

[joel the ornery]

I have a garden, but not the energy to tend it ... the rhubarb and strawberries and chives take care of themselves, but I've never been successful with much of anything.

And the raspberries ... they grow themselves.

i'm using fabric ground cover to control weeds which reduces a whole lot of required maintenance.

[betrdanevr]

Excellent idea, Joel.

[Chief]

Great idea on an old twist. Grow what you like.

And like Simon said they make things that allow you to grow stuff in your apartment.

[ygmir]

yeah,
we're developing a folding hydroponic garden.
light, and, simple, uses easily obtainable materials.

those work good for limited space.
but, you either need power, or, the ability/will to hand circulate the water at certain intervals

[Toolmaker]

I started growing food last year, most of what I tried came out good. This year here's the lineup..

3 types Carrot
2 types Broccoli
3 types Lettuce
4 types Tomato
2 types Watermelon
2 types Pea
2 types Green Bean

I can't remember the wifes side of things.. I know she does a Sunflower since its hard to miss that big ass thing.

We also have a grove in back with Banannas, Avacado and Lime trees as well but they belong to the landlord so he grabs the best Avacados come summertime.

[ygmir]

so much of that is climate zone dependent.......you are lucky, to be able to grow avocados, etc......and, probably a long growing season.

Here, in the mountains, it's not quite so temperate.....got 10" of snow last night.......

[robotland]

I've been growing several varieties of heirloom cherry tomatoes for years...At our old place in the country I'd get home from work and graze on them, snap peas and whatever else was up at the time. We've got a smaller plot now, but I've made terraces and raised beds with sandy soil that the strawberries LOVE. They've practically taken over! This was a hard winter for the critters, and they devoured all of the late-season things like Brussels sprouts and even some of my little pine seedlings...Countermeasures will have to be deployed!

[pinemom]

Here's last years Garden...Snow still on Peavine Mountain...no planting for ME yet!

[AntiM]

I have a garden, but not the energy to tend it ... the rhubarb and strawberries and chives take care of themselves, but I've never been successful with much of anything.

And the raspberries ... they grow themselves.

i'm using fabric ground cover to control weeds which reduces a whole lot of required maintenance.

I'm thinking raised beds or wine tubs so I don't have to crouch and kneel so much. My knees make this odd popping sound.

[Oldguy]

Table top garden would be good for you.

Make or use a simple garage type counter made of 2X4s and plywood. An old picnic table would allow you to sit and garden. You can just take an old chair outside, hoe from chair, move chair, hoe from seated position, move chair, repeat...Proper length tools will prevent bending over too much.

Put your pots on top of table. Maybe garbage bags under pots to save table. Recycle paper eggcartons to make trays until transplant age to clay pots. My mom uses those big flat mexican decorator types. A curved potshard over the drain hole will prevent too much soil washing out.

You can make papermache' pots over plastic margerine tubs. Strips of newsprint in flour glue will recycle those old papers.Punch holes in your tin soup cans to use. Any container will do really as long as it has drainage. A small kiddie pool 10 inches high by 3 foot round will prevent weeds and contain your drainage. Oh yeah, remember to water as needed.

Several seed companies have seed catalogs. Burpee has a 10 dollar seed pack that says it will produce 650 dollars worth of vegetables. I prefer selecting varieties that I will actually consume.

[jkisha]

I have a garden, but not the energy to tend it ... the rhubarb and strawberries and chives take care of themselves, but I've never been successful with much of anything.

And the raspberries ... they grow themselves.

i'm using fabric ground cover to control weeds which reduces a whole lot of required maintenance.

I'm thinking raised beds or wine tubs so I don't have to crouch and kneel so much. My knees make this odd popping sound.

Check out that square foot garden link. Really easy to maintain, almost no weeding. And you can even raise them as well. My mom had several of the 4 x 4s on construction horses right out on her patio. (They didn't look so pretty that way, but she could garden again with no bending)

JK

[Oldguy]

Think hard before you plant zuccini. When in college at University Nevada Reno, I worked as a houseman at Gamma Phi Beta sorority. One of the girls provided us with those cucumbers...zuccini soup, zuccini bread, steamed zuccini, pickled zuccini; zuccini,cauliflower, broccoli steamed medley; plain slices, %$#@ zuccini...

One year, the cook Marsha had wheatgrass flats in the kitchen, good ozone...We always had veggie trays on the lunch buffet counter. One of the best jobs I ever had.

[Ugly Dougly]

I have many fruit trees on my property, there's usually something to eat.
In the garden, Brussels sprouts are my favorite, mostly because other people don't enjoy them.

John Jeavons is my mentor in the garden. I practically grew up on his method:
How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land

[can't sit still]

You'all would do well to check out Cuban gardening;
"In Havana alone there are 8,000 organic gardens producing a million tons of food annually."
Cuba's scientific community is also developing breakthrough biological fertilizers and pesticides using naturally occurring organisms and insects. "
"According to Food First executive director Peter Rosset, there are more than 200 biotech centers in Cuba producing and distributing cutting-edge, non-toxic biofertilizers and pesticides based on local microorganisms. Biological controls, such as Bt, a common organic pesticide, are available in the U.S., but Rosset says by focusing so much of its research resources in this arena, Cuba is way ahead of the rest of the world. "
"Today, farmers can make three times more than professionals by selling their produce direct to consumers'
http://westgatehouse.com/art9.html

[betrdanevr]

Nice looking garden, Pinemom!

[betrdanevr]

I have many fruit trees on my property, there's usually something to eat.
In the garden, Brussels sprouts are my favorite, mostly because other people don't enjoy them.

John Jeavons is my mentor in the garden. I practically grew up on his method:
How to Grow More Vegetables Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land

Great info, Doug!!

[sattelite5812]

This thread is making me miss the garden I used to grow behind my last apartment. Now I live on the North side of a well shaded, paved complex.

I think there's a community garden in the park down the street though... gonna have to check into that. Thanks for the motivation!

[Oldguy]

Huzzah! I just noticed this thread has a popular star and that I have over 200 posts to my credit.

I heard on the radio today that besides gardening, home crafts are becoming more popular. You know, homemade valentines cards and gifts. Economy driven changes can be good.IMHO. Trades are being relearned.

When I was growing up, the neighbors would trade stuff. My dad gave Mr. Antonetti grapes which he made into wine, he would give my dad melons. Housewifes would swap plum jelly for divinity candy. Potluck dinners were common and built community...Locally, churches and non-profit groups have been hosting community dinners ( primarily for the homeless, but everyone comes and helps out.)

We have guys selling from carts on the street here. Like back in the fifties, home delivery with price of gas going up again. Schwan's frozen food trucks, hot corn vender cart, icecream carts. We even have seamstresses selling clothes from the trucks of cars or van doors.

Oh, before I forget, Happy Valentines day to you Saturnalians out there.