Grow A Coronavirus ‘Victory Garden’

by William Ramsay at www.newsleader.com (3/21/20)

Don’t remember “victory gardens?” They were a way during World War I and II for Americans to keep vegetables on the table during shortages.

History.com explains: “Through the distribution of several million government-sponsored pamphlets, fledgling farmers were advised to maximize their garden’s productivity. …

“The Victory Garden campaign served as a successful means of boosting morale, expressing patriotism, safeguarding against food shortages on the home front, and easing the burden on the commercial farmers working arduously to feed troops and civilians overseas.”

It’s time for Coronavirus Victory Gardens. And it’s not about the food yet.

For now, victory gardens would be an easy way for Americans to get outside — whether it’s a backyard or just on an apartment balcony or building roof. It’s a way to get into a physical project and take your mind off the outbreak news.

Also, it’s a perfect project you can do with kids, if they’re willing. It may be a way for them to open up about their questions concerning coronavirus — it has been for my family.

Let’s hope we don’t need a supply of fresh food because it runs short at the store. There is zero sign of that happening. If our food system ever did have a disruption, though, victory gardens would make a difference.

“In 1942, roughly 15 million families planted victory gardens; by 1944, an estimated 20 million victory gardens produced roughly 8 million tons of food—which was the equivalent of more than 40 percent of all the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States,” according to history.com.

Here’s a great article about getting started:

Vegetable gardens for beginners: 6 steps to get started

www.newsleader.com/story/life/2020/03/20/how-start-backyard-vegetable-garden/2878705001

Our history shows that victory gardens are a good idea. There is plenty of information online about starting vegetable plots. I’m an amateur. But by the end of the spring I will have more knowledge — and more blisters.

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