"VICTORY GARDENS" - an old idea that's new again!

[polichick]

CNN just did a wonderful piece about urban gardens that are springing up in our big cities to provide vegetables to people who can no longer afford to buy them. (It costs less than 2 dollars for 1000 calories of processed carbs and more than 18 dollars for 1000 calories of fruits and veggies.) And, in addition to growing good foods to eat, people are adding green spaces and community involvement to their lives.

This reminds me of Obama's call for families to get back to some basics - like reading to kids. They say that the answer to every problem lies in the problem itself. Seems the upside of a tight economy and high costs is we're relearning that some of the best things in life are free (or almost free). Might be a summer of porch-sitting and watching the fireflies instead of going out to dinner and the movies ~ but that can be a beautiful thing!

[PylesMalfunction]

1. I live in the city

And I have 50 heirloom tomato plants, 30 peppers, lots of eggplants, beans, potatoes, cukes and squash growing plus plenty of strange stuff. Each year I try new canning recipes and we've gotten so we eat local most of the time, even in the winter. This winter I'm going to try growing greens under cover. I've learned how to make cheese as well. Every year we try to do something else to expand our knowledge on how to provide for ourselves.

This is my therapy. Whenever I get freaked out abt the economy and how we're going to make it through, I garden. I can't control a lot of things but I can grow food. You take what you can get sometimes. :D

Tonight I've got to pit 2 huge buckets of sour cherries we picked at a local farm. My Saturday nights are riveting sometimes! :D

[polichick]

3. Sounds wonderful! I'm with you - gardening is therapeutic...

...and inspiring, and good exercise ~ and makes a great guru too!

I'll never forget what my farming grandmother told me (a kid from the suburbs) when I was visiting one summer. I asked what we were having for dinner that night and she said, "Whatever's ripe."

Even at about seven years old, I thought that pretty much said it all!


(I'll be weeding my garden as the sun sets tonight ~ also very riveting. :) )

[PylesMalfunction]

5. I've found that weeding is much more productive...

with a drink in hand. :D Margaritas seem to make it go especially fast. :D

[polichick]

11. Lol - I'll keep that in mind!

[myrna minx]

50. Amstel Light is the official gardener's beer. LOL.

I love gardening and weeding. It just makes your problems melt away. It also helps when your have frolicking chipmunks and little birdies stopping by for lunch. My sister and I joke about night gardening,because we'll work just past sunset. We should have Friday Night Lights: Gardening Edition. :rofl:

[WinkyDink]

6. I have a huge yard, but I dug only a smallish herb garden. I DO have 16 tomato plants, though!

And I'm not eating tomatoes until mine grow!

[Cha]

9. Green Thumb!

The best knowledge to have..this is making me hungry and I just ate:P

[Peacetrain]

17. I know what you mean about riveting.. bean time can be that way

or the last of the tomatoes.. I always complain about every window in the place being piled with green tomatoes.. but I love them.. Have you ever used "SeedSavers"? .. they are a place here in Iowa that specializes in heritage seeds..great resource..

[bonito]

34. Me too

I got 16 butternut squash on the counter so far, been OD-ing on zucchini for a while now, made a pass on the green bean vine and ended up with 4 1/2 pounds, watching the cantaloupe, watermelon and eggplant grow and I'm in the burbs.

[eridani]

36. So, do you go for the hard cheese, or stick with the soft ones?

I've heard the latter are far easier to make. Is it cheaper even with the cost of milk being what it is?

[PylesMalfunction]

41. Soft ones

There's no way I have even close to the ideal conditions in my house (even the cellar) to make the hard cheeses. I stick with the soft ones. I've made mozzerella, ricotta, goat cheese, cream cheese and yogurt. PM me and I'll give you some resources if you want to try. As for cost, there's no way I can make it cheaper than Kraft sells it. I'd need a cow to do that. However, I can make cheese that it amazing tasting from local, organic milk and it's not expensive. Plus you get to brag that you've made cheese. People think it's sooo hard to do so you get street cred for that. :D

[blue neen]

2. I'm so excited by gardening this year.

We even planted pumpkins! We just actually cleared out space in our flower beds to put the plants in, and so far everything is flourishing.

Gardening is good for the pocketbook AND for the soul. :)

[enough]

4. I've gone back to vegetable gardening in a big way, after 15 years of not doing it.

I'd forgotten how great it feels, physically and mentally.

[doodadem]

7. Gardening is good for mental health........

I love nothing better than spending a weekend puttering around in my gardens, flower and vegetable.

Greatly expanded the vege gardening this year, and now getting the first of the green peas. Squash is going crazy, as well as cantaloupe and watermelon. This year, I also planted strawberries, two grape vines, a blackberry, and a raspberry. I have little yellow plums ripe now, and peaches coming in big time in about another week or so. Blooms on the cukes and tomatoes.

I grow some things just to feed my dogs, like mustard greens, as I cook for them. Have two rows of carrots going for the horses. And chickens are very happy to get all the garden scraps.

But we're also starting to hit the 100 degree temps here now too. That really makes thing wilt fast.

[Cha]

10. I use to work on a Biodynamic Farm in

Valley Center, CA and we used this white gauzey material to cover the rabbit cages we put over the raised beds..for really hot weather, extreme cold and too much rain.

I can't find the name of it now..thought it was called remae or something similiar but it worked very well to protect our crops against extreme weather.

[polichick]

13. You're right - it is so good for the soul...

Nature any way you can get it is the best church imo!

[bonito]

35. Damn stright!

[SaveAmerica]

27. I ditched a plan to plant landscaping plants to grow more veggies

I think it's funny to see 3 huge zucchini plants in the row in front of my 3 hostas, in between them are pepper plants and in extra spaces are tomatoes. I'm so glad I did this because we're not getting much rain and I'd rather see my rain barrel water go to food than keeping young (and expensive) landscaping alive. The shape of the zucchini plants are even pretty from the street. My grandmother used to plant like this, she had her beautiful flowers along each side of the house and veg plants were mixed in between.

[Cha]

8. Nothing like getting back the

Earth and having your own organic garden! I don't have one yet but I have lots of organic farmer friends who let me help out in trade for FOOD!

[polichick]

12. That's great - trading! Maybe one day we'll all trade for most...

...of our needs ~ how evolved we would be then!

[JVS]

14. Call me a pessimist, but I predict overuse of pesticides which will turn our neighborhoods into...

superfund sites.

[Cha]

15. Pessimist

:) Nobody in the know uses pesticides anymore..not with Organic Gardening being so good for our bods and the Planet Earth.

And, easily obtainable with all the information out there.

[SaveAmerica]

48. True, I'm not using. I found a book full of recipes that get rid of bugs

and other recipes that help your garden grow lush and most of the ingredients you already have in your house.

http://books.google.com/books?q=book+of+natural+bug+for+the+garden&source=citation&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=bottom-3results&hl=en

[Cha]

57. There ya go! Good for you...our Planet

Earth needs organic gardeners!

[Peacetrain]

18. Actually in the urban gardens..you use a LOT less

pesticides.. we don't use them on the lawn either..because we use the grass clippings as mulch..trust me, if you are eating commercially grown foods..you are downing pesticides by the gallons

[PylesMalfunction]

21. Word!

Urban gardens tend not to need as much pesticides, even if you were to use them because it's not a mono culture. Most people are growing several different kinds of vegetables which won't lure in quite as many bugs. My garden has herbs and flowers all mixed in. I provide rock piles for the lizards, skinks and snakes. I plant flowers that attract beneficial insects and I have a bird feeder and water so birds will hang out to eat my insects. I have several mockingbirds trained to hang around when I work outside. They know they'll get any delicious bugs thrown their way. Actually - it's more likely they have me trained. :D

That being said, none of the community gardens that I know of in the area allow pesticides. They're all organic. Plus, food that isn't shipped from miles away doesn't have all the pollution that goes with shipping attached to it. Food that isn't processed doesn't have all the shipping and manufacturing chemicals, by-products and fuel attached to it. Food that isn't processed helps cut down on health care costs. When I buy local produce, I keep money in my community. Gardens tend to make people more attached to their homes and land, helping to foster a sense of community. I'll stop now - needless to say, even if people did use more pesticides, it would still be far better than eating processed foods. :)

[Peacetrain]

22. Ah Yep! as we say here..

I agree with you 100%.. you can always tell the gardeners!!.. :toast: we have those garden war stories to share..

[Rowdyboy]

39. Not all urban gardeners use pesticides....We haven't used any in at least 15 years

I don't want to eat that trash either.

[DeschutesRiver]

56. Nobody who is smart gardens that way

the kind of people who would blitz their neighborhood gardens on the scale that our commercial agri business crop lands are doing are likely the same kind of people who have not so much interest in producing their own garden crops.

People who are concerned enough about what they are eating, who want to have better control of their food sources, are not as likely to enter into pesticide use that indiscriminately. It is one aspect of commercial agri biz crops that they want to avoid. Most gardeners I know are thinking individuals. Besides, the cars, lawnmowers, garbage trucks, small manufacturers, cell towers, power lines and the like are of way more concern to your local environment, and more likely to have already caused a hidden superfund effect of which most suburbanites are still unaware. I'd add that unless there are zero grass lawns and ornamentals in your typical neighborhoods, the use of pesticides to maintain most subdivision style landscaping has already trashed your soil and groundwater beyond redemption in your immediate lifetime. Add a few nearby golf courses, and the chemical load is unbelievable. I am not so much worried about neighborhood gardens in light of that, even if they did use them - it would be far less invasive than the amounts used for lawns annually.

I have haven't used pesticides or fertilizer in the last 20+ years - I eat a lot of our own produce. Like I'd be so dumb to think I could avoid the dangers of commericial agri biz crops by growing my own produce using the same methods. Makes no sense.

[JVS]

58. When something becomes popular, you get a lot of dumbasses doing it.

[DeschutesRiver]

60. Yeah, but another trait of dumbasses pursuing popular trends

is that they have a notably short attention span. For work intensive stuff like gardening, I'd give it not more than one gardening season before they drop this trend and go on to the next bit of thrill seeking. I still predict more damage from lawn pesticides than from the dumbasses "Popularity Gardens".

I will not be concerned until "garden service" company trucks and personnel outnumber "lawn service" companies.

[Peacetrain]

16. When we lived in Minneapolis we had gardens..now in Iowa

we have gardens.. always have had them.. and the heirloom plants are without a doubt the best..as far as flavor and bio diversity.. its always been a part of our lives..and a great way to save on money and share with neighbors, (who cannot wait for the tomatoes to come in.. we also plant at least 50 plants of tomatoes to eat and share)..even in an urban setting, it brings out the best in all of us..makes us take the time to stop and visit with the neighbors.. and just enjoy being outside...

And as far as pesticides go.. In 35 years we have only used a little bean dust a few times.. we use companion planting.. and picking the little stinkers off by hand.. in a small garden easy to do

[underpants]

19. Farms Take Root in Detroit's Foreclosures

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91354912

[bhikkhu]

20. One more gardener for Obama here!

I've grown veggies for years, but really slacked off the past couple...This early spring I was thinking about the positive message of the Obama campaign and how all the old pessimism had taken its toll on me. The most optimistic thing I could think to do was get out and grow another big garden, which I have done. Lettuce, potatoes, onions, leeks, chard, beans, peas, melons, and a variety of heirloom tomatoes.

And just for fun, for the first time, aragula.

[Duder]

23. Great and timely concept...

And you can grow your own tomatoes.

[KoKo]

24. OMG! It's back to the 70's for me...or the way I grew up when folks grew their own in Summer

and shared...and often there was so much that people got sick of you passing along all the stuff from your garden.

My local newspaper said there's a huge upsurge in folks buying seeds and seedlings this year...after ten years when folks just weren't interested and Garden Centers started downsizing.

What's old is "new again."

[trashcanistanista]

25. Me too!

I love to garden. I traded my extra home grown tomato, basil, parsley, eggplant and onion plants for an 8ft tall kittie condo that I otherwise would never have bought despite the fact that my kitties are super spoiled. I also give extra plants away to get people into it. Home gardening is like a mission to me and I love it when people take it up and enjoy it after growing my plants. Right now they are reporting the size of the little fruits on the tomatoes on an almost daily basis.

[ClayZ]

26. Urban homesteaders, urban farmer...

Here is a great garden on a 10th of an acre.

http://www.youtube.com/user/dervaes
Website: http://www.pathtofreedom.com



We had snow on April 15th this year so our garden is a little behind the times. I have been a seed saver for years.

I love my little yellow plum tomato plants that came from seeds I got from my nieces garden last fall.

[earth mom]

31. Way Cool! Thank You! nt

[PylesMalfunction]

32. I was just going to post this site!

I love it. It's so inspirational!

[Lochloosa]

28. Rotate, Rotate, Rotate.

Good for the garden....good for the soul.

Don't forget to Rotate.

[SeattleGirl]

29. We've had community gardens (Pea-Patches) in Seattle for years.

In fact, there are several not far from my house.

[SaveAmerica]

30. Everyone who has a gargen - maybe you can plant an extra plant or two for elderly neighbors?

I went to a local mom and pop hardware store the other day and they had plants out front that looked so much healthier and less expensive than your discount stores. I needed pepper plants and got 3 starter plants (about 8 inches tall) for $1.40.

When I bought my original plants, I got twice as many as I usually do. My plan was to freeze extra with a Foodsaver (Seal-a-meal) but I'm worried about neighbors who are freaking out about how expensive everything is. I threw some seeds down in a couple extra places and bought a couple extra plants for sharing. (Hmm, now that I think of it, I have a hole in the front yard where we tilled to plant a tree that I never bought, I wonder what I can put there? What will the neighbors think ;-) ?

[PylesMalfunction]

33. Gardening for me is a small act of rebellion.

Yes - I get the best veggies and fruit from it but it's also a way of sticking to the man. :D Each thing I grow and consume takes money out of the pockets of agribusiness, oil companies, chemical companies and businesses like Phillip Morris. These companies are worried now too! :woohoo: I knew when I started seeing attacks on eating local as it being too elitist that the powers that be were paying attention. When Michelle Malkin wrote an article about how stupid it was trying to be a locavore, it made my day! :D

[Kittycat]

37. I've been trying to get my neighbors on board with a program

We have a small lot, by suburban standards (1/4 acre, but a large house on it). This year we have 10 tomato plants (3 varieties), peas, green beans, edamame/soy beans, carrots, 11 pepper plants (red, orange & green), and several herbs. Last year I gave away all of our excess, instead of canning or anything. This year I hope to can as much as I can over the winter. But what I've spoken to my neighbors about is doing a co-op of sorts. Each of us assumes a few items, and we maximize our space to grow enough to supply the block with produce. Everyone is feeling the pinch here, and going to the store and having to pay over $3/lb for tomatoes and peppers, etc is just getting out of control. Even the price of frozen veggies are getting out of reach. I'd even be thrilled if we could work a day every couple of weeks where we get together and do baking for staples like bread. It could be frozen and used as needed.

It's crazy that in these modern times, we find ourselves longing to bring back the customs that have so quickly been abandoned - if for nothing else... Survival.

[Madam Mossfern]

38. Between the deer and the woodchucks

and the rabbits and the squirrels, it became more and more difficult to reap any harvest. I gave up on my veggie garden of 30'X30' years ago. Anyone have any suggestions? It seems that overdevelopment has all the wildlife in our yards.

[Catherina]

40. I'm all for it. I hope they spring up all over n/t

[southerncrone]

42. Perhaps, we're going back to common sense instead of corporate cents.

Nothing like hard times to force humans to do the best thing.

We've been conned by the "corporate way" for too long. The result....we are almost completely dependent on them. (That was their plan, I think.) We need to go back to being able to support ourselves on the survival level. Those of us in our 50's & 60's are the only ones left who were actually exposed to much of this, & I believe it is our responsibility to pass this along to the younger ones who think food comes out of a brick building! We cannot let these skills be lost forever to the hands of only the corporations.

I'm hoping the next revival will be to go back to sewing & knitting our own clothes, too!
Problem now is there is virtually no fabric made in the US anymore, except some wool & polar fleece.

The "do for yourself" attitude is what made this country great, & Lord knows, it's certainly time to go back to that way of life!

I'll add: While you're at it, teach a kid how to do these things, too.

How about...."Teach a kid to feed himself"...as a slogan.

Yes, we can!

[Dems to Win]

43. Being married to a master gardener is quite grand.

My husband has produced pretty much all the produce we've eaten in the last few years. We live in northern California, near the coast, and something is always in season.

Not everything works, though. There was a year when he had 200 plump green tomatoes on the vine -- but none of them ever ripened. It never got hot enough.

I've learned to can, making my own completely homegrown, organic spaghetti sauce.

Every vegetable gardener I know is an organic gardener. It's one of the reasons to do it, for most people.

[Lugnut]

44. We plant a vegetable garden every year.

It's mostly tomatoes and a few lettuce plants plus I have an herb barrel planted. There's nothing quite like going to the back yard to pick fresh tomatoes.

[K8-EEE]

45. K&R! Here's a pic of mine at the DU Garden forum....

Anybody who has a 4X4 space can plant a victory garden the Square Foot way (mine is actually two 4X4 squares)

Join us at the DU garden forum!

[last1standing]

46. I'm looking into Square Foot Gardening right now.

It's supposed to provide high yields using 20% of the area of a regular garden. An added benefit is that it's said to be much less work and looks nice in the yard.

Does anyone have experience with this?

[PylesMalfunction]

47. I do!

I wouldn't garden any other way.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

49. try this...upside down tomato plants

it works great ...no staking

http://www.upsidedowntomatoplant.com/










let the plant grow for a week or two before you turn it over and hang

[myrna minx]

51. That is really cool! Thanks for posting.

I bet that helps to keep the squirrels away too. LOL.

[polichick]

52. I LOVE all these stories - gardeners are the coolest people!!!

[ensho]

53. Merigolds can be a gardner's friend

planted around cabbage plants can keep bugs away, as one example.

[Lisa0825]

54. I started my first garden this year.

I'm just starting to get nibbles from it though. I hope to get more in a couple months. I started it because of the rising cost of veggies vs the tastelessness of store-bought produce.

[Joanne98]

55. YAY! I have one...Snow peas, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers

watermelon, radishes, carrots, green beans, eggplant, lettuce, spinach and okra!!!!!!!!!!

:bounce:

[sandsavage]

59. Big smiley grin here.

Both Hubby and I are retired. This year we have a huge garden. Just like old times. Love it!
We had retired our huge garden space too. Just the two of us now. Plan on canning, freezing,
putting down a few tubs of sauerkraut this year. We have a few really hard hit young friends.
They are excited to share our garden. We feel honored to beable to do this. This big old retired
farm, is excited too. Yes I can feel it is. LOL The Kentucky pole bean are getting ready to run
up the corn. Tomato plants are setting little bitty greenies. Onions are big as golf balls. Oh just
lots of things in that garden. Everybody put at least one of their favorites in that field. Because we
start most of our plants the cost was pennies.

It thrills me that this is costing almost nothing but a bit of time. Myself, being up in years and long in tooth gets to teach the young ones how to can,freeze etc. Makes me feel useful and brings a smile to
my face.

[windoe]

61. I've got my seeds

from Seeds of Change, to plant when I finish downsizing and finding a new place to live.:)