Victory Garden

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens become a part of daily life on the home front.

Victory gardens were planted in backyards and on apartment-building rooftops, with the occasional vacant lot "commandeered for the war effort!" and put to use as a cornfield or a squash patch. During World War II, sections of lawn were publicly plowed for plots in Hyde Park, London to publicize the movement. In New York City, the lawns around vacant "Riverside" were devoted to victory gardens, as were portions of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

One of the most popular garden vegetable's to grow is tomatoes. There are lots of different varieties of tomatoes to select from. Some of the most popular are sweet Grape tomatoes, better boy, beefmaster or beefsteak, yellow, red fluted, small striped, black, brandywine pink, san marzano, wild everglades, and triangle.

Fruits and Vegetables to consider for planting are arugula, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, figs, garlic, grapes, okra, Onion, peppers, and romaine lettuce.

To have a fully rounded garden you should include herbs. Some of the most common herbs are basil, chamomile, cilantro, Cuban oregano, lemon balm, lobelia, marjoram, parsley, rosemary, and thyme.

Now that you have worked hard in designing and planting your Victory Garden you have to protect the vegetables from the little critters with empty stomachs. You have to build a perimeter barrier with predator attracting plants to lessen damage to actual garden crop. Some plants to consider are borage, cosmos, marigolds, morning glory, nasturtium, petunias, and zinnia.

To get started on your victory garden come to the Brentwood Public Library and visit our garden section to get started.

Some titles to get you started:

The Victory Garden Companion:                    BW-AD Non-Fiction 635 WEISHAN
The Victory Garden Alphabet Book:             BW-J Non-Fiction J635 PAL 
Success with Small Space Gardening:          BW-NEW 635.967 CLARKE
Community Gardening:                                     BW-AD Non-Fiction 635.0917 COMMUNITY
Basic Gardening Skills:                                       BW-AD Non-Fiction 635 Hunter
Gardening with Good Bugs:                             BW-AD Non-Fiction 595.7163 HODGSON
Vegetable Gardening:                                        BW-AD Non-Fiction 635 Bradley