Planting A Victory Garden
| Field | home-based agriculture, gung ho morale boosterism |
| Went Obsolete | 1945, soon after the war to end all wars, did not. |
| Made Obsolete By | no victory in sight, lack of hope for a peaceful world, Jolly Green Giant and his ilk, MREs? |
| Knowledge Assumed | vegetable planting and harvesting, frugality, survival instincts in the face of wartime rationing, 'vegetables are good for you', quaint notions of complicity with war efforts abroad |
| When useful | basic gardening sans naive optimism, creating one's own food supply, after the revolution… |
During World War 2, Americans were urged to plant a victory garden to help offset the demand for vegetables sent to nourish our fighting men and boys. At the time 50% of canned goods were sent overseas. America was not only the breadbasket, but also considered the arsenal of democracy. Families rose to the task and planted backyard & rooftop gardens. Neighbors banded together and organized community plots that were patriotically tended and nurtured for the abundance they would produce. People joined together and worked as one for the common cause. Rationing of food and goods may have doubled the efforts as a workaround to starving and general nutrition. All tolled, 20 million Americans participated in planting gardens..
Pamphlets were published to encourage and edify the process. Simple instructions were supplied for specific vegetables, such as:
- Beans
- Beets
- Brussels Sprouts
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Chard
- Corn
- Cucumbers
- Eggplant
- Endive
- Kohlrabi
- Leeks
- Lettuce
- Onions
- Parsley
- Parsnips
- Peas
- Peppers
- Radishes
- Rutabagas
- Spinach
- Summer Squash
- Tomatoes
- Turnips
A sense of civic duty was enlisted and instilled to insure the ongoing success of this stateside wartime effort. In response, garden scarecrows were fashioned to resemble Hitler, Hirohito or Mussolini. Surplus from the gardens were canned or preserved to stave off future hunger in an uncertain world at war.
External Sources and Inspiration:
A History of the Victory Garden(approve sites)
Home Sweet Home Front: Dayton During World War II Rationing and Victory Gardens(approve sites)
