Return Of The Victory Garden
By: Ron Cusano Apr. 8, 2009 Vol. 2 Article 1008
During the hard times brought on by World War II and the Great Depression, the “Victory Garden” became an important means for financially pressed family’s to help put food on the table and stretch their food dollars. It became a symbol of the determination of Americans to survive and persevere during hard times. Faced with the financial challenges facing so many today, the return of the “Victory Garden” is timely, and can be an important way to help many get through the current economic crunch.
In addition to the financial incentives to grow a “Victory Garden”, there is the ecological advantages of producing food for your family without all the commercial insecticides, fertilizers and herbicides that remain in the food chain, and are consumed by your family. The impact that these chemicals have on our health has long been known, but because of pressure from the big agri-chemical corporations, little has been done about it. You and I, however, can make a difference in the health of those we feed.
With the use of bio-intensive organic methods using readily available organic ingredients and substances, and succession planting, HUGE quantities of fresh, healthy organic fruits and vegetables can be grown in your own backyard in very small spaces. Many vegetables that are not consumed fresh can be stored by canning, freezing or drying for use throughout the year. This will not only provide better quality, chemical-free food for your family, but put a significant dent in your food budget, provide much needed exercise, but will also bring us closer in tune with God-given nature and our environment.
Here is an example of succession planting . . . I have a bed along the foundation in the back of my house about 18” wide and 18’ long. I have erected a 4’ high trellis made out of wood lattice and held up by metal wire fence posts. The trellis took about 30 min. to put up, cost about $25 - $30 and has been in use for at least 10 years now. Along this trellis I plans sweet peas in mid-March, which mature by early to mid-June, and produce many quarts of the sweetest and finest peas you have ever tasted. What I don’t eat fresh, I freeze in plastic freezer bags and they keep for many months. Around mid-May, I set out melon seedlings, along with the pea’s, along this same trellis. As the peas finish producing in June, and their vines start to die off, the melons start rapid growth, quickly taking over the trellis with their lush green vines. By mid-August, they start to bear sweet cantaloupes and French Chantaise melons that put the supermarket offering to shame. So to sum things up, this narrow bed along my foundation that normally might be covered with sod or planted with some flowers, now produces enough peas to last most of the year, and an abundant supply of fresh melons for late Summer and Fall.
Here is another example! I plant half of a 4’ x 10’ raised bed with Broccoli Raab and lettuce in mid-March. These are ready to harvest by late May or early June. As soon as I harvest I replant with tradational green beans, bush variety, and Italian flat-pod green beans. These produce well until late August or earlt September, when i pull out the spent plants and replant with more beans for a Fall harvest in October thru November. Everyone loves fresh green beans, and this small planting provides all we can eat all Summer long, pluse plenty to share with our children and grandchildren.
Long Island is blessed with a climate that allows us to grow almost any variety of vegetable, including sweet potatoes and melons. I want to encourage everyone to consider establishing a “Victory Garden” in your own backyard this year . . . starting right now! Your family and your check book will thanj you!!
If you need advise and/or soil testing, please contact me for a scheduled, on-site garden consultation and soil test. Please see our home page for details.
Blessings,
Ron
“The Garden Guy”
