Victory Garden

Spring is nearly in the air - March is definitely here - it has been so windy. And we've even had a couple of awesome storms (see photo below).

Yesterday it was downright beautiful outside - a comfortable 50 degrees. Whenever the weather changes like it has, I start itching to get my garden growing. As much as I would love to live on 20 acres and be completely self-sufficient, it is not feasible for us. But what is feasible is a victory garden.

What is a victory garden? Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia 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. Making victory gardens became a part of daily life on the home front. (From Wikipedia) To read more, click here.

Definitely a morale booster - especially after a cold, long winter!

I am starting my herbs, pickling cucumbers, and peas. This year I want to give pickles as gifts for Christmas - in line with my goal of only homemade gifts in 2009. Last year, no one had pickling cucumbers - I checked farms and farmers markets as well as the Co-Op - nothing. So, this year, I'll be growing my own. As well as my own dill. Additionally, I want some herbs to make tea (chamomile and mint), herbs for cooking (rosemary, basil), and lavender for bath salts.

When the threat of freezing is past, I will plant tomatoes, squash, zucchini, peppers, and carrots. That's about all the flower bed space I have. My garden will not be traditional in the sense of being planted in rows. Rather, everything will be planted in my flower beds. The good news about that is that if the "zombie scenario" hits and people are starving and searching for food, my garden will look like weeds and flowers in the beds rather than yummy veggies (yes, I am a closet survivalist - I'll post a photo of my pantry sometime!).

We're also hoping this year to get a fruit cocktail dwarf fruit tree - 10 feet at maturity. And produces six different types of fruit - enough for canning - a favorite hobby of mine!

So far, it's only been about a week since I started the seeds so they should be peaking through soon. I'll keep you posted.

In the mean time, check out the storm front that is coming our way...

Photo from our back yard

Happy planting everyone!