Ask a family member about life on the Home Front during World War II and you will hear about Victory Gardens. 

Country folk and city slickers joined forces to plant an estimated 20 million food-producing backyard gardens in the United States.  Home garden production matched commercial production ton-per-ton and freed food for shipment to troops overseas.  In England, a similar “Dig for Victory” campaign urged citizens to grow food wherever possible.  According to Wessel’s Living History Farm in York, Nebraska, backyard food production was such a part of the economy that in 1946 when some families phased out their Victory Gardens, there were food shortages in grocery stores.  Victory Gardens met needs at home and provided home-front families with the comforting ability to contribute to the war effort. What a blessing!

Why not plant a Victory Garden in 2016!?  Contributing to your family’s food supply, reducing the grocery bill, and spending time outdoors will be SO enjoyable!  Whether you start with a planter on a sunny porch or decide to till up a patch of ground; here are some tips:

1

Be realistic

Plan a garden you’ll have time to manage.

2

Feed your hunger

Only plant vegetables you enjoy eating.

3

Store your excess

If you plan on growing a lot of one thing, choose produce that’s easy to store or preserve (tomatoes do great in the freezer chopped or as sauce).

4

Elevate your garden

Try a raised bed or planter (you can even make them out of pallets…for free!)

planter box planter box

Cut 3 pallets in half.

Staple landscape fabric to the inside. Screw the 6 halves together in a rectangle.

Brace with a 2×4 across the middle.

*You may need to dig out a bit of level ground if your yard is hilly like ours.

5

Remember what your plants need

  • Some crops need lots of room for roots (tomatoes loved the pallet raised bed with lots of soil volume).
  • Some crops only need a shallow bed of soil (this saves money if you’re purchasing soil/compost).
  • Make sure the area receives enough sun.
6

Fertilize naturally

Add compost to your soil.

7

Don't plant too early!

  1. Cold Season Crops: wait until the nightly low temperature is consistently above 28* – 30*F.
  2. Warm Season Crops: generally wait until after the danger of ANY frost.

 

Happy Planning and Dreaming!

When you’re ready to plant, stop by and see us!  Ask questions and enjoy shopping our selection of melons, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, squash, greens, and more than 30 varieties of tomatoes.  We look forward to seeing you at Windmill Heights.

April 18, 2020

Looking for how you folks are handling the COVID-19 Issues here in Culpeper. I have my raised
beds all cleaned up and ready for planting. Just looking for good plants of Tomatoes, Bell Peper,
Cucumbers, etc.

July 29, 2020

Hello Charles, we are wearing masks, social distancing, and we have face shields installed on our registers. Thank you!

Comments are closed.