07/04/2026
VICTORY GARDENS - "At the height of their success during World War II, Victory Gardens provided nearly half of U.S. produce. In a time of adversity, our government refocused and united the nation, partnering with defense departments, cooperative extension services, and civic groups; investing tax dollars, resources, and personnel to retrain citizens to save seeds, raise crops, and feed a nation whose farmers were fighting overseas. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt turned the White House lawn into a model Victory Garden and persuaded both skeptical officials and the nation’s families to take up spades, shovels, and hoes, dig up unproductive lawns, and plant home Victory Gardens to win the peace.
The community garden movement was launched for those who did not themselves have their own land to plant, and those neighborhood plots became places to advance garden training and teach food preservation, while simultaneously instilling the values of self-sufficiency, community engagement, and collaboration. Even many of the public parks, intended to provide greenspace for post-industrial urban areas, were turned into shared gardens; many live on as community gardens today.
Suburbanization and industrial foods were still new to America, but in a few short generations, what had been a majority agricultural nation was already forgetting how to farm and garden. Trains, streetcars, electricity, automobiles, world war, economic depression, and urbanization had recreated the American way of life. Post-Dustbowl citizens were enamored with the seasonal defiance and stability of canned goods, and many had learned to forgo flavor in favor of shelf-stable foods. Agriculture continued to some extent in the Midwest, certainly, but with farmers drawn into the latest war effort and without local farms across the nation, America could not feed itself without a major change.
With the Victory Garden movement, the nation turned on a dime. Government agencies and universities produced movies, garden plans, booklets, and training programs that helped families plan to feed themselves from their own yards. Ironically, while canned goods were sent overseas to the troops, many in younger generations relearned the unparalleled flavor of sun-ripened tomatoes and came to recognize the distinct difference between fresh produce and canned peas, broccoli, and spinach. And older people who remembered how to live from the land joined with the women and youth that remained behind to create a brilliant new homefront workforce for every garden.
Many of the young men who were recruited for service from impoverished communities (or what we might now term food deserts) were found to be malnourished. To address this, new educational programs focusing on the science behind health and nutrition were taught along with lessons in planting, harvesting, preservation, and home economics. Posters even reminded families that Victory Gardens would allow them to grow “vitamins” outside the kitchen door.
In every community across the country, Victory Gardening was taught as a craft: canning, cellaring, and composting; seed sowing and saving; fruit production and small-yard farming efforts like raising poultry and livestock. Similarly, school garden programs and school lunch programs were institutionalized in order to further these lessons across generations.
While at Strawbery Banke, I had the opportunity to rehabilitate an original Victory Garden in the neighborhood that eventually became the museum, beginning with remnants of the original fencing, stone paths, and laundry umbrella, and botanicals like yucca and New Dawn roses. Oral histories and pictorial evidence filled out the plant selections and planting patterns. We learned which plants were valued in our climate and community at a time when many seeds were still open-pollinated and regionally diverse; in some instances, we found heirloom legacy that went back to Native American seed selections. The annual yield from the garden was tremendous, but so were the learning opportunities. Many of its lessons were eagerly applied as new community gardens, school gardens, and seed banks were established. Nearby restaurants, garden centers, and farmers markets began to cultivate and use many of the same plants, once they understood the regional importance of the seeds, plants, and recipes.
In recent years, and times of war, we have been told that our patriotic duty was to get out and spend. During World War II, selfless volunteerism and contributions of valued—not hoarded—household resources went beyond patriotism; they were recognized as the best way to survive as a nation. We willingly gave over public and private lands for food production, shared tools, and learned to “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” We also learned that tending a garden big enough to feed your whole family took the whole family, and that canning garden surplus was far better done in good company than on our own.
The Victory Garden movement is a reminder that when we are not suckered into priming the pumps of consumerism and industry, we can reinvest in the health, education, and welfare of our families. In the face of new challenges, we are planting the seeds required to bring a population together around common aspirations. And in the process, we are also remembering that it’s a whole lot more fun, instructive, and delicious to snap and can bushels of dilly beans with friends and family"
*from my book "The Heirloom Gardener" https://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Gardener-Traditional-Plants-Skills/dp/1604699930
