Victory Gardens!

It feels like forever since I have written a post! It has taken a few days to fully recover from our vacation. Thankfully the weekend is almost here and I can rest, lol i know i was just on vacation! We decided to drive down to North Carolina and on our way we stopped to spend the day in Washington, DC.  It was a great day, my boyfriend, my cousin and I spent the day checking out the city. We visited the Vietnam Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, The American History Museum & walked by the White House.  Aside from it being very hot is was a fun filled day. 

While we were at the American History Museum we decided to grab some lunch in their cafeteria.  First of all it was the nicest cafeteria I have seen anywhere, ever. It far beats any college food court with the vast array of delicious looking choices.  It also had an amazing salad bar! While we were sitting eating our meal, I glanced over and noticed a large garden on the other side of the windows.  We began to speculate about the garden and if it was used for the food in the cafeteria.  I looked closer and saw a sign stating it a garden for victory.  I got up to take a picture of the garden and reached out to an employee who confirmed the garden was indeed used to supply the food we were eating.  I found this to be such a great idea and was so impressed the steps the museum was taking to save money, be green, be healthy & live off the land they had!  When I got a chance I started to research the garden to find out more about it.

The Victory Garden was started in conjunction with the Within These Walls exhibition that is at the Museum. Using a design from 1943 the Smithsonian re-created a World War II victory garden. The garden is 130 feet long and contains over 50 varieties of different vegetables and flowers that change with the seasons.

Before this I had never heard of Victory Gardens. From my research they were vegetable gardens planted during the world wars to ensure an ample food supply for civilians and troops. Government agencies, businesses, and schools all worked together to provide land and seeds for individuals and communities to grow food.  All across the country Americans plowed their backyards, parks, and schoolyards to create gardens. Children and adults worked hard fertilizing, planting, weeding, and watering in order to harvest an enough vegetables. The goal was to produce enough fresh vegetables through the summer for the immediate family and their neighbors. All excess produce was canned and preserved for the winter and early spring. Throughout the World War II years millions of victory gardens from window boxes to community plots produced abundant amounts of food. While the gardens themselves are now gone, posters, photos, newspaper articles and memories remain to tell us the story of victory gardens.

This seems like a great thing and I don't know why it ever stopped.  We should all know how to grow our own food.  I feel like sometimes we become too dependent on the food service masses.  Though it is not feasible for everyone to grow their own food and depending on where in the country you live it limits the foods you can grow, It isn't crazy to do things in small quantities.  You can grow herbs in your kitchen or out side in a flower box.  If you have a house you can create an herb garden,  plant a few seeds, or a create a large garden and grow your favorite fruits and vegetables.  Not only will you save money you will benefit from having fresh ripe produce at your fingertips all season long.