victory gardens

to our dismay, we did not get a plot in the nyack community garden this year! at first i was shocked but then realized that we did not reserve a plot last year due to the fact that tressa was on her way and second, there is an influx of people wanting some space to plant a garden largely in part because of the many changes this country has gone through in the past year. the community garden sent us a letter saying that there were so many applicants this year that they actually had to turn a few families down. i am so bummed that they let us go but we are lucky enough to have our own house with a small yard and a patio for container growing. so that is what will will do - plant some veggies and herbs in containers. here is a link to tips for container gardens: http://www.gardenguides.com/how-to/tipstechniques/containerindoor/container2.asp.

so the popularity of small gardens this year reminded me what my grandmother had told me many times about victory gardens. during ww1 and ww2, the united states government asked its citizens to plant gardens in order to support the war effort. millions of people planted gardens. in 1943, americans planted over 20 million victory gardens, and the harvest accounted for nearly a third of all the vegetables consumed in the country that year. emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort - not a drudgery, but a pastime, and a national duty. the economic situation of that time has been compared to that of the present. what a great idea to lighten the load of having to drive to your supermarket to purchase expensive produce that needed to be shipped from who knows where and most times packaged with excessive plastics to survive the lengthy trip. i wonder how much money could be saved if each family just planted their own lettuce or tomatoes? it sounds small but there is a quote which i cannot exactly recall that goes - it is a shame to do nothing because you can only do little...

so i will learn how to plant in different containers. i hope to find funky alternates to terracotta pots. i'd love to find a discarded ceramic bathtub but patrick would surely freak out and we do not really have a place to put anything like that. we'll see.

my other springtime love is the nyack farmer's market - every thursday from may through thanksgiving. i am counting the days until i can walk tres down to the market for some local organic veggies which is just a tiny part of the lovely experience of this weekly ritual. i meet with friends, chat with vendors, go to storytime, listen to the bossy frog band, taste wine... i still believe i will write a children's book about it one day. i can't wait!