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The Velveteen Ocelot

(120,402 posts)
Tue Mar 24, 2020, 08:28 AM Mar 2020

Victory Gardens for the Pandemic

I'm a Master Gardener. I got this in my email this morning, thought I'd share:

Victory Gardens for the Pandemic

Private citizens planted victory gardens during World War I, the Depression, and World War II to grow vegetables, herbs, and fruits. These small gardens sprouted in yards, at apartments, in parks, and in schoolyards. During World War II, more than half of Americans grew them to save money and alleviate scarcities of fresh food.

As we face a new national challenge in COVID-19, some food and home items are getting difficult to find. Many people have lost income. Gyms are closed, and we are getting less exercise. Cabin fever has set in.

A victory garden is an answer to all of these.

Crisis gardening differs from the usual commitment to install a long-term food garden in several ways:

It relies on fast-maturing annuals, rather than perennials that take years to produce.
It avoids large startup costs, landscaping, or fences that the gardener is not yet committed to.
Space is small, so garden up instead of out! This is called vertical gardening. Walls, stakes, and containers all work.

Almost any fence or wall works as long as it faces the sun.
Use inexpensive stake pyramids tied together with twine. Cages are more expensive.
If you normally use containers for flowers, grow food in containers instead of (or in addition to) flowers. There are many productive and pretty food plants.
Grow plants that mature rapidly, that can produce all summer long, or that can grow entirely inside.

March and April are the time to start seeds and seedlings indoors to transplant outdoors. Some food plants are easily grown indoors without special equipment, as long as you have plenty of sun. Bean sprouts can be grown in jars; some varieties produce every five days.

Some plants allow two plantings per season, which is known as succession planting. The first is in spring, and the second in July after the spring crop is harvested. Try using this technique with arugula, basil, bean sprouts, broccoli, chard, cilantro, kale, lettuce, microgreens, peas, spinach, and others.

Another method of succession planting is to plant fast-maturing plants like lettuce and other spring greens amid late-maturing plants like tomatoes. The last crop is harvested before the slower crop takes over the space.
Learn more about planting your vegetable garden, garden trellises, and growing vegetables in containers.


https://hennepinmastergardeners.org/victory-gardens-for-the-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR1rVpe8ywuPlprGgk5Ca7-PwX6LWUhR_CW7zzRZS4XQCEI5lVBatTtJ-Lc
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Victory Gardens for the Pandemic (Original Post) The Velveteen Ocelot Mar 2020 OP
Totally doing that this year! 2naSalit Mar 2020 #1
I had already planned to do some container gardening this year. Arkansas Granny Mar 2020 #2
We were putting in our raised bed veggie garden when this hit. Canoe52 Mar 2020 #3
Thanks so much! Dumb question...are there perennial vegetables? Laura PourMeADrink Mar 2020 #4
A few, most are annuals. The Velveteen Ocelot Mar 2020 #5
Cardoons, artichokes and asparagus MissB Mar 2020 #6

2naSalit

(92,333 posts)
1. Totally doing that this year!
Tue Mar 24, 2020, 08:52 AM
Mar 2020

In fact, one of my chores today is to go through my seed stash and see what I need to buy and get some starters going. Might have to go to yard and barn for seeds at some point but that's a decision for later.

Arkansas Granny

(31,804 posts)
2. I had already planned to do some container gardening this year.
Tue Mar 24, 2020, 09:22 AM
Mar 2020

Shade is a problem, so I will have to place my pots in different areas of the yard to meet plant requirements. I'm looking at foods that supply harvests over a long period. Tomatoes, eggplant, Swiss chard and others are on my list.

Since its just me at the house, even a few containers of fresh veggies would help.

Canoe52

(2,963 posts)
3. We were putting in our raised bed veggie garden when this hit.
Tue Mar 24, 2020, 11:17 AM
Mar 2020

Picked up the last load of dirt yesterday afternoon just before our governor shut it all down.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(120,402 posts)
5. A few, most are annuals.
Tue Mar 24, 2020, 02:15 PM
Mar 2020

Some perennials are raspberries, blueberries and other berry bushes and fruit trees (fruits, technically), asparagus and rhubarb. Otherwise they're mostly annuals; they have to be reseeded or planted every spring - you ate their fruit, leaves or seeds.

MissB

(16,079 posts)
6. Cardoons, artichokes and asparagus
Mon Mar 30, 2020, 03:52 PM
Mar 2020

And let’s face it, if you plant potatoes you’ll never find them all so while they aren’t strictly perennial....

Cardoons are my current fav. Tastes like artichoke, looks like artichoke but if you eat the flower you’ve essentially eaten the wrong part of the plant. They aren’t permanently perennial in my zone but they will come back for ~7 years. You harvest the stalk, peel and steam the heck out of it.

I have it in my yard- no one would steal it because they’d never be able to figure out what to do with it. Kinda stealthy that way. Plus it looks absolutely prehistoric once mature- my three year old plants were 6’+ tall last year. I saved seed pods from the healthiest plant and started a couple dozen seeds this spring. Just planted out a dozen out this weekend and will be giving the rest away to coworkers or nextdoor peeps.

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