Make your own Victory Garden memories

During World War II Americans planted Victory Gardens in their own back yards. It was part of the war effort, along with saving Ipana toothpaste tubes, rationing sugar and gasoline, walking to work, turning off the electricity, and cutting back, or completely off, anything that smelled of excess. That was then. In our present day it harks of a different kind of national need, fighting a different kind of “war”, when whole households are seeking creative ways to stay busy during this time of personal distancing. Remembering also that this month we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and what better way to celebrate than by planting something.

Not everyone would want to dig up their beautifully manicured lawn to create something other than a flower garden, and some you may live in apartments where having some soil to till would be a luxury. But a Victory Garden doesn’t have to be something large enough to feed a town. Let’s leave that up to the farmers. My Victory Garden challenge is to create supplemental items for the table that you and your family have personally grown and harvested, even if from pots on the patio.

And perhaps it’s time to teach the youngsters that turning the wrist to cut on the air conditioner is not nearly as much fun as donning the proverbial coveralls, and old straw hat and planting something. During a time when children are attending school remotely this kind of activity would be a hands-on science project. After all, a good farmer has to be a naturalist, a scientist, a botanist, a biologist, a horticulturist, a veterinarian, a zoologist, a lover of nature, and even a mechanic.
Growing up I believed that my grandfather was one of the great farmers, and I never questioned his wisdom when it came to gardening. My brothers and I discovered a wealth of knowledge from watching him work with the soil and listening to his constant reminders that we should respect all the gifts from the soil. He believed that a good farmer must be observant of Nature’s laws and to obey those laws, as well as the whims, through the application of common sense.

He was our teacher, and we followed his orders as we tagged along with him on spring mornings to plant our summer crop of corn, beans, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, onions, and an assortment of other vegetables.

He knew all the secrets of gardening. “Now, you can’t plant this vegetable until the moon is right, and if you fail to observe these signs, the crop will not mature.” He was always right, and when he shared his secrets with neighbors, they either listened to his advice and had a great yield, or their gardens failed to produce.

Some of the gardening secrets we learned when growing up on our small farm have never been forgotten. For instance, some gardeners believe that radishes may be enemies to the pesky blackfly. Salvia will, it is believed, cure all ills. Salvia in Latin can be interpreted as “I am well.” Some folks say, “How can a person die who has Sage growing nearby?” Lemon Balm is supposed to increase the memory, and if mixed in homemade wine will drive away sadness and melancholy. Basil will take away sorrow, and mint, a highly-valued plant since Biblical times, was one of the first to be used medicinally.
But these traditional gardening secrets have sometimes taken a back seat to progress and I worry that many of them are lost forever.
These secrets used to be “swapped” at local farm supply stores when folks came into town to do some shopping. The local Southern States store was a Saturday morning gathering place, and to this day I can still smell the distinctive odors of hay and straw blended together in a cauldron of leather, spring seeds, cow and hog feed (chop) and fertilizers. Those rich fragrances have stayed with me in memory, and they remind me of growing up in a time when working with the soil was one of the great pleasures of life. I have carried that tradition with me throughout life.

Agriculture has always led men and women in making observations and sharing experiments together by moving in the same direction. In my youth our neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Will Slagle, who lived on a farm near our home, shared their knowledge of farming with my family, and when we took our grandfather’s teachings and blended them together with that of our neighbors, we had a lifetime of advice regarding the planting of a simple seed.
I would hope that many of you have experienced the same and have carried on the traditions of planting a family garden. If so, you also know how therapeutic it is to cultivate a living thing, and especially plantings that can later be harvested and consumed.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

(God’s Garden, Dorothy F Gurney)