The Garden for Hard Times

The Jessie Garden for Hard Times is progressing. It's 60 X 30 instead of the 100X100 I planted in the past. I would be remiss if I didn't give my daughter credit for this Phoenix to rear it's green head again. I have already posted that I was not excited about reviving the garden. Brain and Body have come to some accord as to what constitutes a work day. It ain't what it was 5 years ago. I tore the 8 foot deer fence down because it was old, I am, too.

Jessie's case to me to help with this Garden for Hard Times was that difficult times call for extraordinary sacrifice, and I had nothing else to do this summer cause I wasn't going anywhere. My response was an emergency on your part does not necessarily constitute one on my part.

After some thought, I recall the Victory Gardens of the 40's. I was alive, barely, during WWII when the Victory Gardens were a national priority. I remember our next door neighbors in McClean, Va. having a huge garden and a green house. Daddy and Mama had a much smaller garden. I remember we had chickens and a goat, always my favorite playmates.

I looked  up the Victory Garden history on YouTube. They have old films made by the Federal Govt. in the 20's, 30's and 40's, documenting every thing from TVA to B-29 bomber production. They are pretty interesting. I found a couple of good films on planting back yard gardens to help ease the burden on the food supply. We, as a country found ourselves literally feeding our troops and our Allies. We sorely needed all food we could muster to go the war effort. It was well thought out. It was good to see the detailed diagrams of what to plant, how to prepare soil, and how to be successful in controlling garden pests.

The depression and onset of the WWII brought with it an influx or rural Americans into cities to work in the defense factories and ship yards. They were country folk to whom "house gardens" were a way of life. They brought those skills to town.

The war took young, able bodied men to duty in the armed services. Women became a driving force in the war effort. Women took on jobs in defense plants, Rosie, the Riveter didn't just happen, it was necessary. Women balanced domestic duties and a full time job. Food rationing and ration stamps for many everyday products added stress to food and fuel availability for families. The concept of Victory Gardens came to fruition. Americans that migrated to towns and cities brought their country skills with them. Gardens sprang up everywhere; backyards, ball grounds, vacant lots, factory yards, apartment window boxes, anywhere a plant would grow.

When I was a kid most people in the small towns around had gardens. Home lots were bigger bigger back then, leaving room for a small garden plot. Most plots were dug by hand, but I remember one farmer who had a mule. wagon and plow who parked his rig on Prince Ave in Athens advertising garden plowing. I would see him around our part of town grooming backyard gardens for planting. I remember he had a couple of dogs that would walk under the wagon as he went around town and they would lie under the wagon while he unhooked the mule and did the work.

 The Georgia State Extension Service had a do-it- yourself canning processing facility in Athens that provided a state of the art place to safely process fruits and vegetables in "tin" cans.  Anyone could schedule to use it, and help was available to guide you through the process.  Mama and us kids would go to Hot Thomas' orchard to pick peaches. We had a garden at our place that was a family affair. We had a cow, made butter, and cottage cheese. We had a couple pigs, and chickens on our 4acre plot a mile out of town. Neighbors grew "canning gardens" much bigger than "house gardens" and we could buy large quantities of veggies  right in the neighborhood. We home canned and used the State Canning facility. We were never without food at our house.

So even after the need for Victory Gardens was over, habit still planted small backyard gardens in town. Changes came to the South that bought improvements to how we stored produce and meats. Rural Electrification Administration brought electricity to the country side, and appliances soon followed. A refrigerator and washing machine became reality in many rural households. Freezers were the next major change in food preservation. Grocery stores began to carry frozen vegetables and ice cream. Commercial freezer lockers sprang up. Individuals could rent a drawer for storage of foodstuffs.

 The 60' bought a new movement to the country. Many young people started a movement. They were disillusioned with the path the country was taking, and began escaped the cities and going back to the land. The returning soldiers were not coming back to take over the family homeplace, and the older generation began to downsize, selling land to the influx of young people. My group were called the "hippies on the hill".

We had no experience, to speak of, with sustenance farming. The Last Whole Earth Catalog was an access to tools. The Rodale Press published Organic Gardening, a monthly publication for sensible small farm management. Troy Built and Gravely and other manufactures built multifunctional machines designed for small farm use. The exodus of young folks to the country grew, and has become the sophisticated, profitable, caring, part of our countries food supply some 40 yrs later. Lots of us old hippies are still providing good food through CSA's and farmers markets.

So, Jessie, I guess you are joining a movement started by your parents' generation who took a leap of faith. I hope gardening gives you a sense of freedom it gave us  "old dirty hippies"  of the 60's and 70's.

We'll get the fence up this week. I'm not sure how you plan to deal with social distancing, but we'll do the best we can. Who knows, maybe you and yours will use this unseen enemy to your advantage, and learn to become urban farmers and a bit more self sufficient in this age of technological advances.

Dirt is pretty damn technical. It's a medium to support life from a small seed to an edible thing. A miracle that teaches everyday, I can promise you that.