Welcome to Inspiration Books East
For Email Marketing you can trust
Translate This website
News Update
Links of Interest
Featured Books
- The Perfect Storm
- Will America Survive
- Health and Happiness
- What's Behind the New World...
- Finding Peace Within
- Who Are the Angels?
- Hidden Treasures
Read/Listen Online
Americans in 1941 embraced the idea of turning yards, vacant lots, ball fields, parks, and even tiny strips of grass between row houses into fertile ground for vegetables. There's comfort in growing one's own food, and in the certainty that tiny seedlings will grow into robust plants. By 1944, 20 million Americans planted Victory Gardens, producing one million tons a year of vegetables -- about half the the amount consumed in America. By Deborah Holmes
Start A Vistory Garden
Here are 10 tips for starting a backyard garden in the spirit of the World War II era. The advice was assembled by Blair Randall, the director of a San Francisco project to revive victory gardens. 1. Get to know your soil. What is the history of your soil? For soils near freeways or alongside buildings older than 1978, when lead was banned in paint, consider having your soil tested for lead before growing food crops. 2. Know your climate. This will determine what plants you should purchase or seeds you can sow. North Texas is USDA Zone 7 north of LBJ Freeway or 8 south of it. [Click image for a larger version] Smithsonian Institution Smithsonian Institution A vintage poster encourages home plots so large farms could focus on feeding the troops. 3. Add compost, add compost, add compost! Compost will greatly improve the nutrient profile of your soil and allow your soil to accept and release water. Compost is easy to make at home with either a backyard compost bin or a worm compost bin. 4. Give up part of your lawn. If you have a yard, consider turning part of it into a vegetable garden. If space is limited, use the sunniest part. 5. Plant a fruit tree. To eat a plum today from your garden, you need to have planted that tree three or four years ago. A large number of fruit trees can be purchased on semi-dwarf root stock, keeping them to a manageable size. 6. Share with your neighbors. You will grow too many tomatoes, and they will grow too much zucchini. Invite them over for a picnic, and make a salad with your extra produce. 7. Plan in the winter for your spring plantings. Order seed catalogs, and allow the excitement for the coming spring and summer to carry you through winter. 8. Eat locally. A frequently cited 2003 study found conventional produce traveled an average of almost 1,500 miles from farm to markets in Chicago and St. Louis, consuming a great deal of fuel in the journey. You can reduce those "food miles" by growing some part of your meal at home. 9. Get out into your yard by tending a garden. The flowers you plant will attract wildlife such as birds and beneficial insects to your yard, but it will also attract you to your yard. 10. Donate extra produce to your local food bank. It is common to have too much of, say, okra. Local food pantries will appreciate your homegrown produce.