'Victory Gardens,' once a wartime program to produce local food, growing again in Northeast Ohio

News5 Cleveland ^ | May 3, 2021 | Caroline Sweeny

[Diana in Wisconsin]

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — A program from the past is coming back to northeast Ohio.

The state's Department of Agriculture (OHDOA) is growing its "Victory Gardens" program during the pandemic, and some of those gardens are going in plots at the Canterbury Community Garden. The garden, started in the 1940s, is in the corner of the parking lot at Canterbury Elementary School in Cleveland Heights.

"When World War II came about, there was even more of a push for people to grow their own vegetables," said Deb Franke, the garden's co-leader. "And this was created in about 1943 as a Victory Garden. And it's so it's been a vegetable garden since World War II."

This summer, several gardeners with growing space planted seeds that came from the OHDOA program. The agency partnered with The Ohio State University's Extension Offices across 25 counties. 2020 was the inaugural year for the program. Last year, there were 10 counties with the program, and this year, it doubled.

"And we hope in the near future to expand it to all 88 counties," said Dorothy Pelanda, the director for the OHDOA.

The program hands out free seeds to people who want to plant and then provides support through a blog run by OSU extension.

In early April, the program gave out "lettuce, cucumbers, beets and sunflowers," Pelanda said.

"They picked things that I think are pretty easy to grow. And - don't you know, you can absolutely put the seeds in the dirt," according to Franke, who said she is the daughter of a gardener.

Victory Gardens have a long history. Started in World War I and World War II, these gardens helped ease the burden placed on larger farms, which were sending food to the troops overseas. Food from Victory Gardens stayed local.

"Having the ability to have fresh food from your own backyard is an amazing opportunity to people, for people to feed their families good food," Pelanda said about the potential of the program.

The seeds don't have to be used by community gardeners.

"They can take a small plot of land or maybe just a small area where they could put a box or pots and grow some food for themselves," Franke said.

Pelanda and Franke said a few weeks of fresh food from a garden can help cut grocery costs for families.

Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing prices in local grocery stores have gone up 2.6% since last March. The higher prices come from lower product availability. "Our goal in the Victory Gardens is not only to address food insecurity, but to educate the general public about some foods that maybe they've never, ever been exposed to," Pelanda said.

Franke said the second year of the program will give more people access to the seeds they need to start their own gardens.

"I hope that we experience a period of growth," she said.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Start now before the starving time begins. There will be guards at the supermarkets with M-16s with orders to shot to kill to keep mobs from storming the almost empty stores.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

left that other site :" When WGBH (PBS) had its first gardening show, it was called “The Victory Garden”. "

I think that you are referring to Crockett's Victory Garden on WGBH; present by James Underwood Crockett.
In our family, we referred to him as :" Saint Crockett"; I reluctantly handed down my original "Crockett's Victory Garden " book to my son.
Crockett presented everything from companion planting, scheduling, crop rotation, explaining NPK (Nitrogen/Phosphorus/Potassium) fertilizers, inter cropping,
cold frame construction into a 'Hot Frame (with manure), dividing perennials, composting, etc., etc.
Always informative, and never talking down to novices, and was always very patient, even answered mailed-in questions to the TV station, etc.
Below is a very brief video of Crockett at work :

http://howtovegetablegarden.net/crocketts-victory-garden.html

[Augie]

Remember to wear a mask in the garden so you don’t kill the plants

That's right. Just one *teensy* drop of your COVID snot will kill the whole village.

[MarDav]

I believe Winston was able to view the Victory Gardens from his window in Victory Mansions, no?

[Pollard]

Sadly, most people do not like vegetables, especially fresh and uncooked.

If they grew a garden they would not even bother to harvest.

Our edible pod peas and English peas rarely make it into the house. I like peas way better fresh than cooked. A few green beans aren't half bad raw either. I usually grow potatoes every year even though they're cheap as can be at the store. We grow Red Pontiac and/or Yukon Gold. I did grow Russets one year. At least I know they've never been sprayed before bagged and haven't been handled by anyone but us.

I've never used any pesticides or man made fertilizers. Just compost and for potatoes, shredded and/or half rotted leaves. Soon I'll start using manure too, goat and chickens. Goat manure is ready to use. No composting or aging needed. Also just bought a couple of Comfrey plants that will be fertilizer and compost activator. Only man made chemical that's been used on this property is Sevin Granules for tick control but just around the house, shop and in walking paths. I'm not growing for money so I'm not worried about maximum production. I know some pesticides/fertilizers are fine to use at the right time but why bother buying that stuff if I don't need to?

We're not really set up for processing and don't have a root cellar yet. I do have a spot picked out. Our goats are meat goats. I'll sell off the bucklings I can and then maybe put some in the freezer.

This year was our first kidding and we only got one buckling but I'm not sure what I want to do with him yet. His Boer dad sure did a good job of making a chunky buckling with the Kiko doe. Kikos are known for low maintenance and Boers for weight gain but high maintenance in a temperate climate like here in MO. They were developed on S Africa while Kikos were developed in New Zealand specifically for low maintenance. I don't mind one high maintenance goat, especially with him being half the herd.

I have a perimeter fence but need cross fencing to keep goats separated so I can choose who to mate with who. The Buckling comes from a different doe than the doeling. Each doe only had one even though goat does usually have twins. Unsure who's at fault. one doe is small and it was both their fist time kidding. Three doelings and a buckling would have been nice. Need to get the number of does built up to our final herd size.

With food prices, all prices going higher all the time, it just makes sense to grow your own food if possible. Shop the sales for everything else. We bought a low mile 2005 Ford Focus about a month ago in anticipation of democrat gas prices. 30mpg is twice the mileage the F150 4x4 gets. The wife drives 35 miles round trip 5 days a week and that adds up. Car will pay for itself in less than two years at our current price of $2.70 a gallon. Victory Car.

[left that other site]

YES! It WAS “Crocket’s” Victory Garden. I hadn’t remembered the name, but you brought it back to my mind.

[left that other site]

Unfortunately, Sesame Street has become very political.

An acquaintance of mine, who had a mixed-race little girl, auditioned her for Sesame Street. At the time, the exquisitely beautiful and precocious 3-year-old was rejected because she wasn’t “racially identifiable”. In other words, she wasn’t black enough to have a role in the show.

That was a half century ago, so I guess things haven’t changed much.

[left that other site]

The Victory Garden on the Fenway is still there.

Really? Wow. I haven't been in that part of town for over 20 years, so I figured it was gone by now.

[Osage Orange]

Yep...lost a lot of red maple bonsai stuff....

Had a nice hedge croak...and some Crape Myrtles just up and die.

Sucks....

[Hiddigeigei]

I spent most of my growing up at my maternal family’s home of about 14 acres of mostly forest (now half taken by the Washington Belt Way and the rest a county park.) During the war we had about an acre plowed which produced all our vegetables. My mother bought 500 baby chicks each year for eggs and meat. We had two cows, but a neighbor ‘s house painters threw lead-based paint cans over the fence which killed them. As a preteen, I discovered it takes a lot of hard work to produce food in any quantity.

[Qiviut]

Ooh, Marion. I used to love her segments on the show. I even bought her Victory Garden cookbook, which I can highly recommend. Pics of veggies are terrific as are the recipes. The veggies & associated growing tips, ways to prep & recipes are in alpha order so easy to find what you want. She has a carrot cake recipe which is my go-to recipe for that particular cake. Zucchini bread recipes (more than one) are good too.

[woodbutcher1963]

I know they were there on July 19, 2019 because I walked by them on my way to the Sox game. I have the ticket in front of me: Red Sox vs. LA Dodgers. I did not attend any games last year. I have yet to attend a game this season. However, I am happy to report that the Yankees are in last place.

[Hootowl99]

The Irish side of my family arrived in Oklahoma during a late 1800s land run and homesteaded outside a small existing town that was the tribal agency for an Indian tribe relocated into Indian Territory. That homestead property is still in the family but never amounted to much. It did though have a small natural spring that allowed them to survive on the land those first few years.

Very few homesteads have survived intact as to their original boundaries as the climate is too dry for farming and larger land parcels are needed for ranching.

The only sizable farming compatible land is coincidentally about a mile away from that homestead and my great grandfather ended up owning a sizable portion of the rich bottomland adjacent to a small creek that joins into a larger creek just downstream of that farm's location.

The WPA took that good land via eminent domain in the 1930s to build a 600 acre lake and water works for the town water supply. So, the only good farm land within 20 miles has been under water since the lake filled.

Now, there is only a narrow strip of fertile land remaining along the side of the large creek and was really only useful for sustenance farming, nothing commercial.

There is one narrow strip of this creek bottoms amounting to 2 or 3 acres that lays between the railroad track and the large creek. It's been a community garden I think since the Territory years. Any town resident can get a plot assigned in the garden and my grand parents usually had a garden there. The community garden is still going strong.

[Savage Beast]

Good for Georgie!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for Aunt Alice's Farm!

[Jane Long]

I picked up a TON of heirloom seed packs, at Home Depot, a few weeks ago.

Our Ace Hardware actually had some decent (large sized packs) of heirlooms, as well.

[Jane Long]

Love the story, and that pic!

We’ve thought about adding goats. We currently have cows, but, could easily fence off, for goats.

So, yours are strickly for meat and not milk?

[TianaHighrider]

Thank you, Diana

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for the cookbook reminder! I think my Mom may still have a copy of that. She really enjoys my garden and is a GREAT weeder, LOL!

She grew up in poverty on a farm, so she’s spent her life running from it, but she gets a kick out of me and my farm life and gardening obsession and past careers at Seed Savers and Jung’s. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for sharing that. :)

[Pollard]

Yeah we had milk goats once and none of us are milkers evidently. My wife managed to get 10oz or so once so I had it with cereal the next morning. Tasted like milk from the store. Might get another someday. Good to have in case a meat goat won’t or can’t feed her babies.