Posted on 05/03/2021 7:30:22 AM PDT by 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.
This year Baker Creek has so many orders coming in that they’re having to use all their buildings, including the shops and the restaurant, as sorting and packaging space!
And running three shifts for distribution. They’re utilizing buildings that aren’t being used because - covid
COVID has made Fenway Park look like every other ballpark in MLB...empty seats. There were never any empty seats in Fenway prior to the lockdown and subsequent social distancing. UGH.
As you yourself have said!
(This is a personal victory garden. We are not harvesting beets or sugar cane for the collective! )
Organic Gold potatoes from my local Walmart, in the past have grown better than the seed potatoes we purchased from the nursery or catalogs.
Thanks for the ping. We’ve been busy working on the garden and shed/root cellar. Planning to expand my garden space. I have about 200 sq. ft. of raised beds and hubby has close to 1000.
I’d like another 100 sq. ft. of the raised beds and/or containers, but we’ll see how it goes. We got started in earnest in 2009—till then we just had a few mater plants in buckets.
I’m trying to figure out how to protect my corn patch — darn coon got more corn last year than I did. After trying for weeks to catch him, we finally succeeded. However, it was early morning, and hubby decided he didn’t have time to take him out to the woods, so he let him loose—SMH.
I’d have just given him some water and waited till I got back from work, if it had been me—but I was not consulted. Ha.
Adventurous white colonizers of Detroit are trying community gardens downtown. I wish them well. A couple blocks aways from one of them a “man” shot three people in a hot dog restaurant.
Even though I work about 8 miles from the MA border and live about 10 miles from the border, I have not stepped foot or drove into MA in the last 12 months.
In fact, other than driving out to WNY in March of 2020 to deal with my mothers former house, I have not left the state of NH. That does not mean I have been hiding in my house either. I just have not gone much north of the central part of the state and no reason to go south. No Sox games, no Pats, Bruins, Celtics, no concerts, no trips through Logan, no reason to go to Boston(60 miles away).
My boss has had season tickets to the Red Sox row EE right behind home plate for years. We would all use them when we had customers or suppliers come to town. He would also give them out as sales spiffs. At least up until the last two seasons.
“ Those of us that can bake bread from scratch, shoot straight and sew on a button (or stitch up a wound) are going to rule this world one day. ;) Not that we WANT to - we’d rather be left alone, LOL!”
That’s so true!!!
OHIO PING!
Please let me know if you want on or off the Ohio Ping list.
‘Victory Gardens,’ once a wartime program to produce local food, growing again in Northeast Ohio
News5 Cleveland ^ | May 3, 2021 | Caroline Sweeny
Posted on 5/3/2021, 10:30:22 AM by Diana in Wisconsin
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