The Victory Garden Alliance Blog

Question for VGA bloggers-

2008-12-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hi VG advocates- I seek your advice-
This summer I sent around this petition to bring back the victory garden campaign (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/letsbringbackthevictorygarden/index.html) and, unfortunately, it never really went viral. However there were 193 signers who clearly believe in the cause.

I plan to send a note to the 193 signers suggesting their signature or vote might be more collectively effective if re-cast at one of the following contests for bring a VG to the White House Lawn- http://www.ondayone.org/node/661, http://www.eattheview.org/petition, or http://www.change.org/ideas/view/green_the_white_house

Any suggestions as to which of these might be most effective for the cause ?

Thanks and Happy Solstice!
Eve

Peak Soil

2008-10-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello all, I just returned from a farming conference in Virginia where I where I was studying GROW BIOINTENSIVE agriculture under its inventor, John Jeavons (author of "how to Grow More Vegetables.") I heard something there I'd never heard before which is that we have reached a time of "peak farmable soil." Basically, Mr Jeavons has run his numbers on a 'farm-able space per person' basis. Apparently it takes around 30,000 square feet to grow all of one person's food per year using conventional agriculture and this type of agriculture is depleting the soil at an extremely fast rate- 6 pounds of soil is depleted for every 1 pound of food created.
Mr Jeavons pointed out that even Organic Farming isnt sustainable because usually much of the fertilizers used to build up the soil are coming from somewhere else, depleting the soil they come from. (However because they are organic they are still better for the environment than conventional farm practices.)
The Biointensive method of farming includes dedicating a high percentage of one's farming area to "compost crops", crops that will replenish the soil. I'm glad at least this method exists cause it started to feel like we were otherwise doomed. Biointensive farming is the type they used in the Bioshere II experiment, where 6 people were able to to survive with only around 3,500 square feet dedicated to growing food per person. A marked difference to the 30,000 sq ft needed in conventional agriculture.
Mr Jeavons also mentioned that 213,000 people are born every day (births - deaths) and by 2014, 90% of the population of the world will be living in the developing world. We all know that there is plenty of famine in the developing world and that much of it is more of a result of political barriers rather than an actual lack of food on the planet at this time, but if what Jeavons claims about Peak Farmable Soil is correct, there will not actually be enough soil/food to support the number of humans of the very near future even if those political barriers were down- UNLESS we change our agricultural practices.
I personally am still promoting gardening of any kind (mostly through my website WorldFoodGarden.org,) even if many kinds of gardening are not sustainable. I feel that if we are ever going to reach a place of total sustainability for the planet we need to take all the steps to get there- the first one being to reintroduce the west to where food comes from and connecting them to the power of growing it. Only then can we start to introduce a holistic case to policy makers for how nature works and have it be really understood to the point of effecting agricultural policies.
Any thoughts?

Time for a New New Deal vis-a-vis the Food System?

2008-09-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Yet another example of why we need to seriously reconsider our nation's food policy has emerged. Recently, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation commissioned an analysis of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Child Nutrition Commodity Program (CNCP), and how that program impacts the nutritional quality of school breakfasts and lunches.
The policy analysis, produced by California Food Policy Advocates and Samuels and Associates, focuses mostly on California, but its authors argue that it has "relevance to other states and the nation." I agree.

A little background: the USDA coordinates the distribution of commodities to more than 94,000 public and private nonprofit schools that provide meals to students. These programs support American agricultural producers by providing cash reimbursements for meals served in schools and other institutions serving children across the nation. The rationale for these programs is a worthy one, and goes back to early in the Great Depression, when surplus agricultural products were destroyed as millions of Americans went hungry, justifiably causing outrage. The development of federal policies to purchase agricultural surplus for distribution to hungry and underserved citizens solved multiple problems in Depression-era America, and beyond. It was progressive public policy for the time and is a key component of today's federal feeding programs.

What this most recent analysis finds is that many of the foods ordered by school districts fail to meet nutritional standards, because of the "processing" that occurs prior to the commodities being delivered to schools. This processing increases fat, sugar and sodium levels in these foods. The result: many commodity foods have about the same nutritional value as junk foods by the time they reach students. In a nation struggling with an epidemic of childhood obesity, this isn't good policy.

Taken directly from the analysis (available free-of-charge, via this link) are some key findings and recommendations, which I've italicized and included below:

"Key Findings:
Nationally, more than 50 percent of commodity foods are sent to processors (i.e., fat, sugar, and sodium added to foods) before they are sent to schools. Processing is not regulated for nutritional quality and often involves adding fat, sugar and sodium to commodity products.
California school districts used more than 82 percent of their commodity funds to purchase meat and cheese. They spent only 13 percent of their funds on fruits and vegetables.
There is little alignment between what California schools bought in federal commodity foods and what the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that people eat daily.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans should be reflected in School Meal Initiative Standards, and schools should have to meet them. Efforts to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables and decrease the amount of meats and processed foods purchased for school meals would contribute to providing students with much healthier foods."

I couldn't agree more.

This week, I'll be joining others who are active in the movement to improve the quality of school lunches at the Western United States Assembly on Farm-to-School, being held in Portland. It's sponsored by EcoTrust, and there is enormous excitement among those attending about the opportunity to gather, and to learn about the best models and practices in this field. I am looking forward to sharing what I learn in future postings.

An historical footnote: There is an incredible body of fine art and photography showing deprivation in America during the Great Depression, much of it produced by WPA artists. One of the most haunting pieces is a work entitled Lunch Hour. These pieces of art document a difficult period in American life. To me, they also serve as a reminder that many of the basic public policies and fundamental premises that shape our daily lives in America were crafted during the Great Depression. The Great Depression began for most Americans nearly eighty years ago, in 1929 (although a depression started in the agricultural sector nearly ten years earlier, post-World War I). These policies, which we know as the New Deal, represented a dramatic restructuring of American life that gave subsequent generations - us - very different expectations and experiences than our grandparents and great-grandparents had. This is all leading up to a big question:
Is it time for a New New Deal vis-a-vis the food system?

"A Garden for Everyone. Everyone in a Garden."

Eat the View

2008-09-25T10:38:00.001-07:00

Eve Sibley Guest Blogging at Red, White & Grew

2008-09-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Eve graciously guest blogs at RW&G twice this week. The first post, about her trip to Slow Food Nation '08 is here. Tomorrow she'll fill us all in on her WorldFoodGarden.org project!

New Eat the View Video!

2008-09-12T17:51:00.001-07:00

More good stuff from Eat the View!

Great Post about Victory Garden Alliance

2008-09-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Our very own Rose Hayden-Smith writes:

The internet enables us to satisfy our need for knowledge. It enables us to find people who share our interests and passions. And it has recently enabled a group of Victory Garden fan(atics?) to find each other. We've formed a Victory Garden Alliance Blog (VGA) that will enable us to share information with a broader readership to grow the Victory Garden movement/revival.

She continues...

I've never met the other Alliance members in person. I have only heard the voices of three of them over the telephone. We hail from all over the United States, inhabiting different physical geographies, but sharing the same heart geography. These individuals share my core values and beliefs vis-a-vis the food system, and the power of individiuals to change the world through gardening.

Senate Committees

2008-09-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

I got a letter from my United States Senator. In it he details the two committees that would be responsible for bringing forward a bill formalizing a national Victory Garden revival. More here...and I'll be posting again about it on RW&G tomorrow, so stay tuned.

The Shibaguyz Resource Recommendations for the Aspiring Victory Gardener

2008-08-30T15:37:00.000-07:00

In response to the question of what resources we would recommend to new Victory Gardeners, there are three books that are never far from our hands:

1. The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide by Carl Elliott & Rob Peterson - this is a step-by-step guide to gardening specifically here in our neck of the woods. In searching the internet, we have found many such guides for other areas of the country. This particular one is put out by Seattle Tilth so we would definitely encourage new gardeners to go out and find their local tilth or other gardening association and see if they have similar publications. A book like this will ensure your success by not only making sure you are planting crops appropriate for your area, but it will also give you the specific times of year to plant those crops for the best yields for your climate.

2. How To Grow More Vegetables by John Jeavons - Again, a step-by-step method for utilizing small spaces. This book focuses on the Grow Biointensive method of gardening which basically throws out the rule book when it comes to how much space your crops need to grow in. From soil preparation and composting to planting timetables and guidelines, you can't miss a beat with these easy to follow illustrations and instructions. The charts are specific and easy to read and the illustrations make each concept very easy to understand and follow through on. We have more than doubled our yields this year using the principles from this book.

3. Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman - Wanting to round out our Victory Garden with a full year of production, we found this book has it all. There are plans to follow with illustrations for trellises, cold frames and cloches as well as Coleman's own tweaks to the traditional schedules and methods associated with each season of planting and harvesting. We have been brainstorming ideas all year about how to make our Victory Garden a year-round success and this book started making those new ideas a solid reality for us from the moment we started scanning it in the store.

As far as other resources go, we definitely recommend community. Whether you find a local food gardening organization (like our West Seattle Edible Gardening Group) or look to the internet for online communities, you will find ideas, inspiration and support from those of like minds. There are days when the peppers just aren't working out or your cucumbers are starting to look a little dull and the only place you can turn is to other gardeners. Building this network is important and has definitely helped us out immensely along the way. Here are a few we use most frequently:

1. Master Gardener Clinics - our master gardeners are at the local farmers markets and even our neighborhood hardware/garden store once a week. This gives us access to an "expert" in the field of gardening that allows us to ask questions that might stump us otherwise.

2. Blotanical.com - This gardener's networking/social site is very helpful and informative. The most help we've found comes from being able to browse through so much information in one place being posted by real people like ourselves who are doing the same things we are. Being able to read their information as well as communicate with them directly has been a big help this year with some of our gardening we were a little more unfamiliar with (just exactly what IS rapini supposed to look like??).

3. Similar to Blotanical, find other bloggers who can inspire you as well as give you information. We have found a great deal of inspiration from Red White and Grew and visit it almost daily. We also look to other friend's blogs like One Green Generation to gain insight and inspiration to keep going when those overwhelming days come around. And, now, we have this blog, The Victory Garden Alliance Blog, to draw information and inspiration from! WOOHOO!!

4. Farmers markets - Last but certainly not least in the area of community, we highly recommend getting out to your local farmers markets and getting to know those farmers around you. They are a great resource for questions regarding what grows best in your area (if they are local, you can grow the same stuff they are!) and for asking questions about growing and harvesting. We have built some great relationships with our local farmers market vendors and they have proven on more than one occasion to be a fount of information as well as a great kick in the pants when we have needed some motivation. These folks have been at this for a while and their stories of how they did what they do and why they do it is nothing short of inspiring.

5. Local gardening organizations - We were recently discovered by a group of edible gardeners right here in West Seattle where we live. All of these gardeners are, in a sense, Victory Gardeners whether they identify as such or not. Either way, their input and suggestions have been great for us to plug in to. New ideas and innovation abound with this group who, like us, are gardening in some pretty interesting urban spaces.

So there you have our resource recommendation list.

When people ask us for advice on getting started, the most important wisdom we can pass on is: Start small. Just do one thing that inspires you or makes you happy. If you really like peas, plant a spring crop that grow quickly and you can eat right away. That will give you some instant gratification and keep you motivated. Once you master that one thing, move on to the next adding one thing at a time as you can handle it. We started with peas, added tomatoes, then more tomatoes, then beans, then more tomatoes... LOL You get the idea. Now this year we have more variety and over all diversity than we ever thought we could manage. But we did it one step at a time and with a whole lot of experimentation and help from the resources we listed previously.

Get a few good books, hook up with a diverse community both online and in your local area and just go for it! What's the worse that can happen? You'll grow a few veggies your first year, you'll learn more about where your limits are and aren't and the next year who knows... you might end up with an Edible Jungle Paradise of your own.

talk to you soon...

The Shibaguyz

Hard Evidence

2008-08-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

Hello All. Anyone interested in compiling a list of all the reasons why we should bring back the Victory Garden and then collaberatively add any hard evidence that we come across over time? This way we could potentially create a great referance pool of facts and figures that any of us could draw from. I'll go ahead and start with some reasons why we should bring it back and then if anyone has more reasons or information/ supporting evidence for those reasons (especially from any scholarly studies) that they are inclined to add, please do!

1)It would bring down the cost of food and make organic food more widely accessible.

2)it would give Americans the missing holistic perspective of where their food comes from

3)it could potentially bring down carbon emissions

4)it would lesson our dependance on oil

5)it could potentially bring down the high rate of diebetes in this country

anything else? any supporting evidence? :)

Weekly Open Thread: Favorite Print Resources

2008-08-21T08:51:00.001-07:00

•Anyone care to list their fave books/magazines to recommend to new gardeners?

•Also, any updates with regard to your work on Victory Gardening and relate efforts?

Thriving in the 'Burbs

2008-08-11T17:51:00.000-07:00

Are you interested in living a sustainable life and installing an Earth victory garden but don't know how to get started? Or perhaps, you are living a fairly green life already and want to help your community make the shift to a sustainable lifestyle. Well, Thriving in the 'Burbs can help. It's a free, monthly, downloadable and customizable newsletter to help you and your community live a more sustainable life. The blog and newsletter have tips on how to live a more simple life, to organize the installation of gardens and to save money ... and thrive in the process. Be sure to subscribe to get a copy of the monthly newsletter.

Cheers,
Rebecca Newburn
Thriving in the 'Burbs Editor &
Inspired Community Organizer

EatDrinkBetter.com

2008-08-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

Guys,

I just submitted my first post for approval at EatDrinkBetter.com, where I've been invited to guest blog about victory gardening, etc. by their CEO! Cool, huh? Look for my first post, about EatTheView.org initiative and the "This Lawn is Your Lawn" video in the next few days.

Your suggestions for blog posts over there are welcome! And feel free to stop by and leave a comment when it goes up. (I'll announce it at redwhiteandgrewblog.com.)

Food For Thought

2008-08-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Most of us do this, but as we think collectively about building a network of Victory Gardeners, it's a nice reminder: We Are All Linked

New Authors

2008-08-06T09:41:00.001-07:00

Please introduce yourself in comments by telling us all:

Where you live (state)
What your interest is in the revival
What you hope to get out of this collaborative blog

.....and type how you wish your name to appear on the right column...

Oh, and I need URLs and RSS feeds, too--if you've got 'em for your own blogs/sites...don't make me go lookin' for 'em.

This Lawn Is Your Lawn

2008-08-06T06:51:00.001-07:00

Dig for Victory Bloggers/Site Owners?

2008-08-06T06:44:00.001-07:00

Anyone interacting with above authors who would make good candidates for this site?

Prince Charles Calls for Dig for Victory Revival

2008-08-06T06:08:00.001-07:00

HRH Charlie took Camilla out for cake and carrots on her birthday. They also visited a Dig for Victory allotment. A couple of days later, this story appears.