I haven’t had a garden since 2008, when I moved out of my first apartment. I had dug out a little section by the driveway, and filled it with tomatoes and sunflowers and marigolds and weeds. I haven’t had space since then, and routinely miss the deadlines for signing up for the community gardens in my neighborhood. Not this year, I vowed. I set a calendar alarm for the moment registration began at the Peterson Garden Project location near my apartment. All summer long I had walked by it with envy and longing. I got my slot. A 4×8 garden bed shall be mine!
I found a nifty website, Gardener’s Supply Company, that allows you to plan a garden by square feet, dragging and dropping veggies into the squares, and automatically filling in how many you can plant. As I was gleefully clicking away, I casually mentioned a fact I’d learned at the Peterson Garden Project’s page to B–during World War II, Chicagoans started 1,500 community Victory Gardens, and more than 250,000 people started home Victory Gardens.
“I’m going to plant a historically accurate Victory Garden!” I declared.
“…Great?” he said.
“This is going to be amazing!” I shouted.
“If you say so,” he said.
“Why don’t you think anything I do is cool?!” I yelled.
“I think lots of things you do are cool,” he said.
“Never mind, I need to start researching seeds,” I said.
And thus, it has begun. My plan for a 1940’s accurate Victory Garden has commenced.
Rules and updates to follow. This is making winter so much more bearable.
This is so cool! I was excited enough for your Community Garden Plot (you will surely meet so many people and learn so much from them!). But the historic part makes it EVEN BETTER!