Food Garden for Defense!



Grow vitamins at your door!

When I was knee high to a gnat, my granny used to tell me stories about "The War". During WWII, in addition to giving up their nylons to be used for parachutes, ladies were encouraged to grow "victory gardens" or "food gardens for defense" to ease food supply pressure. Imagine it! A lady sweatin, gettin dirty in their garden, mornin to night, doing their part! Ironically, these gardens were also considered morale boosters.

Well, I'm always in the market for a little morale boost. And, as a Sagittarius, I'm always coming up with fabulous plans. You know, a plan that seem like a great idea at the time but ends in disaster, i.e. the last 3 years of my life. I'm also prone to starting projects and then quitting. So, I decided I was gonna set out to grow me a little war garden for victory of my own, with the hopes that I might be able to finally finish something that I started (and successfully).

Step 1: Finding some dirt.
My late great uncle used to be a formidable gardener when he was alive. He, and my great Aunt Helen, lived across the street from my grandparents in Lexington until his untimely death a couple of years ago. Helen still lives in the house, crazy as hell, with the huge garden plot behind it having been unused since his death. As I was searching for a plot for my garden, I stumbled across the 30 x 40 foot, fenced in spot in her backyard. Perfect!

Step 2: Gardening 101.
I did some research and found a class at the Fayette County Extension Service called Gardening 101. I paid the $10, attended the class and became an expert.

Step 3: Tilling some dirt.

weeds.

Apparently, you can't just put some seeds in dirt and grow a pickle. You've gotta till the dirt, add organic matter, fertilizer, blah blah blah. I fretted for a couple of hours over how I would turn this former vege garden, now weed garden into something I could grow vitamins in. A shovel? Turn over the weeds? What? Then, my Gran rolled out a contraption called a "Rototiller". This bad boy runs on gas and breaks up the dirt for you! How wonderful! My Pap said that I couldn't handle the raw power. Did I show him! After a half gallon of gas, a new spark plug, and lots of tugging and pulling, I got the rototiller started and got to work!



whoa, buddy!



Basically, I made that rototiller my bitch. After several hours of hard labor, I had tilled up a square of earth 20 x 22.5 feet. I was proud to say the least.        

Step 4: Makin the dirt better.

As I said, you gotta add organic matter to the soil to grow the vegetables. "Organic matter". Well doesn't that sound fancy. I like to say it with a British accent. Real translation: take my big ass to the compost store in my Gran's truck (which has to be caressed and made love to just to start) and buy a scoop of rotted leaves. I was awful excited riding home with my $10 truckload of fresh rotten compost, British accent, pinky out. Because of the location of the garden plot, I had to unload the TRUCK of compost one wheel barrell at a time. Load up the wheel barrel, wheel it on back to the garden, dump it in one of the rows, and go back for more. I was drunk on the musty smell of the rotted leaves by the time I finished SEVERAL hours later. Then, me and my loyal friend, Roto, re-tilled the garden to get it all mixed up. 

Step 5: Marking off my territory

Before I got to work tilling, I drew several plans of what I wanted my Spring garden to look like. I would plant peas, potatoes, radishes, carrots, onions, lettuce, and cabbage. I carefully planned it out, based on the amount of space that each plant needed to be its best. Following that plan, I marked off the rows and foot paths using string and some old tobacco stakes that my stepdad had donated to the cause. All that was left to do was to get some seeds and plant em!

Having sweated all day long, I managed to turn a plot of weeds into organized rows of enriched dirt, ready for the planting! The sense of accomplishment I felt was unbelievable. Probably akin to the feeling after giving birth or somethin. Anywho, I was proud. What is even more amazing is that I worked all day long with no major disasters, which is unheard of for me! I came up with a plan and made it a reality. Wow!

Next up: going shopping for seeds and planting em! Stay tuned!

Sarah