My Grandmother is great about sending me articles about food, great recipes etc….most recently she sent this article to me . It is from AARP magazine, a publication for folks over 50……pretty cool that for a generation who already experienced the victory garden, it is all coming full circle!

Thanks Grammy!

DIRT CHEAP!

It is a warm summer afternoon in Louisiana, circa 1950, and my grandparents are shelling peas in the shade of the pecan trees in their yard. My mother joins in, and soon the circle includes aunts, neighbors, me, and my sisters—little city kids from up north. This is how we do our “visiting.”

My grandmother will make her tomato relish, and my grandfather will carry in a watermelon for dessert.

I am lucky to have memories of a time when the garden was the center of everyday life. It may be why I am a vegetable farmer today—albeit in chilly Maine, not the balmy South—and why I am compelled to share my passion for food, and how to grow it, with others.

A few generations ago the kitchen garden was a necessity. In recent times it has become more of a hobby, a source of fun and outdoor exercise that carries a few bonuses. No salad is fresher than the one you pick minutes before a meal; no dish gives more pride than the one you produce literally from the ground up. Today, with the economy sputtering, we may see the kitchen garden make a comeback. Remember victory gardens? Eleanor Roosevelt spurred 20 million home gardens by planting one on the White House grounds in 1943. A Maine neighbor’s petition drive at eattheview.org asks the Obamas to renew the example. All you need to start your kitchen garden is a bit of basic information about plot size and soil, guarding your garden from wildlife, and which crops to grow. Here for full article…..

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Uncategorized by Wendy Van Wagner