Today's photos are from Bill Ross, who says, "I live in Virginia and love to visit the various Smithsonian museums in Washington DC. At the Museum of American History there is a Victory Garden intended to recreate the gardens and style of gardens that were planted during the 1940s, notably during World War II. These pictures are from a visit in August, 2014. The Smithsonian gardeners use heirloom and vintage varieties whenever possible. What's also fun to see are the various plant supports they have reconstructed for the climbing vegetables and flowers. I am planning on using a couple of these supports in my garden this year! They also use a very interesting sets of rolled organic materials for borders that help the raised gardens." This is so cool, Bill! I can't wait to build some structures for vines this spring….though we are supposed to get more snow this afternoon….sigh.
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Bill I had no idea what a victory garden looked like,I was fascinated to see the past come together here in the present at the Smithsonian gardens. I enjoyed the photos and the knowledge I acquired since I googled victory gardens and enjoyed reading more about them. Interesting indead.
It's official?? HAPPY SPRING everyone!!!!!???
Very cool!
These pictures are very interesting and educational...and, for me, a teeny, tiny guilt inducing since I have never made a commitment to food production gardening. Yes, I'm the neighbor who is grateful for someone else's offering of home grown zucchini and tomatoes.
A PS to yesterday's gpod...I was doing some google searches 'cause I was up late (babysitting a neighbor's puppy) and came across some articles about Barbara Holdridge. Besides being a gardener extraordinaire, she, along with a fellow college graduate female partner, was a ground breaking professional woman who started a company that featured spoken-word recordings. She is a woman of great accomplishment and even has a wikipedia entry! For some reason, this makes me angrier than ever that her condo board treated her so shabbily.
Thank you for doing the research Michaele, I'm not surprised at all.
What I feel bad about is that we may be be the last generation to understand the meaning of these gardens.
This is way cool, and inspiring. This is my next endeavor in gardening (hopefully), aside form the occasional pepper or tomato tucked somewhere in all my ornamentals. I just need a good spot, unfortunately not readily available on my property at the moment.
Thank you so much for sharing this! How educational and interesting! And inspiring. I certainly see a couple ideas I will try this year.
Thanks Bill. It is always interesting to see how innovative people could be, when necessary. GPOD teaches as well as entertains. I have put together various materials to support peas, beans and tomatoes, so those structures are not new to me, but the rolled edges on the raised beds are something I have not seen before.
How fun. Love the mixture of veggies and pops of colorful flowers. I have a new p-patch this year, I'll be tossing in some fun colors. Thanks for the inspiration!
Those are some good looking vegie gardens!
Just goes to show you don't have to spend a lot of money to have good plant supports,
I know just what you mean, Michele! This is a clever woman who has taken the trouble to do all the right things, so we are more than just outraged.
Re the Victory Garden - luckily I'm still around after surviving WWII, and I clearly remember the huge cabbages, potatoes and beans that my father grew during that time. We can all do this, you know! I don't always grow a huge amount but to be blessed by the American summer and to grow tomatoes, peppers,etc. is still a miracle to me.
Thank you Bill for sending the pictures.
Well done. Very interesting garden.
Awesome - thanks for sharing!
Anyone know anything else about the rolled edging around the bed?
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