Recession Victory Garden

As the price of fuel increases, the cost of just about all other goods is going up too, especially food. I know that my own grocery budget has doubled over the past few years to keep pace with increasing costs, and that is after factoring in the use of coupons, buying tinned goods at discount stores, and generally penny-pinching in all the ways possible. A lot of people are now battling the recession nightmare by saving on food costs by growing some of their own produce. It is commonly known as 'urban gardening' or a Recession Victory Garden.

During the dark times of World War II, Victory Gardens were a common sight. They were small plots of land, or allotments, tubs of soil or sections of lawn prepared to grow fruits and vegetables so that private citizens could utilise some of their own food supply, in order that the nation's farmed goods could support the war effort. It has been estimated that these urban gardens produced about 40 percent of the produce consumed in the United States during the war.

In present times, people are used to running down to the corner shop or market for a lettuce. But what about using the Victory Garden method to grow some of your own food and rely less on the produce at the market, which is most definitely increasing in cost (and decreasing in quality).

I live in a suburb, and a nearby friend does just this. The area she has designated for growing fruits and vegetables is very small, but she cleared a 3 x 3 foot patch of lawn in her back yard and planted some fresh herbs like rosemary and Italian parsley, along with some basil and a few others. She has also planted some rocket, lettuce and cucumber for salads. She has been picking the greens for a few weeks now. Not only is it tastier and healthier than some of the specimens they call lettuce in markets, but this stuff would be a fraction of the cost as well.

So she is growing and consuming healthy, organic food, saving money, having fun and thumbing her nose at the recession, all at the same time.

This is something to think about. The food definitely tastes better. I don't know if it's because I know it has come straight out of the ground but the stuff they sell in the supermarket just tastes bland compared to some of the wonderful produce I have tasted from this 'Recession Victory' garden.