It’s time to reintroduce Victory Gardens

By way of tackling the fossil fuel emissions, waste and toxicity of industrial farming, this column has already explored the issue of growing our own vegetables and the merits of pressurising local councils to provide more allotments. Yet, the reality is that until recently few of us had the time to really commit to growing fruit and vegetables, or to master the techniques of doing so. And, anyway, the shops had such a bounty of fresh food it seemed futile and uneconomic.

How things have changed. Thankfully the shops are still well stocked, but we rely on the glasshouses of Spain and the Netherlands for our fruit and vegetables, and they in turn rely on migrant labour and being able to work in confined conditions. While the chances of food shortages in Europe are slim, some of the crops we’re used to may well be in short supply.

It's time to bring back Victory Gardens, the plots of land that governments in Ireland, as well as across Europe and North America, encouraged citizens to plant during the second World War. They consisted of neat rows of peas, beans, carrots, spinach, chard, sprouts, beets and tomatoes; all nourished with farmyard manure and leaf-mould. In recent weeks communities have been recalling the temporary gardens set up in plots and parks throughout Ireland to feed local people during the Emergency (the isolation caused by Ireland's neutrality during the second World War ). By the end of the war, the United States was producing over 40 per cent of its food in home gardens.

Something similar has been happening in Cuba since the 1990s, when Fidel Castro ordered all neighbourhoods to set up organic vegetables plots to ensure communities were self-sufficient in the event of supply chains being cut. National horticultural advisors regularly visit each plot to advise on the latest composting techniques, chemical-free practices, complimentary planting and to share seeds of heirloom species that people are having particular success with.

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Here at home, the Grow It Forward initiative by GIY.ie is rolling out the knowledge and resources of how to feed ourselves to 5,000 people, who in turn will grow food for 50,000 people this summer. It’s a wonderful initiative, and we can help widen their reach by planting some vegetables of our own. Normally, beginners are encouraged to plant a window box of culinary herbs, but something more dramatic is called for now.

In the coming weeks we should all aim to plant at least one or two vegetables – bountiful plants, such as rainbow chard, Italian kale or courgettes. Plant them in a flower bed, on the lawn, in a large bucket on the balcony, or anywhere else you can get away with it. Two or three kale or chard plants will feed a family many times over for a year or more, while three courgette plants can produce 20 courgettes a week from June right through to early October.

The challenge is to track down vegetable seedlings, which are in short supply as some garden centres can’t get them from their Dutch suppliers, but they are still available if you ring around. Seeds are cheaper and easier to find, though online seed sellers are often so busy they close down for a few days to process orders. Greenvegetableseeds.com has been open most of the time. As regards compost, Lidl is currently selling a peat-free variety, so there’s no need to destroy natural peatland to grow your veg. If even some of us end up producing a fraction of our food at home this year Covid-19 will have given a gift to our bodies and the planet.