A Return to the Victory Garden

 “The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” 
  ~Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture~

After 15 years of living on our tiny homestead we made the decision as a family to move. I gradually started taking down the raised beds that had slowly taken root on our property over the course of 12 years. I finally gave in and took the hens and rabbits to the local livestock auction. Within a few short weeks Covid 19 reared its ugly head and turned life upside down.

 We live in New York State. Though we have not been as directly impacted by the illness as our neighbors in NYC we are seeing the residual effect in our day to day life. Schools are closed. My wife is working from home and the markets are bare.

Initially I have to admit I was not too alarmed. But as time continued to move forward and the shelves continued to be stripped I  quickly realized it was time to resurrect our gardens. I suppose on some level it provides me with some sort of purpose and a feeling of control in a time when normalcy has become a memory.  But it is also grounded in the concrete truth of the day. We have two grocery stores in our small community. One is doing its best to keep up with the demand while the other is price gouging to take advantage of the situation. It has become clear that it is time to return to that which I do best, which is grow and raise food. It is time to pay homage to the Victory Gardens of the past.

I began by going through the lumber of the old raised beds and repurposing the boards that were in good condition. I then focused my attention on the dwarf fruit trees on the property, both apple and pear and began pruning them. A day before Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency I reached out to a few farmers I knew and purchased a small flock of laying hens. The drive to Delhi to get the birds was so peculiar. I felt as though I were driving through ghost towns, no one in sight.

I have spent the last few days ordering seeds online and defining the garden space. I have been hauling wheelbarrows full of soil and rabbit manure to the new raised beds and turning over the dirt in old beds. My youngest daughter, though only 5 has an eye for gardening and has been helping by pruning the grape vines and the blueberry plants.

In reality if our move date of August comes through I will not be able to get a full season of gardening in but I have to admit that it feels great to know that I have the space and knowledge to provide fresh food in the meantime. It is like visiting an old friend in troubling times. I am a sentimental person and I am very aware that this is most likely my last go around with this wonderful and fruitful landscape and that in and of itself is worth the labor.

If you are interested in doing the same there are a number of short season and cold hardy crops you can begin growing now to get you well on your way.

• Radishes
• Asian greens such as mustard and mizuna
• Salad greens including arugula, lettuce and cress. 
• Swiss chard, kale and chives
• Peas
• Broccoli
• Scallions

When in the eye of the storm it is difficult to remember that this will indeed pass. But in the meantime if you have the opportunity to do so a Victory Garden will produce great rewards. Stay healthy my friends!