Happy 2021 Gardening Season! As many of you, my thoughts turn to gardening in the dead of winter. Let’s face it, I think about it all year long! As I eat my tomato soup & pasta sauce I canned from my homegrown tomatoes, I always remember something funny about the garden. When I eat my eggplant parmesan & pesto in the freezer, I chastise myself that I didn’t save more for the winter! The same goes for when I eat my jams, salsas, etc.

I get so excited when the snow slowly melts and seed catalogs arrive in the mail. I lovingly earmark pages of new plants I want to grow and start making to-do & wish lists (mostly wish lists). Last year for the first time, I decided to grow all my plants from seed and so I named my garden The Victory Garden.

I am happy to announce that I will continue gardening in The Victory Garden this year. The garden was bountiful. I had many successes. I had some
”less than successes”. I tried to grow new vegetables. I solidified friendships. I made new friends. I conquered flea beetles. My carrots didn’t taste like dirt. And most importantly, I had alot of fun (and got a wicked tan). For so many reasons, including the garden, it was an awesome year in beautiful Green Lake, Wisconsin and look forward to another season.

You know that I have gardening roots. Get it, roots? My husband’s grandparents had a hobby farm which is now lovingly tended my his aunt & uncle. My father had grow lights on our porch, had a small garden, watched the PBS series “The Victory Garden” and made his own composter out of a garbage can.

I am happy to announce that I am building a second garden which is somewhat inspired by The Victory Garden. After much deliberation, I am naming it The Pantry Garden. What? A second garden?!? It will be situated on the parcel across the street from our old house. But wait, just like The Victory Garden, there is no water. So my ever-supportive husband said, “We just need to put in a well”. Of course. And draw plans. And adjust for the existing slope. And contract someone to build it. And augment the soil to make it just perfect. And…it will be alot of fun!

Why name it The Pantry Garden? You know that during both World Wars, the government urged people to plant Victory Gardens to help supplement their rations and help boost morale. It also created posters to “sow the seeds of victory", gave instructions on how / when / where to sow, recommended the best crops and offered tips on how to ward off insect infestations. I think the most interesting part is that they created the US School Garden Army and tried to “enlist” children as “soldiers of the soil”. And of course, Eleanor Roosevelt even planted a Victory Garden on the White House lawn.

This made me start thinking about why I started The Victory Garden to grow vegetables during The Pandemic and alleviate some trips to the grocery store. I realized that I had been doing what many people did during the wars to preserve their crops. Canning & preserving methods have certainly become easier over time. Small batch canning is the rage! It is estimated that by the end of the war approximately 1.45 million quarts of canned fruits and vegetables were produced. Can you imagine?

And then I realized that I keep my garden canned goods in my pantry, just like previous generations. And so ta da - my new garden was named!

My seedlings are growing nicely under the grow lights.

Hopefully construction of The Pantry Garden will start soon. I have to rototill and plant my root crops in a few weeks!

As many of you are gardening this year, I hope you continue to enjoy reading my garden adventures. I am sure there will be lots of twists, turns, and belly laughs. As always, I love hearing from you and your successes as well as “less than successes”. We all learn from each other. “Sowing the seeds of love” helps insure inner peace. In that spirit, stay well, enjoy the sunshine, and get out there continuing or creating a new legacy for you and your family! Believe me, you won’t be sorry to work your own piece of land!