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The success of Allied nations during the war is owed in part to
“victory gardens” (Credit: Credit: CSMimages/Getty Images)
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+ [25]Europe
+ [26]Great Britain
* [27]Covid-19

Victory gardens: A war-time hobby that’s back in fashion

Across the UK and beyond, people are digging in their backyards,
potting plants on balconies or using windowsills as suntraps for
seedlings.
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* By Ellie Howard

25 May 2020

It was late March when the UK lockdown was first announced. Around the
same time, I ordered a seedling tray and two packets of “Cut ‘n’ Come
Again” leafy greens: arugula, rucola, oriental mustard, pak choy and
borecole. Nearly two months later, lockdown still hasn’t been lifted,
but my tufty lettuce leaves have shot up. For billions, globally, the
Covid-19 pandemic has spelt a period of deep uncertainty and
stagnation, but watching green miracles occur in my vegetable patch has
been reassuring. I’m not alone in thinking so.

[40]View image of One result of the Covid-19 pandemic is soaring seeds
sales, as people take food production into their own hands (Credit:
Credit: LarisaL/Getty Images)

The early weeks of the pandemic threw the global supply chain into
disarray, setting off a wave of stockpiling. The US saw a spike in
[41]alternative milk sales, [42]Australia lacked flour on supermarket
shelves, [43]pasta was scarce in Italy and [44]eggs in Britain. Many
countries [45]reported fears of labour shortages for perishables such
as fresh vegetables, according to Time magazine. As with any crisis,
people have been quick to take matters into their own hands – as
highlighted by soaring seed sales.

You may also be interested in:
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A recent [49]report by the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS)
shows 42% of Britons have taken to gardening to cope with lockdown,
while a [50]third of a million searched for tips on growing garden
variety crops on the Royal Horticultural Society website – the most
popular being [51]the humble potato. [52]Across the UK and beyond,
people are digging in their backyards, potting plants on balconies or
using windowsills as suntraps for seedlings.

The rush to grow-your-own has sparked comparisons to ‘victory
gardening’. Dug either side of the Atlantic, from North America to
Great Britain and further afield in Australia, these kitchen gardens
became popularised in World War One and World War Two when shortages
reached critical levels in the Allied nations. In response, governments
coordinated domestic campaigns calling upon citizens to fuel the war
effort and feed the country. Working the soil became a patriotic duty.

[53]View image of The success of Allied nations during World War One
and World War Two is owed in part to “victory gardens” (Credit: Credit:
CSMimages/Getty Images)

In the UK, most widely remembered is the “Dig for Victory” campaign
launched by the British Ministry of Agriculture in 1939. It was so
successful that the number of allotments grew to 1.7 million in just
three years, while private gardens with vegetable produce numbered five
million.

Food prices are going up, and fresh produce is going to be at a
premium

During the same period, a horticultural magazine paraphrased Napoleon’s
claim that the English were a nation of shopkeepers, instead writing:
“We might with equal justice be called a nation of gardeners”. The
claim stuck. Our obsession with gardening stretches far beyond a
national pastime; it is rooted in the British psyche. The garden is
considered a private sanctuary but also a site of creative expression
and personal pride, as reflected in the highly competitive British
annual “giant vegetable” competitions that spring up from [54]Harrogate
to [55]Carmarthenshire. For Britons, growing our own produce has the
added value of bringing locals together.

Victory gardens were also not just about food: cultivating fruit and
vegetables boosted morale and built momentum. Growing for the greater
good banded together communities and enabled those stuck at home to
play a part, however small. Perhaps this is why the gardens’ legacy can
still be felt today. While [56]using the analogy of war to describe a
viral pandemic is controversial, it makes sense that we‘ve connected
the two moments in time. It is the sense of community spirit we want to
revive – and a victory garden quite literally says we are in this
together.

[57]View image of Britain’s annual “giant vegetable” competitions are
hugely popular – and highly competitive (Credit: Credit: Oli
Scarff/Getty Images)

Beyond caring for our own families, green-fingered types are sharing
produce with their neighbours. A [58]su[59]rvey commissioned by the
British charity RSA cited that 42% of respondents feel the outbreak has
made them value food more, and 10% have shared supplies for the first
time.

I first noticed the neighbourly potential of plants three weeks after
lockdown had begun, when a neighbour I hardly knew knocked on the door
of my house in Suffolk. When I answered, she leapt behind the gate:
“Alpine strawberries,” she yelled, “Plant them in partial shade”. A
week later, a trio of pepper seedlings appeared – another gift. To say
thank you, I delivered fat garlicky leaves of wild ransom, foraged
between bluebells in a nearby woodland. Now, we swap excited texts
about her egg-laying tortoise, Rosie. Since then, I check what Jeanie
and her husband, John, would like from the shops; why I waited for a
pandemic to do this is beyond me.

Outside their gate, a sign offers willowherb and more wild strawberries
– anything surplus they don’t need. “If someone likes something in your
garden, you can just take a cutting for them,” John said. “It doesn’t
cost you anything.”

[60]View image of Tomatoes are a popular choice for gardeners with
little space, as they’re adaptable and easy to grow (Credit: Credit:
Vaivirga/Getty Images)

The [61]Bristol Seed Swap has been promoting the circular economy of
seed saving for years. A few days after lockdown, they advertised
leftover seed packets from a previous event, which the public could
request free of charge by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Diane Holness, a spokesperson for the non-profit, said swells of
gardeners were in touch with requests. “We sent seeds to around 150
people,” she said. “I think everyone is aware that food prices are
going up, and that fresh produce is going to be at a premium.”

The most requested seeds were tomato; adaptable and easy to grow. “I
think they are one crop that can fit into even the tiniest space, even
a balcony,” she said.

Luckily, the organisation had plenty. As Holness said, harvesting seeds
costs you nothing, but goes a long way to helping someone else: “If you
know how, you could almost save enough cabbage seeds for everyone in
the city.”

Two hours west of Bristol, West Dorset’s foodie capital, Bridport, has
been a hive of activity since lockdown. Created in response to
quarantine, the [62]Bridport Grow Your Own community Facebook group has
played a large role in greening the town. Just as the 1930s Dig for
Victory leaflets relayed growing information, online groups are helping
new growers by circulating plant wisdom.

[63]View image of According to the UK's Office for National Statistics,
42% of Britons have taken to gardening to cope with lockdown (Credit:
Credit: BlokPhoto/Getty Images)

“As a town, I think we are all at it,” environmentalist and educator
Kim Squirrel told me. “People have dug up their gardens and others are
growing in pots.” She works a private allotment on the town’s edge,
shared between 10 houses, that includes her neighbour Rachel Millson.
Both have turned their full attention to growing with news of the
lockdown. Squirrel’s potager garden is crammed with brassicas alongside
beans, French to dwarf, winding up bamboo stalks that are also
home-grown. Pear and espalier apple trees will fruit come the summer.

Millson’s garden exploits are equally impressive: overwintering crops
such as earthy beetroot, onion and leeks fill up one plot. Another bed
is an experiment in perennial vegetables, such as asparagus, that take
less carbon from the soil.

“The pandemic has cemented in my mind the need to be growing more food,
not just for my own family and to save money, but for the wider
community,” Millson said.

She feels fortunate to have an allotment, but wishes there was more
recognition that growing your own food isn’t just a pastime but “real,
important work”. Millson strongly believes it has personal benefits and
also aids community wellbeing. Pre-empting that food inequality is
going to be at an all-time high, she has purposefully grown extra
vegetable crops with a mind to donate them to a local foodbank.

[64]View image of Rachel Millson shares a private allotment on the edge
of Bridport with 10 other houses (Credit: Credit: Lily Colfox)

Part of the fun of growing your own produce is in sharing your
hard-earned bounty with family and friends. But while delivering your
overzealous courgette crop is practical, there is something special in
giving someone a plant they can cultivate themselves.

We have common ground now, something other than the fear around the
pandemic

Bruno White had just moved to Ditcheat, Somerset, when the UK went into
lockdown on 23 March. He wrote to his new neighbours to introduce
himself and set up an informal mutual aid group. One elderly gentleman
he shopped for was so grateful that he left a collection of plants on
White’s doorstep, each with handwritten instructions. Shortly
afterwards, another thankful neighbour gifted him packets of biodynamic
seeds: “He taught us about Three Sisters. It's a traditional Native
American method. You grow corn, then beans to climb up it, then squash
to shade and stifle any weeds.”

White has since been cultivating his garden and has been surprised at
how easy it is – and how kind his neighbours are. “We have common
ground now, something other than the fear around the pandemic,” he
said.

[65]View image of A new trend is gardeners sharing produce with their
neighbours (Credit: Credit: Lily Colfox)

While the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic were filled with panic,
hopefully it will be the incredible displays of neighbourly spirit that
we will remember. The victory garden movement of the World Wars not
only helped strengthen communities, but also gave home-bound
individuals a chance to contribute to those fighting on the front line.
Amid a pandemic, the vegetable garden has similar appeal: it offers a
sustainable solution to food security that not only helps us, but
allows us to care for our neighbours too.

At a time of uncertainty and confusion, even planting a lettuce seed
can offer a semblance of hope.

[66]Neighbourly love is an uplifting and emotionally engaging BBC
Travel series that shows how acts of generosity can have profound
effects in destinations around the world.

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