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Slow Food Nation - The Victory Garden

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Sep 01, 2008 at 19:59:21 PM PDT

During World War II, America turned its production capabilities to the war effort and encouraged all citizens to help by growing their own "Victory Gardens" to meet the nation's food needs. Today, a Victory Garden adorns the block directly in front of San Francisco's City Hall. It will be there until November, and I don't know what will become of it after that.

The new Victory Garden was a popular tourist attraction this past weekend (and I'd imagine it will continue to be popular in the coming months). This garden serves a different purpose than the original victory gardens. Many people today have no idea how food grows. They don't know what it looks like when it's growing. (Until recently, I fell in that category too!)

A funny story I heard that illustrates the vital educational role served by the modern victory garden involves a class field trip to a pumpkin patch. The children were all very excited about picking out pumpkins, but one boy asked the teacher "What are all the pumpkins doing sitting in the dirt?" Yes folks, real food grows in dirt. Or better yet - soil. Which we can enrich with compost from our own food waste. And I LOVE that San Francisco is taking this lesson to its citizens.

Below the flip, enjoy a photo tour...

Jill Richardson :: Slow Food Nation - The Victory Garden

Park your bike and come along...

Here is some music for you to enjoy as you stroll through this beautiful garden!

The Food

America's #1 crop: corn

Here's a close-up. Looks yummy! I like mine with lime juice and chili powder.

Corn is one of the "Three Sisters" that were staples of the native American diet: corn, beans, and squash.

Some broccoli - labeled in all 3 languages that I speak. I guess they knew I was coming.

Broccoli's glamour shot

Fresh tomatoes, one of the most perfect foods there is. They were growing alongside a bunch of basil.

Lettuce, various kinds.

I love this design - beautiful, yet very accessible if you need to get in there to do some weeding or something.

One more picture. Very pretty. But not too pretty to eat. Check out that gorgeous chard!

Collards. Yummy. (I didn't get a pic but I tasted some kale)

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to eat this or hang Christmas ornaments on it.

Native California Habitats

Coastal Scrub

Oak Woodland

Pollinator Habitat

Riparian

Flowers

No idea what these are, other than pretty. Can I eat them?

California Poppies

Next stop on your photo tour... the Slow Food Nation farmers' market!

Tags: victory garden, Slow Food Nation, San Francisco, Food Festivals, (All Tags)

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Slow Food Nation - The Victory Garden | 2 comments

Thanks! :) (4.00 / 2)

I was wondering how it looked...

I hope they'll continue to maintain it after November, though. They can't honestly say that in San Francisco, they wouldn't be able to find volunteers or an organization or three to keep it going. Would be a great community project to keep going, benefiting local food banks. Every city needs to do something like this...

I can honestly say I've never even thought about lime juice or chili powder on corn...I guess I'm just "plain folk", heh. I roast mine in the oven for ~ 30 minutes, and then peel it and eat it with just a tiny bit of butter and salt. Or sometimes just skip the butter and salt altogether at the height of the season, when local sweet corn doesn't really need much of anything besides a little bit of heat...

I love that they included native habitats, too. There are so many little parks like that scattered around Portland, in just the strangest places. Earlier this year when I worked for that Boeing contractor up in NE Portland on the outskirts of the airport, up at Columbia and NE 47th - that neighborhood was just a hideous industrialized wasteland, and one of the few streets in Portland that doesn't have sidewalks along it. But halfway along my daily 1/2 mile walk from the bus stop to the facility, there's Whitaker Ponds Natural Area - this incredibly beautiful little city park / nature preserve thing along the creek and the pond there, where I used to spend my lunch breaks when I worked day shifts up there. The little gazebo in the middle is even a Green Roof showcase, and on a clear day you have the most amazing view of Mount Hood. It is just like right there...

by: JayinPhiladelphia @ Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 03:27:09 AM UTC