Stuck at home with the kids and going crazy sitting and waiting for the COVID-19 lockdown to pass? Angry that you can’t get the food items you are accustomed to from H-E-B? Worried that it feels like you are not controlling anything happening lately? Take local control with a Victory Garden!
Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I and World War II. In the war time governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale.
Planting a Victory Garden engages the whole family in an activity that
1. Is outdoors (Yay!)
2 Is educational (Yes this counts as homeschool activity if you log it)
3. Is fun
4. Is inexpensive
5. Gives you and your family control over a real local food supply
But wait, you say, I don’t know how to plant a garden!
Not to worry, I got you on this! Follow my guide below to make an EZ Victory Garden today. In this example I used a 6’ x 2’ x 2’ galvanized steel trough from Tractor Supply. You can scale it down by a third by using the 4’ x 2’ x 2’ steel trough if you like, just cut all the inventory by roughly a 1/3.
Project time
4 hours including shopping time
Project Inventory
From Tractor Supply
1 - 6’ x 2’ x 2’ galvanized steel trough $180
(Alternatively, the 4’ x 2’ x 2’ trough is currently on sale for $95)
1 – Bag Easy Straw Mulch $15
(Optional)
From Home Depot
8 – 50 qt Magic-Gro potting soil $115
(Less expensive options available)
1 – Roll Weedblock Film $13
1 – Miracle-Gro Garden Feeder $12
(Optional)
Fruits & Veggies – Customize as you like here. We opted mostly for plants. The only seedlings we planted were lettuce and cabbage.
2 - Griller Zucchini 5” $8.76
1 – Big Bertha Bell Pepper 4.5” $3.40
2 – Strawberry 4.5” $7.56
1 – Cantaloupe 5” $4.38
2 – Tomato 4” $8.76
1 – Red Bell Pepper 4” $8.75
2 – Cucumber 4.5” $7.56
1 – Packet Cabbage Seeds $1.59
1 – Packet Lettuce Seeds $1.69
How to do it
1. Select an area of your yard that gets a lot of direct sunlight.
2. Place the trough in the desired location and cut in around the base with a spade, outlining the container.
3. Move the trough and dig out the lawn to create a pad, leveling the planter.
4. Drill holes in the bottom of the trough to allow for drainage.
5. Cut the Weedblock Film to the dimensions of your trough 6’ x 2’ in our instance.
6. Place the trough on the prepared pad and put the Weedblock Film in the bottom.
7. Fill with potting soil, taking time to spread evenly as you go
8. Plan out your garden layout on paper or by setting plants on the planter.
9. Plant your garden according to your plan. Ensure you left enough room between the plants!
10. Water the plants (We used Miracle-Gro plant food in our water).
11. Once the soil settles a bit, you can top it with the hay mulch which will ass additional nutrients and help keep the moisture in the soil.
12. Watch it grow!
Educational topics I discussed with my son.
1. The history of Victory Gardens.
2. How to calculate volume using 3 dimensions and square footage using 2 dimensions (I explained the concepts of square feet and cubic feet using dimensions, then I had my son calculate the approximate volume and square footage of the planter).
3. Soil science and crop rotation on large farms (This was a general discussion at a 4th grade level with some history of why we do it and what can happen if it is not managed properly).
Enjoy!
Larry Allhands