Short Picture Stories from Noble Coast Photography: Home Grown

During the first half of the 20th century communities in the United States established "Victory Gardens" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden. The Victory Garden was a private or community vegetable garden planted and harvested to reduce demands on the country's resources during the war years. In 1943 Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden on the White House grounds. The Victory Garden movement proved successful as more than 20 million home gardens supplied 40% of the produce consumed in the United States. Many things changed after the end of World War II and the White House Victory Garden was replaced with green lawn. The Clintons brought back the idea of a White House vegetable garden. This effort was mainly resigned to potted plants on the roof of the White House because the White house grounds were deemed too formal for a full vegetable garden. Since then, with the many benefits of a home vegetable garden now rejuvenated in public opinion, the Obamas have planted the largest White House vegetable garden on the south lawn.

As vegetable gardens have made a comeback at the White House, so have they in many private homes all over the United States. It has been reported that the demand for vegetable seeds is up 22% since 2008. Because of economic and environmental reasons, the number of homes planting a vegetable, fruit and or a herb garden is growing at an approximate 10% rate per year! For the people who don't have room in their backyard or don't have a backyard, a community garden is often the answer. Today's community gardens are usually managed by a professional staff and sometimes require a membership fee to join. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/

The number of families planting a summer vegetable garden continues to grow every year. And why not? People are looking for healthy organic alternatives to what they find at the local supermarket. Whatever the reason, the increasingly popular home vegetable garden can provide families with local grown fresh vegetables and a healthy safe source of food. Anyone want any tomatoes?