Are victory gardens making a triumphant return?

After baking bread and escaping through Hawaiian food, foodies are looking for the next thing to embrace in the food world. Is it time for victory gardens?

Victory gardens might be a concept that is more familiar to The Greatest Generation. Looking through history annuals, many families carefully sowed the seas and did their part. Popular during World War II, these gardens not only provided food, those gardens were a sense of hope.

Often the start of May is home planting season. Besides the pretty flowers that bring color to the backyard, many people plant fruits and vegetables. From that tomato plant to even just a rosemary bush, the backyard garden is often a summer ritual.

This year as grocery store visits are less frequent, store shelves are not overflowing and everyone cannot quell that feeling of uncertainty. There has been a rise of backyard gardens and plantings. Although not necessarily the same as those historic victory gardens, there is a similar yearning associated with this surge of planting.

Over the years, many people have felt the need to better understand where and how their food was grown or produced. From the local farmer to the product traceability, consumers want to understand the wheres, hows and why a food got to the plate.

By growing produce at home, more people can control those aspects. Whether grown organically or appreciating the process, there are many fulfilling aspects to the growing experience.

Some people have started their appreciation of growing food at home via a windowsill herb garden. Those little pots of fresh herbs can be a big boost of flavor and color to any dish. From a snip of chives to a sprinkle of parsley, there are numerous options and uses in the kitchen. Even just having a plant in the kitchen can be a pick me up.

Other people have started larger versions. From container gardens to a plot in the backyard, there are a variety of options. Depending on your location, do a little research to see what grows best.

As home cooks continue to appreciate the benefits of home cooking, the home garden can become even more important. Although there are less food shortages when it comes to produce, being able to pick a pepper or tomato from the home garden becomes not only efficient it is satisfying on many levels.

The sense of accomplishment of growing a food from seedling to harvest is satisfying. In a way, that the growing is a victory, a different victory garden.

Once home cooks start cooking with that home grown produce, they might realize that the flavors are different. From sweeter notes to just being fresher, there is a difference. When produce does not sit on a truck for long periods of time, it does taste different.

Maybe these gardens can help people to develop a new love of a food that they previously didn’t like. A vine ripe, sweet tomato is quite different than a tomato from the store. The same can be said for many other foods.

Overall, now might be the time to rediscover garden that could be grown in your home. Whether you call it a victory garden or something else, growing your own food could be quite satisfying.

Have you thought about growing a victory garden? Has the current climate changed how you eat?