Victory garden

**World War I**:
– Victory Gardens popular in Canada in 1917
– Ministry of Agriculture’s campaign promoted vegetable gardening
– Expert gardeners engaged school children in Toronto
– Keeping hens for eggs was encouraged
– Large production of potatoes, beets, and cabbage resulted

**World War II**:
– **Australia**:
– Australia launched Dig for Victory campaign in 1942
– YWCA created Garden Army Week to support agriculture
– Rationing and shortage of workers led to the campaign
– Home gardens continued throughout the war
– Australians were self-sufficient in growing fruits and vegetables

– **Britain**:
– Land like waste ground and sports fields used for farming
– Allotments doubled to 1,400,000 by 1943
– Radio programme ‘In Your Garden’ provided gardening advice
– Victory gardens planted in backyards and rooftops
– Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle had vegetable gardens

– **United States**:
– Department of Agriculture encouraged victory gardens
– One third of US vegetable production came from victory gardens
– 18 million victory gardens in the US by May 1943
– Eleanor Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden at the White House
– Fruit and vegetable production in home plots equaled commercial production

**Films**:
– Several countries produced numerous information films about growing victory gardens.
– **Canada**:
– World War II
– He Plants for Victory (1943)
– **United Kingdom**:
– World War I
– Grow Vegetables For War Effort
– War Garden Parade
– World War II
– Dig For Victory!

**Television**:
– **The Victory Garden TV Series**:
– The WGBH public-television series promoted composting and intensive cropping for homeowners.

– **The Good Life sitcom**:
– Portrays Tom and Barbara Good’s efforts to become self-sufficient.
– They turn over most of their garden to vegetable production and a chicken coop.
– The Goods struggle to adapt to living from their victory garden.

**Related Concepts**:
– Australian Women’s Land Army
– Community garden
– Home front during World War II
– List of garden types
– List of renewable resources produced and traded by the United Kingdom