>  
> Victory Gardens were  established during World War I,
> and took off  during World War II.  Most people had back
> yard gardens during the 2nd World War to allow the
> agribusiness folk to send food overseas.  Now we are
> growing victory gardens to take the stress off of our
> limited resources  with peak oil and global warming.

                     >The gardens are fullly organic, decreasing oil use (our food is transported an average

                     >of 1500 miles) and global warming.  Also the fact that do not require the food to be

                     >transported saves both oil and greenhouse gasses.  The more food we can grow at

                     >home the less impact onour fragile environment.  We are recreating that spirit of

                     >helping each other that the original American settlers started.

                     >It is an overwhelming job even with a 10 x 15 garden (which is wherre most of our

                     >garden start)  to clear the grass, blackberris or otherkinds of weeds.  We come in

                     >with a tam of folks to help "garden raise."  We were inspirred to start this when we

                     >learned, in one week, that 10 people had bought land in order to grow food and had

                     >spent as many as 10 years sbuying another garden book and still had not started a

                     >garden.

 

 

 

>Gardening lends itself to being caught not taught.  By this we mean that one                    

>cannot really understand soil and vegetation by merely reading a book.  

>It is the act of listening and sensing that leads to a harmony

>between the grower and the growing.  There are parts of gardening

>where we need to use our minds, but a large part is learning to listen to the plants

>and to become a part of the living ecosystem which is the garden.  When we

>participate with nature in this way, there is a sense of belonging that comes

to...

                                   

>us, and meets deep inner needs.

 

 

 

                     >People receiving gardens then pay it forward by helping 3 others  build gardens.   
                     >People learn more  than they knew about gardening and the comaradie is fun and

                     >exhillerating.

 

 

                     >We have a full service program.  We clear the area, bring in compost, make beds

                     >for planting (by digging trenches and heaping what we dig out onto the surrounding

                     >beds, bring in the plants and seeds that are needed.  One thing that sets us apart

                     >from most other fold and allows us to turn the clay soil so rampant in Eugene into

                     >fryable top soil is that we bring in microbes to help the ecosystem get established.

                     >We also do a bed system and plant quite close together which cuts down on

                     >weeding and damage to the microbes from the bare earth.

  

 

                     >We ask for a donation of between $60.00 and $500 dollars, the high end being what

                     >this would cost if you wnt us to do it for you and not participate in helping with

                     >other gardens.  We have a program where we do garden raising for disabled people

                     >as well as people who cannot pay anything.  Any monies that we receive over

                     >our basic costs which amount to more than $60.00 goes to help these other

                     >programs. 

 

 

 

                 >We also ask that you water the garden, stop the weeds from taking over the garden

                     >(this means just keep the weeds from getting biggrer than the plants.  The ground a

                     >actually likes some weed cover.), that you haravest and eat the food, that you give

                     >away excess and pay it forward by helping other folk with their grdens.                      

 

 

      
      In the winter, as well as starting these gardens, we will also
      do sheet mulching which is laying down cardboard and
      spreading leaves for the purpose of being ready to plant
      in the spring.  Instead of vegetables, we then plant a cover
      crop to allow the garden to be easily planted in February or
      when you want to plant.

 

         We also help people erect greenhouses.  The cost for one 20 x 9.5

         is around !25.00.  We have a free source of plastic (it is not greenhouse

         plastic).  We will also bring the materials for what we call row covers which

         puts wires and  plastic over the garden beds.

>      We are also beginning to do shade gardens, medicinal gardens

      and forest gardens (meaning establishing an ecosystem
      where nuts, fruit, and perennial vegetables grow to
      eventually allow a large harvest with little work.

 

> We will also come and do consultations for which we

> ask for a donation.. 

>
> Charlotte Anthony
> 653-0149
>
>