For several years I studied what are termed, by some "Defiant Gardens", or gardens that crop up everywhere in times of war. During the First World War, Charles Lathrop Pack designed the first comprehensive, nationwide plan for backyard gardeners to support the US's food supply. He published a book titled The War Garden Victorious, which was used during WWII to develop the War Garden into the Victory Garden.
In March of 2020 Victory Gardening burst forth with renewed vigor as Kentuckians were led by Governor Andy Beshear to stay #HealthyAtHome and practice extreme social distancing in order to stem the tide of COVID-19, a frightening and fast-moving viral infection capable of killing in a few days time.
Overnight, having workshops in a library setting became unthinkable. Gardeners are a friendly, open group - social distancing is a foreign concept unless there are only two of us and we're each working on the opposite end of a field. As the disease blazed toward Kentucky from several hard-hit areas, our library closed quickly, racing the spread of COVID, especially to our large high-risk population of library users over 50, or those with chronic diseases such as diabetes. And so our entire program of garden workshops were closed, vanished in an instant.
Nonetheless, we still need Victory Gardens right now. The Governor has charged us with maintaining our best health practices, including emotional and mental health. Gardening -- even tending to a few pots of herbs and flowers on the porch -- increases our exposure to healthful amounts of full-spectrum natural light and fresh air.
So we hope you'll join us in virtual gardening in the Year of COVID-19 - gardeners can't be kept apart for love nor money. Here's the first in our Clark County Public Library Victory Garden YouTube series. And of course, I'm starting with tomatoes....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QspjPysUCo
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