Loretta Craig – Victory Gardens: Myths, Facts, History, & Inspiration

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Loretta Craig – Victory Gardens: Myths, Facts, History, & Inspiration

 

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Loretta

I hope the concept of Victory Gardens inspires you as much as it inspires me. We have been homesteading for 10 years now and I am just as passionate about local food and food security as I was at the beginning. Gardening and nature offer a curriculum for life and there is so much to learn so this lifestyle is never boring and so rewarding. I don't share much about our homestead here and I'm not very good about sharing our story on FB but I hope to get better. During these 10 years, I traveled down the path of eco-spirituality and then functional medicine. My niche is becoming that intersection between soil health and human health. I hope to do a talk on that for Marjory's Home Medicine Summit. Stay tuned. We are updating our website but there is a neat workshop on there if you are interested in eco-spirituality. If you have any questions let me know.

Here's what I did today. 2.5 gallons of yogurt fermenting for the next 2 days.

yogurt don.jpg

Barbara

Such a great, informative presentation! Thank you, Loretta!

Loretta

Thanks Barbara! Good luck this year with your garden.

Marjory Wildcraft

Hi Loretta, so glad to see you online. I've been getting more questions about Victory gardens lately. I love this presentation.

Rose

Loved it! Very informative. My hubby and I both served for 5 years and are trying to grow our own food now too. Everything old is new again!

Loretta

Isn't that the truth, Rose. In so many ways, especially with agriculture, it is true that we are going back to traditional/indigenous wisdom. It is exciting because science is explaining why those methods worked so well.

shllnzl

Great presentation. There are scary parallels with today's coronavirus world.

Brenda

Thank you Loretta for the amazing presentation about Victory gardens which I knew nothing about. I am retired & live in an apartment . Yet I have four raised beds at our Senior center& ceramic pots of herbs in my yard. I am a vegetarian. There is aN annual Food Revelation Summit by John & Ocean Robbins That just finished in case you were not aware of their work since the 1970’s. Together with Marjory’s summit I keep well educated & learn so may new ideas I can use. You are a blessing, keep up the great work. We as a people need to take our health into our own hands not relying on our government or healthcare to do this for us. With people like you & others at this summit we will make the future generations sustainable & healthy. ♥️♥️

Loretta

It's empowering to have the skills to provide some of your own food. Here was our dinner one night last week. "Look honey, everything on the plate we either raised or grew" minus the avocado, but not including the rhubarb and strawberries for dessert. We are still eating sweet potatoes from October's harvest.

Leza

Loved this presentation, Loretta!!! Very inspirational! I've been trying to encourage people to grow their own food, and maybe this will do it! 😃 There was a presentation like this a couple of years ago--maybe this was it? Very interesting, insightful, and we'll done! 😍

Kristal

Really enjoyed Loretta's presentation! I've always been intrigued with the Victory Garden movement and history. And She, along with the other presenters leave me hopeful and inspired! thank you!

Gail

Just loved this presentation: informative, encouraging, patriotic! So appropriate right now during the stay-at-home quarantine.

I hadn't thought about gardening in terms of history. Free seeds from the government and an ad campaign to cheer citizens on! Over and above the monetary and mental and physical health benefits! Makes me want to read and hear more, and I have been a gardener all my life.

Thank you for this presentation.

Cherlynn

I totally wish I could share this with people! This is awesome.

andrea

Thanks Loretta. What an amazing presentation; you gave us much food for thought. I have been an avid flower gardener and made the decision to start a vegetable/herb garden after switching to a plant-based diet last summer to help with a chronic health condition. I just finished watching the Food Revolution Summit and then this summit arrived at an opportune time (thanks Marjory). This pandemic has shown us a strong immune system is key to fighting this virus; what we put in our mouths can contribute either to improved health or our demise. I feel so inspired and empowered by you ladies and can't wait to get planting! Again, thank you so much for this information.

Loretta

Andrea, and all. Thank you so much. It is still challenging to grow, cook and then decide to eat your food instead of pizza and beer. I would encourage you to find like minded individuals in your area. Most regions have local food organizations, community gardens and gardening groups that can support you. We all know what to do, but learning the skills and the habits takes time. Motivation and encouragement from others will help us shift our lifestyles and help us avoid getting discouraged or overwhelmed.

Wouldn't it be great if we had some national gardening goals? Best of luck to you!

Michael

Inspirational! An excellent big picture for us! I am so glad I watched this one!

marga

Excellent presentation, informative and inspiring, wish any more people would see it.

Wendy

Like Andrea (above) this follows on from the Food Revolutions Summit and culdn't be more timely, I look forward to learning from your excellent guest speakers and have vowed to devote some of my flower garden to vegetables,

Karin

What an inspiring presentation! Full of great historical information. What happened to the patriotic people, caring for all? When we see how people have behaved in the recent shortages - pushing others out of the way in supermarket aisles to get stuff they don't need. I think this presentation should be posted far and wide, love the quotes, just great!

ceriridenour

Great to know more about victory gardens.We all need to become more aware of where our food comes from and just want has been done to it.

genaeliza

Denisha Cole

Great presentation! Thank you, I learned a lot!

Molly

Great presentation. I love history so this was right up my alley. I'd love to get a movement started in my area. Could I use some of the images and information you shared?

Loretta

Molly, most of the images are from the government so they are in the public domain. The information is history so yes you can use it. Glad you enjoyed it.

danlonowski

This was fantastic and a real eye opener. My wife and I are both from the Midwest and faintly remember some of the posters, but thanks Loretta for telling the story behind them all!

Lisa

Christa- Go ahead and share the Home Grown link and if you register for referral, Marjorie has special incentives for you. Our neighbors need to hear this and participate!

Peg

One word: Wow!

Chris

Ironically, the war machine never ended after either WWI and WWII. All those chemicals needed to find a new "profitable" niche. Unfortunately, they found their way into peace-time industries, including agriculture. Chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides now make the soil and food devoid of nutrients and sicken the population. The ultimate hubris is when we allowed patenting of seeds and their genetic engineering.

Thank you for this enlightening presentation. I believe if we are ever to undo the poisoning of our soil, seeds and plants, it is through a well-organized grassroots effort to grow our own non-GMO food organically on a local level throughout the US. In 1946 the Pepper-Neeley Bill (S.1875) was seeking to raise $100 million to discover a cure for cancer. Dr. Maxwell Gerson testified for 3 days along with patients who had been cured through his protocol. He did not use radiation or chemical treatments. He discovered that healthy soil was key to healthy food and healthy food was key to curing many illnesses, including cancer. Sadly, his testimony was expunged from the official transcript.

This was a great history lesson and we can learn from these past efforts how to take back the growing of healthy fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. Implementing local and individual healthy gardens on a national level would break dependence on the big ag corporate monopolies who produce much of the current unhealthy food supply. A sad irony is that our government is on the wrong side of this food war we're in (as evidenced by the inequity and insanity of the US Farm Bill subsidies).

Loretta

Yes, Chris, you nailed it. Did you happen to see the latest episode of 60 minutes? They did an expose on the recent bailout payments for agriculture. It is very interesting and highly recommended. Of course, the small farmers did not get much compared to the huge industrial farms. Those types of farms are more serf and peasant -- one wealthy owner and lots of employees. We just have to keep spreading the message of home grown poison free food on every table. Good luck with your garden this year!

herbantherapy

Beautiful presentation the poster shares were my favorite! I watched this one with my husband because he is a HUGE WWII buff. He found it interesting. And I was reminded that I wanted to grow my pumpkins in the front yard this year!