Victory over global warming is a long way off, but your own backyard is a good place to start.

During World War II, the government asked families to grow their own food in victory gardens, so that more supplies could be diverted to troops stationed around the world.

Today, the crisis is environmental as greenhouse gases threaten the planet.

A modern version of the victory garden can help those who think globally to eat more locally.

“Why are we getting our food shipped in from Oregon,” asks Peggy Pelkonen, a landscape architect at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, “if we can grow it safely in our own backyard?”

Planting your own vegetable garden has many benefits, from direct control over food’s safety to fewer grocery store trips, more vivid vegetable flavor and even healthier eating habits. “If my kids see how something grows, they’ll enjoy eating it more,” said Pelkonen, who has two young sons.

During World War II, master gardener Lucy Bonitz of Mount Prospect was a child growing up on Chicago’s North Side. She remembers government food rations, and her own family’s victory garden.

“My parents grew all the usuals – tomatoes, peppers, beans – easy plants that gave a big yield,” she said.

When she moved to the Northwest suburbs after getting married, Bonitz took vegetable gardening with her.

“I’ve grown my own vegetables since I moved into my first house in 1964,” she said.

A vegetable garden can be as small as 4 feet by 4 feet. “You can easily have four nice tomato plants and nine peppers,” Bonitz said. To maximize space, make sure plants grow “up” – not “out” – by using trellises for bean stalks and tomato vines to latch on.

For the novice gardener, focus on easy-to-grow vegetables – tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb and eggplants.

“Asparagus and rhubarb are perennials and just come back again and again,” Pelkonen said.

Pelkonen makes a habit of throwing one or two surplus tomatoes back into her garden at the end of the summer. “They always re-seed,” she said. “I never have to buy more (tomato) plants.”

Over the past few years, Pelkonen and Bonitz both have given up using pesticides, instead spraying their plants with a simple soap and water mixture.

“So many dogs are getting cancer these days,” Pelkonen said. “A big reason for that is they’re ingesting pesticides from the garden. I just have a problem putting things in the soil you don’t even want on your skin.”

Another “green” garden idea is using rain barrels for watering. Hook the barrel up to your downspout to collect rainwater coming off the roof, which can be used to water your garden. Rainwater is better than tap water for plants because of its slight acidity, which helps them absorb the soil’s minerals, and because it contains no added chemicals.

Fully assembled barrels can be ordered from Internet outlets like www.cleanairgarending.com at prices ranging from $50 to $300. Each barrel has a spigot, overflow hose valve and an atrium to filter out debris. A lid is important to keep out mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus.

If you’d rather build one, www.cityofchicago.org provides simple, how-to directions, from where to place your rain barrel to maintenance and downspout connection directions.

A makeshift rain barrel exclusively for tomato plants can be made with a leftover plastic milk jug. Cut off the top and poke several holes in the gallon’s bottom, pouring some water in and then placing a few scoops of dirt on top. “If you bury that next to your tomato plant, a direct supply of rainwater is administered at a slower pace,” Pelkonen said.

Rabbit problems can be tackled through raised beds with chicken wire around them. “Nothing is foolproof for rabbits, but this type of fence seems to work best,” she said.

Bonitz advises that today’s victory garden needs at least six hours of sunlight per day. “Eight is better if you can find a space,” she said.

Toward the end of each summer, Bonitz usually finds she has more than enough vegetables for her own family. “I have three 8-by-4-foot raised beds, which often produce so many vegetables I’ve gone with wheelbarrows full of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants around the neighborhood, and have donated 60-70 pounds to the hungry.

“All of this out of such a little space,” she said.

source : www.dailyherald.com