A Nobel for Victory Gardening?

Not exactly... but I did learn this week from Katie Workman's National Examiner blog that Elinor Ostrom just received a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for research inspired by World War II victory gardens.

From what I've gleaned online about her research, Ostrom was essential in shattering the myth that people can't manage shared resources effectively as a commons. Ask any community gardener or yardshare fan, and they'll back up Ostrom on the idea that people really can work together.

David Bollier on Forbes.com notes that:

At a moment when the mysteries of environmental sustainability remain elusive, Ostrom's scholarship has much to say. For example, if traditional government regulation is too blunt and unresponsive to local circumstances, Ostrom has proposed "limited-purpose governmental enterprises" that let participants work out the rules themselves, subject to certain overarching design principles (clear boundaries to the commons, participation by everyone affected, monitoring, etc.). Such approaches let people devise governance regimes that are tailored to the peculiarities of the local resource and can draw upon the commoners' personal familiarity with it.

That's all nice... but I'd like to think that the simple fact Ostrom was inspired by victory gardening will increase awareness about them and give us what a bunch of us really want and need: more home and community gardens!

(Incidentally, Ostrom is the first woman to receive a Nobel in this category, and she shares it with Oliver E. Williamson. Read more on Yahoo.com)

UPDATE: A bit more information about Ostrom's rich life and work can be found on her PubMed profile.

Image credit: Indiana University

Media & Web Watch

• Victory Garden Rooted in Giving (MO)

• Beaufort Public Garden Could Produce Big Harvest (S.C.)

• Looking Ahead to Autumn Gardening (TX)

• Victory Garden Set Up Behind Milford Church (MI)

Pro-Community Garden Editorial (Virginia)

I tried to embed the video, but it's not showing up. You can see it here.

Note that you can follow Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden on Twitter (@lewisginter).

Media & Web Watch: The State of the VG Revival is Strong

Sure, my garden may be on its last legs from our drought, but... HURRAH!...the Victory Garden revival itself is alive and well. The proof? This round up of recent stories and posts:

• Victory Gardens are Taking Root in County (SignonSanDiego.com, 21 July 2009)
• Kentucky First Lady Gets Inspired by White House Kitchen Garden (Obamafoodorama.com, 21 July 2009)
• Join the Victory Garden Contest (WickedLocal.com, Massachusetts, 19 July 2009)
• The Return of Victory Gardens (TNR.com's Energy Blog, 17 July 2009)
• Weekly Mulch: Urban Farming "Mushrooms" During the Recession (DailyKos.com, 17 July 2009)


Oh, and in case you missed my tweet a few weeks back, our fave Victory Garden artist Joe Wirtheim had a show of his work at Portland's mayor's office earlier this summer.

Some of us are starting to think about fall plantings. So, yes the revival continues. Onward!

Open Thread: A Victory Garden Blitz?

From the Journal Sentinel (25 May 2009):

A small army of volunteers plans to fan out across Milwaukee and Shorewood on Saturday in a "Victory Garden Blitz" to plant vegetable gardens at schools, churches, homes and even on a few rooftops.

Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the start of the gardening season, but the backdrop of war in Iraq and Afghanistan is not lost on organizers of the effort, which is aimed at growing more food close to home. 

These gardens - modeled after the Victory Gardens of World Wars I and II - are intended to inspire self-reliance at a time when some experts are predicting a global oil shortage within 20 years. (More)

Further evidence of Victory Garden 3.0 taking root--and bringing with it enhanced mainstream media visibility of peak oil.

I really like this idea and wonder if y'all have recent links to share from your local papers or alt. media sources that illustrate the evolution of the Victory Garden revival?

Happy Earth Day!

Here's some news worth celebrating:

In another sign that the Department of Agriculture is embracing sustainable food, the agency today will unveil expanded plans for a People's Garden that will include the entire six-acre grounds of the Whitten Building, the department's neoclassic marble headquarters on the Mall.

The plans, to be announced at the agency's Earth Day celebrations, include a 1,300-square-foot organic vegetable garden -- slightly larger than the one at the White House -- as well as ornamental flower gardens and bioswales, or mini-wetlands designed to reduce pollution and surface water runoff. The building grounds now are landscaped with grass, flower borders and trees planted to honor a person or mark an event...

In March, [Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack] convened a one-day meeting in Washington at which 47 gardening and horticulture organizations, including the Rodale Institute, Seed Savers and the American Community Gardeners Association, offered feedback on the project and brainstormed ways to spread the message to schools, churches and communities.

"I kept having to pinch myself in this meeting," said Rose Hayden-Smith, a historian and food systems educator at the University of California. "We're not the kind of people who have been invited to Washington, D.C., before. We're the guerrilla gardeners, the pollinator people, the seed savers. It wasn't our usual cast of characters. People were grinning from ear to ear."

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Open Thread: Monday Morning Ramble

Good stuff coming in the week ahead:

• For #twitter4vg Tuesday, we're talking "Kids & Gardens." The special guest this week is Bethe Almeras (@balmeras), co-founder of GreenHour.org and the founder of GrassStainGuru.com Chat with her from 10 AM to Noon (EST). Our regular co-hosts are @treesandshrubs and @kissmyaster. Look for thematic tweets from them (and me) throughout the day.

• Don't forget my "Food Not Lawns" giveaway!

• Look for a new Profile in Victory and possibly another book review here by Friday.

• Hmmm... I wonder if Joe Gardener will have another video up this week?

Food for thought:

• What Are You Defeating with "Victory Garden?" (Supereco.com)

Finally, what's on your mind and growing in your garden this week?

CNN.com Story on Recession/Victory Gardens

Our garden is mentioned in a CNN.com story today. See it here.

I'd also like to encourage all my blog readers to upload pics or videos of their home gardens to iReport.com. They've issued a call for Victory Garden pics. 

If you do upload something, be sure to put the link to your page in Comments so we can all go and check it out!

Media & Web Watch

Pick o' the Week:

Georgia movement to get gubernatorial kitchen garden kicks off online!

Curiosity o' the Week:

Organic White House Garden Puts Some Conventional Panties in a Twist 

(La Vida Locavore)

Be sure to tell me what you think about these two top picks!

A few more favorite tidbits from the flood of stories, blog posts out there this week:

Mainstream Media:
• Planting the Seeds of a Revolution (The Boston Globe) - Ellen Goodman gets the story right re: who was primarily responsible for White House garden.
• P. Allen Smith made a visit to The Today Show where things got dirty.

Alternative:
• Only the Inexperienced Are Cynical (Garden Rant)

• Growing Wild - Australian Style (The Grass Stain Guru)

Finally, I'm intrigued to learn what this is. Anyone care to venture a guess what Plenitude might be?

If you've got a Victory Garden post or know of another story that you'd like showcased, go ahead and provide a link in the comments below.

Update: In case you mixed my squawking about our garden being on CNN's Your Bottom Line, below is the picture they showed. Oh, and here's transcript of the show.  (HuffPo has the video that ran before our picture.)

More Victory Garden News You Can Use

• Joe Gardener is going on Good Morning America tomorrow (Thursday) to chat up veggie gardens and, hopefully, his $25 Victory Garden Project. You can show you support at his blog and on The $25 Victory Garden group. Oh, and on Twitter.com, of course.

• Call us crazy, but quite a few of us are in another Facebook group, hoping to get Oprah to talk about Victory/vegetable/kitchen gardening. As we all know, as goes Oprah... so goes the country. Join us?

Update: Artist Joe Wirtheim (Victory Garden of Tomorrow) has a new Facebook group, too. Please join!!

Breaking News: My Victory Garden Scheduled to Be On CNN This Weekend!

That's right... picture of the garden is scheduled to go up on the "big board". On Saturday, you can see it on "Your Bottom Line" on CNN at 9:30 AM EST. They will rebroadcast on Headline News on Sunday at 1:30PM EST.

It's Tuesday!

We'll be having a free-range chat on Twitter today! Join us.

Also, I quite like this discussion about why it's been so long since we had a White House garden. It includes comments from several folks, notably presidential historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Douglas Brinkley...plus, Roger Doiron of EatTheView!

Oh, and if you're hoping to have a shot at the free pass to the Horticulture Magazine veggie class, better make sure your blog is on the new registry. I'll announce the winner tonight, after 7:00 PM EST. Good luck! 

Media & Web Watch (Or, Prepare to Get Dirty, People)

I'm skipping my usual Media & Web Watch format. Honestly, if you can't tell that there's a groundswell in gardening coverage right now now, then you must be living under a rock. Even Bill Maher mentioned the new White House garden approvingly on Friday's show. (A year's worth of related media stories for newcomers).

Instead, I'm going to ask you to do a few things for me this week:

1. Accept that we've won the battle, but definitely not the war: The old adage is perfect. We've got a White House garden. Yay! We can now expect to hear all kinds of carping about how this important move is: a PR stunt by the Obama administration; a weak attempt to appeal to the liberal/elitist/garden/foodies; wholly insufficient because the garden isn't sufficiently organic/heirloom/whatever.

Oh, wait. These things are already being said in both the mainstream and alternative media. Some such remarks were made before FLOTUS planted her cute fancy boots and shovel in the First Lawn. Well, before we get frustrated and lose our zeal, let me say this: criticism (warranted or not) comes with the territory of civic engagement. Welcome, nascent Victory Garden revival supporters, to the world of public slings and brutal arrows! Truth is, long-time proponents have encountered it before (Exhibits A and B). Buck up. Get busy. Counter the criticism with facts, temper their pessimism with your own enthusiasm. Take the criticism and transform it into an opportunity for constructive dialogue. 

2. Remember that the most persuasive person in your community is you: That's right. The White House garden gives the movement new visibility, sure. But people in your 'hood are more likely to be convinced to join the movement if and when you reach out to them and invite them to join you. It's human nature; we look to our peers to influence our choices more than any media pundit, talking head, or celebrity (okay, Oprah may be the exception...and she does have a new garden channel on her website...but she's not the rule). Get out there and recruit some new gardeners! Invite them in person, via neighborhood or church newsletters...get creative! (More ideas) 

3. Remember that the most influential PR outreach person in your community is you: Editors listen to readers (especially subscribers...save the newspapers!). They also love your blog comments and letters to the editor. Start typing. Tell local reporters and editors that the hook may be the new White House garden but your little vegetable bed is the really interesting local story. Journalists love that kind of stuff. Be sure to remind them in your note that Americans can grow their own food at home for pleasure, nutrition, patriotism or whatever the best angle is for your community. (More ideas for engaging the local media)

4. Blog!!! By all means, if you've got a blog...use it. Connect the White House garden to your pro-sustainability efforts. (Need a writing prompt? Look to the Victory Garden meme project a bunch of us did last fall.)

5. If you have a blog, sign up for the RW&G Garden Registry. Why does this matter? Because my blog hits are up almost 200%. (Did I mention that this blog is mentioned in the next issue of Hobby Farm Home?) Come, ride the wave with us before it crests! Americans are hungry for information about Victory Gardening right now. Through the registry, interested parties will be able to find people like you who want to promote the revival. Plus, there's a chance to win something very cool!

Other ideas for us to keep the momentum going? Share? Your suggestions are needed now!

Media & Web Watch

Links o' the week:

Victory Garden Direct Action

(Guerrilla gardening meets the Victory Garden...on Facebook)

Maryland's Grow It Eat It Initiative

Alt Media

• USDA People's Garden a Great Start...More Needed (VictoryGrower blog)

• My Twenty-Five Dollar Organic Victory Garden Challenge (Joe Gardener's blog) 

• Spoiled: Organic & Local is So 2008 (Mother Jones)

• DC Victory Gardens series (We Love DC)

MSM

• Strategies: Here's a Good Idea that Will  Grow on You (USAToday)

• Recession Victory Garden (Washington Post blog)

• Victory Garden Meets Urban Permaculture and It Works (Chestnut Hill Local, PA)

• Bring Back the Victory Gardens (Lincoln Journal Online, WV)

Don't forget #twitter4vg Tuesday! There's a prize involved now. More details to come! 

Got a link to a relevant blog post or MSM story to share? Fire away!

Media & Web Watch

Reminder: 

Tomorrow is #twitter4vg Tuesday. 

The theme? "Getting Started".

We'll discuss both gardens and "seeding" the Victory Garden (VG)

 concept in communities coast-to-coast.

Noteworthy:

• There's a new video of the official RW&G garden up on Facebook! Please fan me and look for me to use that page a bit more this spring.

• While uploading my vid, I found another Facebook treasure, newly hatched: Victory Garden Direct Action

• I'm enamored with Jennah's Garden right now.

Mainstream Media:

• Public Invited to Participate in Purdue Extension Victory Gardens Program (Indiana)

• Share Your Victory Garden Memories (The Wire)

• Economic Meltdown Reason for a New Victory Garden Movement (AlterNet.com)

• Victory Garden Idea Growing in Stafford (Fredericksburg.com)

• Victory Gardens: Plant Dill & Cilantro Now (Dallas Morning News)

• Victory Movement: Patriotic Gardening Strategy Takes Root Again (LJWorld.com)

Media & Web Watch

Link of the week: 

Abandon Hope

(Thanks to Allyson...again!)

Also noteworthy: 

Food System Creators

(Found thanks to Rose, who is now on Twitter!) 

• Backyard Gardens May Sprout Self-Reliance (Ohio)
• Ohio Looks for Way Out of Economic Slump (MSNBC)
• Amador Master Gardeners to Offer Free Series through November (California)
• Let Community Gardens Grow (Pennsylvania)

• Rod Dreher: One Way to Cope? Grow Your Own (Texas)
• Victory Gardens: Keep Soil Loose When Planting Root Crops (Texas)

Got a great link to share re: Victory Gardening or related efforts? Please share it! 

(And, yes, this includes your own blog posts.)

Media & Web Watch

• Sow Those Seeds! (New York Times, 14 February 2009) - Thanks to regular RW&G reader Allyson for the tip on this one! 

• Growing Own Food a Great Stimulus Package (Deseret News, 15 February 2009)

• Act to Counter the Uncertainty: Grow Your Own Food (Ventura County Star, 15 February 2009)

Media & Web Watch

• Victory Garden: Plant Your Leafy Vegetables & Greens Now (Dallas Morning News, 5 February 2009)

• Victory Garden Risks Defeat (The Stranger (Seattle, Wa.), 6 February 2009)

• Summon Us to Service: Ask Americans to Grow Victory Gardens (HuffPo, 4 February 2009) 

Media & Web Watch

Is it wrong to feel a little giddy at the number of stories popping up now in anticipation of spring?

• Grow Your Way Out of Recession: Victory Garden Revival (PR Newswire, 27 January 2009)

• Plan a Victory Garden and Help Create the World in Which You Live (Natural News, 26 January 2009)

• Victory Gardening Movement Showing Real Growth (SFGate.com, 17 January 2009) - Reproduced from Los Angeles Times

• The Most Organic Post in Obama's White House (Daily Journal, 30 January 2009)

• White House Victory Garden - Symbolic or Stupid (Examiner.com, 23 January 2009)

• Victory Garden Class Encouraged Finding Places to Plant in One's Own Backyard (The Ukiah Daily Journal (California), 19 January 2009)

• Return of the Victory Garden (BendBulletin.com (Oregon), 13 January 2009)

BONUS: Check out Angela Thiel's terrific newspaper pots for your spring seedlings!

Abbreviated And Belated Media & Web Watch

Long story short...my mother-in-law passed away a week ago. As a result, I've been a little preoccupied. Will be back to posting regularly next week, until then take a listen to Fran Sorin's recent CBS Radio show regarding EatTheView.org. I haven't had a chance to hear it myself, but I'm betting that it's good.