During World War II, Victory Gardens went a long way in providing fresh vegetables and helped alleviate food shortages. In 1943 alone, a Department of Agriculture survey showed that 42 percent of the fresh vegetables came from victory gardens.

Marylanders did their part, sowing many seeds and tending their community plots and backyard gardens. Gardeners were recruited by the Civilian Mobilization Commitee and Garden Clubs. These organizations, along with colleges, libraries, newspapers and agricultural departments distributed educational material to help people with their gardens. The Baltimore area alone had more than 50,000 individual gardeners. Plots sprouted in parks, school yards, businesses and neighborhood plots.

Gardening is again growing in popularity due to health and economic reasons. You don't need a large plot of land to have a garden, just a little bit of soil and some seeds or plants.

To read more about gardening, check out Susan Reimer's blog, Garden Variety.

Here's a link to a gallery of archive photos of local Victory Gardens.

Here are some other interesting links about the WWII gardens:

"Operation Rutabaga," from the America in WWII site.

The Victory Gardens chapter from a site about Farming in the 1940.