REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio – Last year’s pandemic shut-downs had increasing numbers of people getting their fingers dirty in the garden. In response to that, the Kentucky and Ohio Departments of Agriculture developed Victory Garden campaigns to offer seeds, information on gardening, weeds, pests and harvesting, and recipes on how to use their crops.

During World War I and II, governments encouraged citizens to plant Victory Gardens when commercial crops were diverted to the military overseas, according to History.com. When food rationing came to the United States in 1942, Americans were even more inclined to plant gardens.

Victory Gardens were a successful means of boosting morale, expressing patriotism, safeguarding against food shortages and easing the burden of farmers working to feed the troops. In 1944, an estimated 20 million Victory Gardens produced roughly 8 million tons of food – the equivalent of more than 40 percent of the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States.

Last year’s shut-down gave Dr. Ryan Quarles, Kentucky commissioner of agriculture, the opportunity to reinvent the WW II genre Victory Garden campaign, something he had wanted to do for years.

“The global pandemic is not a world war, but it presented a creative way to reinvent, what I think, was a successful connection between the farm world, and our consumers, which has drastically changed since WW II,” Quarles said.

“There’s been a lot of knowledge lost, from canning to the concept that food grows in seasons,” he said. “So for us, yes, people are looking to grow their own food in their backyard, but the bigger goal is ag education literacy. Do people know where their food comes from?”

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture, along with the cooperative extension service and nutritionists across the state, developed Kentucky’s program. Because it all came together in such a hurry, some, but not all extension offices were able to offer seeds. All told participants where they could find seeds, how to download an online kit, offered gardening tips and recipes. Kentucky also reinvented a modern-day Victory garden poster.

“We were intentional, in knowing that not everyone has a backyard, to let the Victory Garden work for gardens of all sizes, whether it’s a raised bed in the backyard, or a single potted tomato plant on a windowsill,” said Quarles, who grew up in a gardening family. “We wanted to make sure that the program worked for people of all ages and living spaces of all sizes.

“I think people who grow their own garden or maybe a tomato plant may be more inclined to visit the local farmers’ markets so they can buy produce that perhaps didn’t make it to their garden this year. Who knows, you may inspire some young kid with no agriculture background at all to choose agriculture as their profession.”

Dorothy Pelanda, Ohio Department of Agriculture director, got wind of what Kentucky was doing when she and Quarles took part in a meeting of Midwestern ag leaders. “What’s that about?” she asked him. She immediately pursued the idea and, with Kentucky’s help, Ohio’s Victory Garden project was up and running.

“That is just one example of sharing ideas that has culminated in a great program between two states,” Pelanda said.

Last fall extension offices in nine Ohio counties distributed free seed packets and information. They ran out of seeds in one week, Pelanda said. By this spring extension offices had developed a Victory Garden sign to give to participants along with seeds and information. They expanded the program to 25 counties.

“On April 1 we distributed more than 8,300 seed packets and Victory Garden signs that each person would receive as they go through the drive-thru at their extension office,”  Pelanda said. “This is a spring garden; some of the packets contained cucumbers, lettuce and sunflowers, others contained carrots, spinach and buckwheat for pollinators. It is such a great program to include the entire family.”

Early in the year Pamela Bennett, OSU Extension State Master Garden Program director, recruited Master Garden volunteers. They worked with a seed company in Ohio that donates what they have available.

“We get the seeds in bulk, so the Franklin County Master Gardener volunteers helped us with packaging them,” Bennett said. “They took like 50 pounds of turnip or radish seeds and put a quarter teaspoon in each tiny bag. It was a little overwhelming.”

Each pack included a bag of seeds for an early spring crop like radishes or spinach, a summer crop like squash or cucumbers, and sunflower seeds for pollinators, Bennett said. The response was incredible.”

They expanded the program regionally this spring, so some counties in every part of the state are distributing seeds, Bennett said. There are people on a waiting list, and people are calling in and saying they want to be involved.

“We distributed seeds last Wednesday in Clarke County,” Bennett said. “I couldn’t believe the number of people, especially older people, who said they were doing gardening for the first time. People came from senior citizen centers, and from an apartment complex which was starting a community garden.”

They will keep the program going all season. Around the state, extension offices are engaging master gardeners to offer programs on weed and pest control, harvesting and more. The online program offers gardening advice and recipes. Bennett is looking for grants to increase the program and ease the work on volunteers.

For information on Kentucky Victory Gardens, visit planeatmove.com and click on the “Growing Your Own Garden” link. In Ohio, visit u.osu.edu/ohiovictorygardens.

For an interesting, brief film on Victory Gardens created by USDA in 1942, visit the Original Victory Gardens on YouTube.