by Linda Wiggen Kraft
Most of us have heard of Victory Gardens. These were gardens that were needed to help grow food for survival during the world wars. Home gardeners helped the war effort on the home front since the farmers were off at war. One by one, on private and public land, small gardens grew more vegetables than big agriculture. Not only did Victory Gardens grow food, they gave people a passion and purpose to help with the war effort and make a major contribution.
Today we need a new type of Victory Garden, a Mission Garden. The name Mission Garden was introduced to me recently by a woman who is in the forefront of sustainable gardening. It’s a perfect concept for the kind of garden we need now. We have a war on the environment going on. Gardens one by one can be part of the solution to win this war.
Many gardeners are on a mission to save our planet. Our gardens can help fulfill that mission. Mission gardens can be beautiful by normal gardening standards, but they can go much further. They can be habitats for wildlife like butterflies, bees, insects and birds that are disappearing because they have lost their habitat homes. We must know how to grow some of our food and keep the biodiversity of plants we eat alive. We must create eco-systems that give life to the soil, micro-organisms, plants, beneficial insects, birds and all life forms of a garden. We must learn how to work with nature, not against her. We must learn about the problems and the pests of a garden and how to treat appropriately and organically.
Sometimes the challenges to helping win the war on the environment seem overwhelming. Mission Gardens one-by-one can help bring about the victory.
Linda Wiggen Kraft is a landscape designer who creates holistic and sustainable gardens. She is also a mandala artist and workshop leader. Please visit her blog: www.CreativityForTheSoul.com/blog or website: www.CreativityForTheSoul.com. Contact her at 314 504-4266.