I work on a military base and have been associated with the military since 1991.

I love the tradition, camaraderie, and sense of something bigger than self that we all share.

At our base, we have brought back an older tradition that was created during WWII.

The idea for the “victory” garden dates back to the World War II era, when individuals were encouraged to grow their own gardens to relieve the pressure on larger food producers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture even released a 20 minute public announcement instructing citizens on the basics of gardening to promote the victory gardens

Every command on our base makes their own victory garden each year and we compete for the best garden trophy.

So much good comes from this experience. Fresh produce, teamwork, healthy (mostly) competition, and morale. It's certainly not likely that the garden that is pictured that won only won becasue they used their produce to make salsa and served margaritas to the judges...couldn't be possible. just wondering why i didn't volunteer to judge. note to self.

you don't have to be on a military base to create victory gardens. you can start the tradition in your neighborhood, your company (i.e. if you work at a bank, get together with rival banks, or if you work at a hospital, the competition would be between departments, or if you work at a school the kids can be involved and compete against other classrooms)

get creative and show your patriotism with a victory garden!!!