The most noteworthy thing about gardeners
is that they are optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied.
They always look forward to doing something better
than they have ever done before.
~Vita Sackville-West

During World War I and World War II, victory gardens were planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany. Vegetables, fruits, and herbs were grown to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war efforts. Not only did these gardens indirectly aid in the war efforts, but they were also considered civil “morale boosters.” By planting them, gardeners felt empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce they grew. As a result victory gardens became a part of daily life on the home front.
Amos Bronson Alcott said, “Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvests reaps.” Can you imagine what it must have been like to stand in Eden? And to listen for the Lord as He walked in the cool of the day? There are times when I’m in my garden that I get a sense of the incredible thrill that must have been. The perennial pleasures of my garden plant a rightness in my days and a comfortable feeling of harmony in my spirit. And the wholesome harvests I reap are not just the fruits, the flowers, and the beauty all around me but also the peace it brings and the times when the deep sanctity of it touches my soul where the Lord is planting and digging for harvests of His own.
There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment. ~Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 ✝