What is a Victory Garden?
The modern Victory Garden movement traces its roots back to the Liberty Gardens of World War I. These Liberty Gardens freed up the produce of the farms to feed the soldiers overseas. This boosted American morale as everyone felt as they were helping with the war effort. During World War II Eleanor Roosevelt continued this work after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and coined the phrase Victory Garden. Millions of Americans planted these Victory Gardens and by the end of war were producing over 40% of the produce used in the United States.
Why should I plant a Victory Garden?
Although the food shortages brought on by the Pandemic were not as severe as the shortages of WWI and WWII, many Americans started planting gardens and the Victory Garden movement has been revived. There are many benefits of starting your own Victory Garden:
- It is definitely locally sourced.
- It uses less chemicals because you control what is applied..
- It is good for the environment.
- The food you produce is fresh.
- It is harvested at its peak flavor.
In addition, just like the original Victory Gardeners of the past you will boost your own morale. Lots of fresh air, exercise and a feeling of self sufficiency as you watch your grocery bill shrink.
How do I start if I have never gardened?
Now that you have made up your mind, what’s next? If you are a beginner, I would suggest the KISS method. Keep It Simple Sweetheart.
Always remember the KISS method. Start small. A 10 foot by 10 foot garden or 4 foot by 8 foot raised bed is big enough to start. Choose a good location.
- Sample Plans
- Choosing a location
- What should I plant?
- Seeds or starts?
What are the top ten vegetables for beginners?
The best vegetables to plant are the ones you like to eat. Here is a list of vegetables that are easy to grow.
- Beets
- Carrots
- Chard, Spinach, or Kale
- Green beans
- Lettuce
- Peas
- Peppers
- Radishes
- Tomatoes (bush variety or cherry are easiest)
- Zucchini
Start with a few of these and if you are feeling adventurous try something new.
Vegetables
Beans
Although beans and many of the other plants we offer can be directly sown into your garden, many of our past customers have requested these starts because of our short growing season in Derry.
Endeavour Bush Bean
Days to Maturity: 55 from direct sow
Bush Bean
This widely-adapted, disease resistant dwarf French bean is simply scrumptious, delivering heavy yields in a wide range of climates. Give it a try this season.
This vigorous bush bean sets 5- to 6-inch-long pods of dark green. Reaching up to ½ inch in diameter, they are simply packed with sweet, succulent bean goodness. Seed development is slow, providing a long harvest window.
Cobra pole Bean
Days to Maturity: 80 from direct sow
Cobra is a French climbing type with straight, stringless, round pods reaching 7 inches long. (Actually, they will grow longer than that, but pick them at 7 inches for best flavor and to encourage another fruit set.) The flavor is tender, sweet, and utterly addictive. And that's good, because you're going to have plenty to eat fresh, as well as have some for winter.
Expect this pole bean to reach 5 to 6 feet high. Great choice for a Three Sisters planting.
Beets
Detroit Dark Red Beet
Days to Maturity: 60
Whether you like baby beets harvested at their most succulent or full-bodied mature globes, Detroit Dark Red satisfies. It sprouts reliably even in cold spring weather, yet also holds beautifully in the heat. From its lush above-ground greens to its oxblood-red roots, this is a nutritious and delicious vegetable.
These mid-sized (up to 3 inches in diameter) roots are tender and sweet, with a smooth, round shape and fine-grained texture. The tops reach about a foot high'
Broccoli
Green Magic Hybrid Broccoli
Superb Heat tolerance
Days to Maturity: 57 from transplant;
It's a toss-up whether Green Magic is more valuable for its buttery flavor or for its terrific heat tolerance. This uniform, dependable blue-green beauty is beloved in gardens across the country, wowing with generous yields made even greater by excellent tolerance of downy mildew, a foe of many other varieties. Compact and very productive, it will become your go-to broccoli from the very first season you grow it.
Cauliflower
Amazing Cauliflower
Days to Maturity: 75
The 10-inch heads are rounded, very dense, and tightly zoned into small florets. Bright ivory beads keep their color well, and the flavor is magnificent—crisp, tangy, and full-bodied. The plants are very heavy-bearing, so you can expect a large crop that lasts even longer than you thought possible. Try one season of Amazing and enjoy the difference this holding power makes in your harvest schedule.
Cantaloupe
Ambrosia Hybrid Melon Cantaloupe
Days to Maturity: 86
A trusted favorite for many years, Ambrosia lives up to its name with luscious salmon-red flesh and a juicy, tender, extra-sweet flavor that simply melts in the mouth. The melons produce very small seed cavities, saving the extra space for more delectable flesh. And they arise very abundantly on vigorous vines with great tolerance of powdery mildew. A reliable favorite that will turn you away from store-bought cantaloupes forever.
Cucumbers
Diva Cucumber
Days to Maturity: 32 from transplant
Diva is simply delectable, with thin, tender skin, crisp flesh, and a flavor that combines sweetness with a genuine cucumber bite impossible to find in the bland supermarket varieties today. It arises very abundantly on vigorous, disease-resistant plants, giving you a huge crop of the finest burpless cucumber we have tasted in a long time. No wonder it was an All America Selection.
These 6- to 8-inch-long cukes look as good as they taste. Is parthenocarpic .
National Pickling Cucumber
Days to Maturity: 52
Blunt, thick cukes up to 6 inches long are only slightly tapered at the ends.
Dark green with black spines, these cukes are delicious at any age. Pick them at 2 to 3 inches for gherkins, or at 4 inches for fresh eating as slicers. Or let them mature to full size (1¼ pounds on average). They deliver heavy yields all season long, not to mention good resistance to scab and cucumber mosaic virus.
Garden Bush Pickle
Days to Maturity: 50 The perfect pickling cucumber that was bred focucumber that was bred for containers
Blunt, thick cukes up to 6 inches long are only slightly tapered at the ends.
Dark green with black spines, these cukes are delicious at any age. Pick them at 2 to 3 inches for gherkins, or at 4 inches for fresh eating as slicers. Or let them mature to full size (1¼ pounds on average). They deliver heavy yields all season long, not to mention good resistance to scab and cucumber mosaic virus.
Eggplant
Amadeo Eggplant
Days to Maturity: 65
The heaviest-bearing eggplant is also the most delicious. Amadeo is renowned for its huge yields of succulent, nutty, bitterfree fruit on spineless plants. Easy to pick and irresistible on the tongue, this is the eggplant you need for the veggie patch.
Amadeo is a spineless plant reaching about 3 feet high, well-branched and vigorous. You will probably need to support it once it begins bearing the heavy 5-inch-wide, 8-inch-long dark purple to black eggplants
Kale
Darkibor Kale
Days to Maturity: 60 from transplant
At last, a kale that can really stand up to heat without losing one jot of its rich flavor and deliciously crunchy, crinkly texture. Darkibor is the one that gardeners in mild-winter areas have been looking for. It's highly productive, easy to grow, and simply refuses to bolt or melt out in warm temperatures.
These extremely curly leaves are packed with great taste and even better nutrition. They make great, meaty kale chips.
Lettuce
Super Jericho Lettuce
Days to Maturity: 60
A crispy and sweet lettuce that is able to withstand the heat of summer. Also does great in cool season gardens.
Sturdy and robust plants with large beautiful leaves that are disease resistant, and one of the best tasting summer lettuce (Romaine type)
Mini Romaine Blend Lettuce
Days to Maturity: 45 from direct sow
Now you can grow baby Romaine that matures quickly yet has all the flavor and texture associated with full sized varieties. This seed packet contains equal parts Truchas and Breen. Truchas: is an upright, very disease-resistant Romaine with crimson leaves. Just 6 to 8 inches at maturity. Breen: is a slower-growing, medium red babyleaf
Onions
Candy Hybrid Onion
Days to Maturity: 135 days
Candy is a revolutionary new type of onion. Neither a long-day (Northern) nor short-day (Southern) variety, And it's earlier, larger, and more flavorful than its long- and short-day varieties. By combining the best of both in terms of flavor, holding ability, and earliness, Candy is unsurpassed for performance and taste.
Space plants 2 to 3 inches apart in the garden. For mature bulbs, wait until the tops fall over after the growing season. Then dig up the bulbs.
Parade Green Onion
Days to Maturity: 60
Forget those limp, overpriced green onions at the supermarket -- you can grow your own in just 2 months from seed, practically any time of year! Parade is a very heavy-yielding, attractive, super-healthy green onion, with a crisp bite you'll find yourself craving!
This onion redefines "vigor." From a single planting you'll get plenty of straight, waxy, picture-perfect dark green stems. Pick them when they're about a foot to 16 inches tall for best flavor.
Tomato
Beefsteak type- Whopper, Cherokee, Better boy Cherry type- Sweet Million, Pear, Grape
More vegetables will be added soon. If there is a vegetable that you would like but don't see here, please contact us.