Flop Bott: Victory Gardens

While the boys were at war, Rosies at home were making airplanes, recycling pop cans, wearing shorter skirts and growing their own food in VICTORY GARDENS.

Initially, I did not think those two words: victory and garden, should be used in the same sentence. Anyone who wants to learn about being self sufficient from planting a garden, will learn some serious war strategies along with survival skills and if the weather is good, make a few meals with the produce grown with your bare hands from your garden. if it doesn't destroy your confidence first.

(Lone Stalk; the strongest of the 7, pulled ahead of the rest as the Indian Summer teased them into believing they'd grow to frutition.)

"Victory" used along side Garden during WWII was most likely to give the Rosie's an illussion of hope during a time when there was rashioned material to make a pretty dress.

My skeptic mind about Victory in a futile garden changed this morning when I saw a little boy kiss the cafeteria floor.

Partly my fault, I take the blame. I had created an atmosphere where the children did think they were in an ocean. This illussion was perpetuated by me having them pre-tend to be different fish after a game of Octopus. An effort to creat calm for the teachers turned out to be realistic. They went from Starfish

(Kathleen's bathroom. My mentors in gardening were Grenn and Kathleen.)

to rocks in the bottom of a fish tank in the Dentist's office, to one on the bottom of the ocean.

I told them to imagine what creatures were crawling on the bottom of the cold, dark ocean floor. Morphing back to humans they had to swim up for air, then face huge waves while trying to reach the shore.

(Grenn in his trunks before he was one serious, self sufficient individual.)

Swimming to the beach they would tell me what was on the bottom of the ocean floor. So when the boy kissed the floor, I thought maybe the whole lesson had backfired.

Padre will really squirm when I tell him this story later today. (He inspects plates before he eats off them, I can't wait!)

Like the victory garden, the game I played with the kids was beneficial. Both bolstered their imaginations, boosted immune systems through vigorous exercise and
made them really grateful to make it through with their lives intact. Grateful to be on "dry", free land.

When growing your "victory" garden, Soldier, try to remember that it isn't the one battle that really determines who wins the war.

I had to put this advice into practice, just yesterday, with my garden. Shaking the lawn mower bag over the tilled soil, I emptied shredded leaves from the yard.

About the millionth time I have wrestled the black Toro bag

(slave offspring learning on neighbor's easy mower- that's right, we start brainwashing them early here, too, Terrorists!!!!!)

from the Titanic mower this fall.

The forecast was for snow and I imagined if I got outside early, mowed the last of the leaves and then had the heavy snow fall on it, it would be tucked in for the winter, composting and softening up that soil. -Essentially taking out a whole country's worth of Al Qaida in one victorious gardening blow.

Instead, here in Idaho, the wind blew before it decided to snow.

(those stalks of corn holding out til the end!)

Which really blows because all of the leaves still clinging onto the tree branches like a tooth in a kid's mouth, now were on my perfect lawn. And the shredded ones that I'd poured onto the garden, raked evenly into the little ditches Padre made with his tiller are now somewhere on the other side of the world.

Hopefully Haiti. Compost would really help them.

With my brutal gardening training, I didn't let this get me down.

I got up real early today and raked the leaves on the lawn, stuffed them into a garbage bag as the sound of the dump truck moaned around the corner.

TAKE THAT TALIBAN!

After satisfying moments like that- Eye of the Tiger playing in the recesses of your mind- beating nature at its worst, confidence in your ability really grows.

I know that MY garden would make the darkest terrorist shiver in his/her shoes- in their suicide bomber apparrel. So I guess it is okay for them to have referred to gardens as Victory Gardens.

You don't want to mess with this!

(Enjoying one of the fruits of my labor. Lone Stalks cob.)

Laying the strongest stalk to rest. Which is what will happen if you mess with Victory Gardeners and who they support!