The New Victory Garden (1987)

Anyone remember the PBS "Victory Garden" show from the mid-1980s? You know back when PBS "how-to" shows actually SHOWED you how to do stuff instead of just how to drop huge sums of money on contractors and specialists (e.g., "This Old House")? Back when there was only one PBS fund raising session to endure?

Growing up in the country around family farms and gardens, I didn't have a lot of use for these shows until after college. During my apartment inmate phase I would often check in with these shows to keep my interest up, learn about new technologies and to day-dream about some day having a place to do some of this stuff myself.

Although out of print, I am glad that copies of Bob Thompson's The New Victory Garden (Little Brown, 1987) can still be had on the net. Bob took over from the show's creator Jim Crockett of "Crockett's Victory Garden" fame. The PBS show has gone through a lot of changes and the last time I saw it a few years ago it definitely wasn't what it used to be. In today's gardening climate you would be much better served watching something like "Growing a Greener World". Unfortunately our local PBS stations don't carry it but all of the last five seasons are available for viewing off their web site. The later season are HD so why not cable the laptop to the big screen. I see a lot of the magic of the early "Victory Garden" seasons in this show. It is definitely first-rate and worth the time to get caught up especially in the depths of winter.

Times change of course but for those of you contemplating your first garden or those just waiting for the snow to melt, Thompson's book is a real gem especially along side the seed catalogs that show up this time of year. The photography is incredible and the chapters are broken down by gardening month; what to plant and when. Of course this was written by a New England gardener so you'll need to consult your local growing zone/last frost date and adjust accordingly.