(3/7) A 100-year-old women's magazine has been a serendipitous find for me. The March 1919 edition of The Modern Priscilla was in a box of old sheet music I bought at a yard sale several years ago. The picture on the cover shows a seated woman holding a pencil in one hand and seed catalog in the other. "War Gardens will be as essential, this year as last. Make your plans early and carefully," says the large caption beside her.

One of the requirements for completion of the Penn State Extension Master Gardener program is that each student must present to their classmates and area Master Gardeners a topic of their own choosing. The Modern Priscilla became the source of inspiration for me last year as I was working my way through the 2018 Master Gardener Trainee program. I chose to share with my fellow Gardeners what I would learn about war gardens.

My first attempts at finding information about war gardens were disappointing, to say the least. The internet wanted to take me to victory gardens more than anything. I wasn't ready for victory because I didn't understand the war part yet. Our local libraries didn't have a whole lot for me either but, librarians being the wonderful helpers they are, I ended up with a couple of great resources that took me through the war and ended at the victory part of gardening.

Learning more about this time period in America's history has been an unexpected benefit of my quest to learn about war gardens. I knew that the United States was involved in supplying food supplies to our allies in Europe early in the 20th century. I did not realize the extent of the need that was created by the war as the marauding German army destroyed their enemies' fields, laying countless acres of crops ready for harvest to nothing but waste. The estimated numbers of loss are staggering to believe, but once the amount of people affected are taken into account, the reality of the horror of this time in our world's history becomes clearer to understand. This caused more of a need for the United States' farmers to produce more crops to export. War Garden Victorious by Charles Lathrop Pack provides the statistics of how much the United States exported before, during, and after the war.

The effort to stay out of the war in Europe ended when United States ships, full of precious food exports, were sunk by the Germans. The war which began in 1914, found President Woodrow Wilson going before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany on April 2, 1917. Charles Pack had conceived the idea of war gardens the month prior to this, and organized the National War Garden Commission.

"Food will win the war" was the slogan coined by Wilson's Food Administrator, Herbert Hoover, in September, calling the American citizens to aid the war effort by producing more food, planting gardens at home and in public places. $4.3 million was provided to state and county extension agencies as part of the Emergency Food Act to promote increased production. Artists were commissioned to express the idea through their art, and many examples of their work are still popular works of poster art today.

The war garden movement was spread by word of mouth through women's clubs, civic associations, and Chambers of Commerce. Many churches, schools, and businesses used every available plot of land to contribute to this massive effort. Millions of government-sponsored bulletins and leaflets were given to interested persons to help them maximize production. Educating gardeners on how to preserve what they grew by canning or drying was of utmost importance. In a nation of 100 million people, over 25% of households had war gardens.

Beginning in January of 1918, rationing stamps and cards were dispensed, and war gardens reduced pressure on the public food supply that needed to provide not only for the nations we were exporting to, but also the four and a half million American troops now depending on the government to feed them. To win the war, officials urged Americans to consume less by having wheat-less and meatless meals on certain days of the week. Every day was a fat- and sugar-saving day. Milk was to be used wisely. Fruits and vegetables were to be used abundantly. People were inspired to find alternative ways of feeding their families.

The call for more production of food, combined with the absence of the farmers who went to war, created the need for farm women and children to do even more than they already did. Cecilia Gowdy-Wygant's book, Cultivating Victory: The Women's Land Army and the Victory Garden Movement, is an extremely well-researched book that tells of the Women's Land Army of America and how they were able to continue the much-needed production of crops through this time.

When armistice was signed in November of 1918, Food Administrator Hoover - before sailing to England - asked that America's war gardens be maintained by the "victory gardeners." What an important part the American people played during this period of our nation's history! I have been blessed to learn about this movement of gardeners, but I feel that it has been largely under-reported. I recommend to anyone reading this to please document war garden efforts that you know of by family or communities that may not be in the public record. Share this information with the local historical societies. We can all benefit by knowing about war gardens.