I am so excited about this guest post about growing a climate friendly garden from Jes at Green America. In it, she talks about taking sustainable gardening to the next level and creating regenerative gardens – eco friendly gardens that can actually fight climate change.
In this article, you’ll find out about planting for climate change and the objective of climate friendly gardening.
Your Garden Can Fight Climate Change!
As part of the WWI and WWII war efforts, the nation rallied to feed their communities at home and support troops overseas by planting victory gardens. To many, this might seem a trivial effort. How much can a few gardeners grow?
By 1944, nearly 20 million victory gardens produced 8 million tons of food, equaling about 40% of the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the US at the time.
We are once again in the position where we, as everyday citizens, have the opportunity to use our gardens as a force for change. Instead of gardening in support of war efforts, today we can garden to fight climate change with Climate Victory Gardens.
Shifting garden practices towards principles of regenerative agriculture can be a meaningful part of reversing climate change, pulling carbon from the atmosphere, and storing it in soils.
Search the map of Climate Victory Gardens to find a garden near you or add your own.
Gardening For Climate Change
In the 1940s, the US population was around 132 million. Our current population is 325 million and growing. If we could replicate the scale of victory gardens in the 1940s, we could plant over 40 million Climate Victory Gardens today. We can fight climate change in our yards, at our schools, and in community gardens across the country. Climate Victory Gardens provide an opportunity for people like you and me to change the course of climate change on the ground, in the very soil beneath our feet.
Chances are, if you’re gardening, you’re likely already using these methods that fight climate change. This toolkit will help you dive even deeper in your understanding and gardening for the planet.
Combating Climate Change From The Ground Up
How much potential does a small garden have to impact the global issue of climate change? Quite a bit! When we grow food at home in a regenerative manner; we purchase less food that has traveled across the country, we compost more food scraps and yard waste (keeping it out of landfills), we increase the water holding capacity of our soil decreasing flooding and runoff, and most importantly we rebuild our soil health bringing back its carbon sequestering potential.
Gardeners across America have a big role to play in the fight against climate change. Please register your Climate Victory Garden and show the world that grassroots efforts work.
— Jes from Green America
Start Growing a Climate Friendly Garden
If you are ready to start gardening with climate change in mind, check out the links above from Green America. I’ve also written about planting perennials in your yard, how to compost, raised bed gardening, companion planting, and growing your own veggie bowl ingredients.
