Dig for Victory; Monthly Growing Guides and Commentary

Book excerpt: The famous wartime monthly growing guides that showed a nation how to feed itself from their gardens and allotments with nutritious, healthy crops. The government's 1945 Dig for Victory monthly guides from World War Two helped win the war on the Home Front and became the basis of the grow your own movement. With a simple, straightforward style anyone can follow, they are as useful today as they were then. Most British people have heard of Dig for Victory and recognise the iconic logo of a boot pushing a spade into the soil. Despite victory being in sight by 1945, the government knew that food supplies were perilous and shipping still desperately needed for the raw materials of war. Even after the war was finally won, food continued to be a priority and arguably the Dig for Victory campaign was the longest in the war being waged by the people from 1939 right through to the end of rationing in 1954. Bestselling gardening author John Harrison's commentary clearly explains what has changed and why in modern gardening practice, which is less than you might expect in 80 years. He also provides context for readers as to the background of each guide based in part on research but most importantly the experiences and accounts of those who were there. By following these easy guidelines, even a complete novice can put fresh wholesome food on the family's table all year round.