Tag Archives: My Little Victory Garden

My Little Victory Garden, Oklahoma culture

My Little Victory Garden, Entry 10: Teaoli, Delivery Day and “Garden Improvement”

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Sometimes I go back and re-read my posts then really cringe.  Take last week’s “Victory Garden” entry, for example.  Here are all the Blog Boo-Boos I found: a) I talked about Teaoli and didn’t even provide you with photos or information.  b) I wrote some sort of introductory statement like, “And now…here are the finished quiches, feast your eyes!” and followed that up with a photo of my broccoli. Wha?? And, 3) I talked about Teaoli and didn’t even provide you with photos or information.  The Teaoli little faux pas is worth two bullet points.

Nestled in the northwest shopping corner of 15th & Bryant in Edmond awaits a very special place for you to explore.  The owners would love you to come in and taste olive oils, infused olive oils, balsamic vinegars, blended balsamic vinegars, and teas…and teas and teas. Every time I go shopping for olive oil, I always want to taste it.  And now I finally can.  I’ve spent between $7.00 and about $30.00 for approximately 14-18 oz of olive oil.  Their 14 oz bottles are $14.50, a mid-range price-point for oils by and large from California.  I can recommend my first purchase: Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  The description reads, “Fresh and lively with a mild to medium intensity with notes of green apple peel and herbs.” I just uncorked it again to take another whiff and see if I agree with their narrative.  (*inhale….okay, another inhale*) Yes. Continue reading My Little Victory Garden, Entry 10: Teaoli, Delivery Day and “Garden Improvement” →

Homestead and Garden, My Little Victory Garden, Oklahoma culture

My Little Victory Garden: Entry Two

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One week before a business down the road from our home opened, torrential rains came and took out their entire retaining wall. In three days, however, the mess was cleaned up and crews worked around the clock to rebuild the wall and the structures it had pulled down. Now restored, the first business is OPEN.

The majority of Oklahoma experienced a sustaining drought throughout last fall and on through Winter 2010-11. No rain.  Zero.  When this kind of thing happens in the winter, it’s not quite as noticeable as it is when green things are growing.  However the situation was pretty bad: until just a few days ago fire warnings had been published, all our snow had only amounted to mere tenths of an inch once melted and the winter wheat was really suffering.

Then last week the rain came.  In torrents.  Although our whole state didn’t get moisture, a good deal did and that “good deal” included My Little Victory Garden.  Two days after Mick had plowed up the beautiful soil into a soft loam for planting, the rain came with a vengeance.  My yard still has “wavy grass” reminders, my garden was flooded and the aftermath is a now uneven, cracked plot with sand in it.  Why sand?  The rain was so hard it found a weak, lower area in our neighbors yard and drilled down behind our retaining wall, oozing out the native sandy loam through the cracks.  But that wasn’t the worst damage.  My garden got off easy.

Did you get a big rain? Did your yard look like this once the water subsided?

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Foodie Page, My Little Victory Garden, Oklahoma culture

My Little Victory Garden: Entry One

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Daily Harvest - This one was from September 26, 2010.

Gardening means so many positive things to me that I was having a hard time finding just the right phrase to title my new series.  I gave serious consideration to “Kelly Does Dirt,” “Dirty Fingernails Are Nature’s Perfect Manicure,” “Fresh Veggies Are Better Than Making Whoopee,” …well, you get the picture.  In other words, I was having a hard core creativity block.

When I gave up brainstorming and closed my laptop, the title “Victory Garden” popped into my head.  I realized I didn’t even know the history of the term.  So, I “Wikied” it.  *I’m guessing I utilize the resource at least once a day.  Here’s what I learned:

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany[1] during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil “morale booster” — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens become a part of daily life on the home front.

What a gift! History had at that moment handed me what I needed.  It seems that there has been somewhat of a resurgence the past few years in private residence and public community gardens.  Further, my gardens have been my own personal morale booster; they truly have helped me feel empowered by the contribution to our family and health.  The “reward of labor” comes almost daily at the height of summer’s harvest.

My first garden's carrots, ready the last week in June, 2009.

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