Digging For Victory Garden

During WWII food supplies were in great demand and any piece of land that could be used for growing vegetables and fruit was a valued commodity. With the continued attacks on the Atlantic Convoys that brought food to the UK it became very important to grow as much as possible.

The Land Girls played an important part by continuing to do the work on farms that once men would have done. This helped for grain crops as well as fruit and vegetables, but it was the ordinary individuals that turned their hands to growing who helped to keep the country eating.

People no longer had flowers and neatly cut lawn at the front of their houses, it had all been dug up and potatoes and cabbages were more likely to be seen. Bomb craters were turned into vegetable patches, any piece of land that had some soil was used. One of the most famous vegetable patches was the moat around the Tower of London.

This sudden need for growing vegetables gave way to the slogan "Dig For Victory." Posters were shown wherever possible depicting the ordinary person with a shovel and a handful of fresh vegetables.

This year the museum has incorporated it's own "Victory Garden" which has vegetables growing and an Anderson shelter.

Adrian is in the photos working hard in the garden.

Adrian removing weeds. The corrugated metal you can see through the window is the edge of the Anderson shelter.

The last of the potatoes.