I will admit the “Big Four” sewing companies always make me hesitate, especially with fitted styles, because they’re notorious for adding absurd amounts of ease into their patterns. Sadly, the B5895 pattern is no exception. If I followed the size chart on the back of the pattern I would have cut out a size between 8 and 10. Here’s a lesson for you right now: don’t ever directly follow the (explicit deleted) size charts on Big Four sewing patterns!! Why? Because after consulting the finished measurements and wearing ease printed on the actual pattern tissue, I ended up cutting out a size 4 and they’re still roomy!! That’s nearly FOUR sizes down! (I’m shaking my head at you right now, Butterick!)

My suspicion is people attempt to sew patterns like this, end up swimming inside all the extra ease, think they need to do a million complicated fitting adjustments because they swear they cut the right size, and end up just chucking the pants in the corner hoping they’ll spontaneously combust and disappear. I bet that’s why no one has blogged about these pants yet.

I was fully expecting my experience with these pants to be similar to what I just described, but much to my surprise, they turned out SUPER cute!!

Since I attempted these pants as more of a muslin than anything else, I didn’t spend a lot of time finishing the inside seams as well as I could have. Now I wish I did because I really like the way they turned out! That’s the problem with muslins, I think. Sometimes they just end up being really awesome on the outside, but left really unfortunately un-awesome on the inside. I did add a print fabric for the pocket lining which I rather like.

These pants would look better if I washed them before taking photos to tighten them up a bit more, but they’re so comfortable I couldn’t help but wear them all day yesterday and today! (Stretch cotton sateen is where it’s at!) They don’t look half bad from the back though, even after wearing them all day long.

I’m definitely going to try to make another pair (with a few small adjustments) one of these days, especially after seeing this episode of Call The Midwife. I’m kind of obsessed with Nurse Franklin’s look here. Can you tell?

Have you made these pants before? I’d love to see your version!

xo
Rochelle

Today William and I went out for lunch and iced frappuccinos so I could wear my latest sewing project. It’s a classic 1940′s style Dirndl skirt made from a cotton print by Denyse Schmidt for Jo-Ann Fabrics. (If I’m ever M.I.A, check the Denyse Schmidt isle of Jo-Anns first. I practically live there. LOVE her fabrics!)

Lunch was delicious but slightly upsetting because I managed to spill salad dressing all over this new skirt of mine. Figures!

If you haven’t made a Dirndl skirt before, I think you should give it a try. They’re super easy to sew (just two giant squares gathered together at the waist) and very flattering.

Mine has a lapped zipper and a button tab closure at the side, as well as a lovely spot of citrus vinaigrette on the front. I think skirts look especially cute paired with a skinny belt like the one I found at a thrift store recently. Pennsylvania has all the best Salvation Armies, FYI.

I’m still on a quest to find the best 1940′s style skirt for me. Maybe I’ll try a swing style skirt next? I get a bit envious when fellow sewists talk about their favorite go-to patterns that they sew over and over again. Alas, I do not have a favorite go-to pattern yet. Guess I just need to sew more!

Whatever I sew next, I’ll remember to take photos of it before embarking on the salad. Some dressings are not meant to be worn.

What’s your favorite “go-to” pattern?

xo
Rochelle

I had the most amazing weekend at the WWII Gathering of Warbirds Airshow in Reading, PA. However, as you can see from the above photo, I didn’t get to take any decent pictures of the event. Thankfully the responsible party (who is a family member so I’m not overly upset about the situation) agreed to replace the lens so I should be back in the blogging business soon!

Oh yeah, I have new hair!! This is the first time my real hair has ever made an appearance on this blog and I’m super excited about it. Most of you know I’ve been a long time wig wearer up until this point, so it feels great to have my hair back. Blonde isn’t my natural hair color, but I did have blonde hair as a toddler so I thought why not have it again? I really like it! It’s been super fun to try out 1940′s styles for short hair. I’ll post all about my authentic wartime “Shingle Plus” haircut and styling techniques later.

This was my first time at the Reading Airshow and all I can say is WOW! This must be the Disney World equivalent of WWII events on the East Coast. It’s HUGE. Quite overwhelming actually if you’re going for the first time, especially as a reenactor.

For the majority of the weekend I hung out in the little mock French village with some fellow Paper Dolls. I always do some variation of a homefront farm girl for my WWII impressions since, as a country girl in real life, that’s what I identify as the most. I think I fit in well in France

It was pretty awesome to be indirectly IN the French village skirmish action! On Sunday you might have seen me sitting outside the cafe with some other pretty ladies just before the battle broke out. After the shots were fired we ran inside and watched the rest of the fighting from the window. It was incredibly loud.

These guys do an amazing job and I’m sure the public thoroughly loved it. I know I did!

Here are some other random and completely lack luster iPhone photos from the weekend…

Aside from the reenactor camps, there was a flea market set up with some awesome vintage stuff (I definitely indulged a little bit). I’ll share more on my war spoils later, too.

Have you ever been to this event? Would you go in the future? I think everyone should see this show if you can, it’s truly an amazing experience! I can’t wait for next year

xo
Rochelle

My most recent sewing project involves a $2.00 curtain panel from Goodwill and a vintage 1940s pattern that I found at an antique store for $5.00. I’m all about the thrifty sewing.

I didn’t realize until I got home that the pattern was complete (there was one extra mystery piece actually) but there were no sewing instructions to be found. No big deal really. I’ve worked with both unprinted vintage patterns and shirt dress patterns before, so I figured I could work through it without any written help. After tracing the pattern and transferring all the markings, it was pretty simple to figure out what they all meant from the pattern description and diagram on the back of the envelope.

I thought I’d have enough fabric to make the whole dress with just this one panel, but Lucille was skeptical. “No mom, there’s definitely not enough fabric here”, she says.

Sure enough, she was right to second guess me. I knew the skirt piece needed to be cut twice, but I didn’t know that it needed to be cut twice on the fold. Apparently Dirndl skirts were pretty full in the 40′s. So needless to say, that used up most of my curtain panel.

I’ve been practicing some different  knit stitches in preparation for a very 40′s themed knit-along hosted by myself, and a very talented friend, in the coming months. More on that soon!

I ended up using regular Kona cotton for the top and paired it with some vintage buttons from my stash. Once I figured out what I was doing, the dress came together fairly quickly and I’m very happy with it. I especially love the sleeves. They’re built right into the bodice as one solid piece. Doesn’t get easier than that!

We’re ready for summer! How about you?

xo
Rochelle

Last week I had the pleasure and the privilege of sitting among eighteen WWII Veterans, their families, and many other men who served, at the National Warplane Museum “Sentimental Journey” Luncheon. Aside from the delicious 40′s themed buffet and a performance by The Manhattan Dolls, the true purpose of this luncheon was to rally support for a really special cause.

This plane, also known as Whisky Seven, flew troops in during the D-Day invasion in 1944 and IT’S STILL FLYING. That’s right. This plane still flies. In fact, it is the wish of The National Warplane Museum to get this plane in the air for another very important mission: The 2014 D-Day Reunion in Normandy, France. Paratroopers will actually reenact the original D-Day jump! If you’d like to learn more about this reunion, there’s a great video all about it. I got to watch it on a big screen before the Luncheon and, for me, it was very moving. I definitely choked up at bit at the end when all of the WWII veterans who attended were asked to stand up and be recognized. Not to get all door-to-door salesmen on you here, but if you have an interest in historical preservation, or have a family member who served that you’d like to honor, please consider donating to Return to Normandy and help make this memorable mission become a reality.

How ’bout some more photos from the day? It was fun! I got to climb inside Whiskey Seven and check it out, which was really incredible. Only slightly more incredible than the food. It was really good.

There was also a neat display of some original WWII uniforms and memorabilia. I was excited to see so many women’s service uniforms!

I posted more photos on my Flickr page, but I’m sure you can tell just by these few that it was a really great day. How cute are The Manhattan Dolls?! I don’t think their YouTube videos really do them justice. Their live show was very good. I’m sure none of the elderly gentlemen in attendance needed any morale boosting after seeing them Sadly, William didn’t get to go with me. He would have loved photographing all the planes!

Have you ever gone to an event like this? What did you think?

Happy belated Memorial Day! Thank you, Troops.

xo
Rochelle

The good news is, I have a brand new sewing room!

It’s really not a whole lot different from my old sewing room (which was secretly my dining room), except I painted the furniture and arranged things a bit differently. I was searching for the perfect aqua paint color and immediately fell in love with this one mainly because the name is so awesome. It’s called “Mermaid’s Song” by Valspar. Tell me that’s not the coolest paint color ever!

I still have a bit more rearranging to do. I recently inherited a massive yarn stash that I’ve yet to find a place to put, but I couldn’t say no to free yarn! …I also can’t say no to homeless cats. That’s why I have five of them.

Yep. I’m SO excited to be reunited with my kitties!! Though Nikko here is kind of is a massive brat and has been pretending she could care less that I’m home. Whatever, Nikko. You know you love me.

This little cactus got left behind before we moved into our place in Vermont so I decided to keep him and then transport him with us to NY. He’s our little piece of the Green Mountain State that I’m trying not to kill. I’m not sure how “green” my thumb is. What’s a good name for a cactus?

There’s slightly less natural light in this new room but at least it’s off the ground floor so I can leave the curtains wide open and not have to worry about neighbors peeping in on me. I tried to use lots of bright cheery colors to make up for the smaller window.

Oh yes, I should mention that the other side of the room is occupied by William now that he works from home and also needed an office space.

I’d say that’s a pretty typical “his” and “hers” situation.

Lucille is actually really happy to be back home too even though her face says otherwise. It’s nice to have our own yard again, and be able to walk her in a nice quiet neighborhood, where the few other dogs are also walked on leash, so we don’t have to worry about being charged (or attacked) by off leash dogs anymore.

It’s been bittersweet to leave Vermont, we lived there long enough to fall in love with it, but all in all we’re very happy to be back surrounded by family and old friends. I also can’t tell you how excited I am to be closer to WWII reenactments and renaissance festivals!!

Stay tuned for more New York adventures! …and cat photos. Lots more cat photos.

xo
Rochelle

Oops! I was supposed to announce the winner yesterday but I got so sidetracked from unpacking my sewing room (more on that later) that I totally forgot! I’m so sorry.

So the winner is!!!!!…

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. What kinds of things would you like as giveaways in the future?

Have a great week!

xo
Rochelle

Today I’d like to welcome the lovely Beckiy Winston of  Trunk of Dresses online vintage boutique! Beckiy has the most beautiful assortment of vintage clothing and accessories, all in impeccable condition and accurately described. This girl sure knows her stuff!! Beckiy has been kind enough to share a few wise words with us, AND offer up a generous gift card to her shop for one lucky winner!

Thanks for joining us today, Miss Winston!

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1.) What inspired you to start Trunk of Dresses?

- Well I’d started collecting vintage clothing when I was about 15 years old with no real direction. I eventually realized I had tons of vintage that didn’t fit me, nor had a place in my “collection” and decided if I could make a living buying and selling treasures how could I go wrong?

2.) What is your favorite thing about being an online boutique owner?

- It’s so wonderful that the treasures I find can find homes all over the world like Singapore or Norway! I also have to admit I like that it frees up more time to go treasure hunting than if I had a physical boutique!

3.) For those interested in wearing vintage for the first time, do you have any tips on where to start and what to look for?

-Start with what you like and what you can afford. It takes time and patience to really learn how to accurately date things so it’s most important to be happy with the fit, the print, and the style, more than the era. You will eventually figure out which decade suits you best but have fun until you get there! Although I will mention that closures are a good indication of true vintage vs. used clothing; snaps, hooks & eyes where commonly used in the 1930s and earlier, metal zippers became commonly used from the 1930s into the 1960s, and from the 60s onwards they become more commonly plastic. I’m obsessed with vintage closures so I will also mention that plastic zippers have existed since the 1930s but they are incredibly rare and I’m trying to hoard all of them for myself!

4.) What would you consider to be 5 essential vintage pieces for the new collector?

-That’s a tough one! Number one would be the simple 60’s “little black dress” that you can dress up or dress down, a simple 40’s or 50’s cotton day dress that you can wear easily and pair with the accessories you already have, a 40’s or 50’s solid colored cardigan, a pair of wearable dead plain heels from the 50’s or 60’s that can go with the rest of your wardrobe, and seam back tights for that vintage touch!

5.) Tell us a bit about your experience with fashion design school. Do you believe people can be self taught, or is there a true benefit from learning from professional hands-on instruction?

-The school I went to was one of the only ones that taught their students how to pattern draft from scratch without pre-set pattern blocks. I personally wouldn’t have been able to learn this on my own but I know that there are some people who just get it! So maybe it just depends on personality types or how clever someone is with altering the patterns and things around them!

6.) Do you see yourself designing your own line of vintage inspired clothing in the future?

-It’s currently in the works! It’s not entirely vintage based but I can’t deny pulling ideas from some great silhouettes of the past! I’m hoping to have my first collection finished within the year but don’t hold me too it!

7.) I see from your instagram that you’re into motorcycles! How did that all start?

-I’ve wanted to ride a motorcycle since I can remember! So it was kind of inevitable that I would end up with a guy who rides a vintage bike and encourages me to ride! I’m still very much learning and mostly just ride around in the dirt, away from traffic, with my friends!

8.) As far as style and overall esthetic, what’s your favorite decade of the past?

-It’s funny how things change, as I get further into my obsession with vintage. When I started collecting I was really into the late 50s, early 60s rockabilly styled stuff and now I can’t get enough of the late 30s and early 40s war time dresses!

9.) What is one piece of advice you can offer to fellow women in small business?

-Invest all your profits back into your business until you are truly making enough money to pay yourself. Living broke isn’t so bad and it’s worth it in the end… I hope!

10.) And finally, (because I’d really love to know!) what’s the best way to wash a vintage dress? …more specifically, in my case, a Rayon one

Here’s my dress created for Erin’s Great Gatsby Sewing Challenge, inspired by this 1920′s sewing pattern that I stumbled upon via a google search. Sadly, the pattern sold years ago so I was left to try and recreate the dress on my own.

Luckily I had taken advantage of one of those $0.99 pattern sale days at Jo-Ann’s and frivolously purchased a million patterns that I don’t even want, like, or need (I’ve gotten better with that, let me tell you), so I had something to help me recreate the main body and belt of the dress. The sleeves and neckline I drafted myself.

Don’t ask me how I actually put this dress together because I swear I don’t know. I had a small moment of epiphany induced brilliance that turned me into a complete sewing cyborg and allowed me to sew this dress from start to finish in one go. No directions. No mistakes. …I may have actually been temporarily possessed because there’s no logical explanation for how I managed to pull this off with no plan. The sewing Gods were on my side I guess.

I squeezed this dress out of the most insanely small piece of stash fabric, which is some sort of partially stretchy polyester blend suiting. I think I had about a yard and a half  to work with. In order to lay out my front and back pieces on the fold, I had to  bring both salvages to the inside fold line and create two new fold lines pointing to the outside. It just barely worked out. All of the materials used for this dress were in my stash for so long that I feel like this dress was free!

I’ve always been a huge fan of the flapper movement and I love this article about how The Great Gatsby portrays women of the era all wrong. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’ve heard awesome things about it when you accept the fact that it’s not historically accurate. I’m hoping to see it this weekend. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Oh, and of course I had to take some photos with Lucille since there’s been an unacceptable lack of her adorable face around here lately!

Caught her mid yawn lol.

Lucille is generally a really lazy dog, but sometimes being outside summons her inner spaz. She was just standing around and then all of the sudden she started digging furiously and rubbing her face in the grass haha! What a dork.

Blur face dog! That’s how you can tell she was having fun

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

xo
Rochelle

Okay, so pull up a chair and get ready for a good sit down because Meredith has A LOT of amazing information to share with you about Victory Gardens, both modern and historical, and their impact on ourselves and our neighbors. Enjoy!

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Sow for Victory

Let’s take a little field trip back to 1943.   Go ahead and hop in those time machines!  We’re going to explore the day and age when the world was at war and our food supply was in peril.

American Life in 1943
Think about this: the average family in 1943 was living on $29.00 a week.  Food staples were rationed out to families in order to provide for the troops.   As you can imagine, fresh fruits and vegetables were in short supply.  In order to keep the nation from starvation, the US Government encouraged folks to help out in any way that they could.  Propaganda posters popped up in every town urging families to plant ‘Victory Gardens’ to provide their own produce.

(photos courtesy of Victory Garden Foundation)

Over 20 million American families took up the call for ‘victory.’ They collaborated with friends and neighbors and took control of their own food supply.   Even schools got involved in the cause by planting gardens in schoolyards to provide supplemental food for school lunches.  The number of canning supplies sold more than quadrupled from 1943 to 1944.  Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged her fellow citizens by planting a Victory Garden at the White House in 1943.

(photo courtesy of Victory Garden Foundation)

The plan was a wild success across the nation. As the National WWII Museum website indicates, “By 1944, Victory Gardens were responsible for producing 40% of all vegetables grown in the United States. More than one million tons of vegetables were grown in Victory Gardens during the war.”

FORTY PERCENT of all vegetables? Holy moly! Can you imagine if we did that today??

After the War
After the war was over in 1945, Victory Gardens began to steadily disappear from backyards and rooftops. Grocery stores popped up across the nation and buying everything we needed from them became commonplace. Commercial foods became more widely available and Americans didn’t see any reason to continue growing their own anymore.  New and different problems began to crop up in our nation’s food supply…

“The effort of the victory gardeners was directed toward the defeat of an easily identified enemy – the Axis powers. Today, our ‘enemy’—the eco crisis looming on our horizon—is more elusive and complex and is potentially a greater adversary.”
-Phillip Wenz, San Francisco Gate

Food Today
All right, let’s hop back in those time machines and return to the present day.

Today we live in a very different world than that of the 1940’s. With the opening of commercial grocery stores in towns across the country, the food system has adjusted to meet the ever-increasing demands of the public. Scientists have genetically modified our food in labs.  Farmers have resorted to using industrial methods of growing food and raising livestock.  Vegetables are now coated with poisons in the fields. Animals are kept in tight quarters where they lead miserable lives. All of this all happens even before the food is packed onto a truck, shipped across the country, and stocked in a supermarket. During the long journey almost half of this produce will spoil.

Producing food isn’t what it used to be, and our bodies and wallets are taking the toll.

(photo courtesy of Occupy New Mexico)

The next time you’re at the grocery store, take a closer look at the produce section.  Do some investigation.  Become a food spy.  You can even wear a trench coat and a spiffy hat!

Try this: Check out the labels to see where the produce comes from. Consider the massive amount of fuel it takes to get a piece of produce all the way across the country. Consider the nutritional value of food that traveled on the road for two weeks before it arrived at your store.  Also consider how hard it is for your local farmer to compete with industrial produce from overseas.  Farm workers in other countries are paid pitiful wages and food safety practices are lax, which makes it cheap and easy to produce low quality, sometimes down right poisonous foods.

(photo courtesy of Indigenous Environmental Network)

 Food is our energy source; it is what we give our bodies to run on.  Food matters. And everything that is done to it before it gets to your mouth matters too.

So, what can we do about it?  
Our agricultural system is a mess, it is enough to make your head spin.  There’s a slew of information available to cover the various problems we’re facing. It’s not my goal today to depress you, it’s my goal to give you hope. If you’d like to research on your own, please check out the links at the bottom of this page. I’m here to tell you there is something that we can do about this.

So, keep reading!

Our problems today may be different from that of 1943 but our solutions are in many ways the same.  We can take a lesson from the wisdom of the past and go back to our old ways.  We can take control of our food: where it comes from, how it’s produced, and what goes into it.  This power can be in your hands, and let me tell you, this is the most almighty of powers!

Bring back the victory garden!
Even without food rationing and propaganda posters, people all across the nation are taking notice of the condition of our food supply and choosing to do something about it. Consumers are starting to look more closely at food labels and are refusing to buy things with unpronounceable ingredients.  Organic foods are becoming an increasingly common sight on grocery store shelves. Farmer’s markets are popping up in neighborhoods across the country.

Even Michelle Obama got into the act and planted a kitchen garden on the lawn of the White House as part of her campaign to end childhood obesity and advocate healthy eating.

(photo courtesy of Mother Earth News)

Obama was the first First Lady to plant a garden on the White House lawn since Eleanor Roosevelt did so in 1943.  70 years later, her actions give us hope for a new age of agricultural awareness.  She says of her efforts: “It is my hope that our garden’s story – and the stories of gardens across America – will inspire families, schools, and communities to try their own hand at gardening and enjoy all the gifts of health, discovery, and connection a garden can bring.” –Michelle Obama, American Grown

Our collective outlook on food is changing for the better.  Once again, families are taking control of their food, and you can too!

What you have to Gain:

Personal Gratification
There is nothing, nothing so gratifying as walking out your back door to cut some lettuce, pick a tomato, and dig up some carrots to throw together a salad.

You know that the food was grown in sustainable conditions.  You know that the laborer was treated fairly.  You know you’re not eating poison in the form of pesticides and herbicides.  You know that it took zero energy resources (no gas and no oil are used in transport) to get your food to your plate.  Unless of course you’re counting the energy you spent walking into your backyard!

More Money for your Pockets
Skyrocketing food costs are due in part to the increase in gas and oil prices.  The vast majority of our food isn’t even coming from within our states, and all that food has to get to your store somehow. The food you eat is often shipped from farms and factories all over the country, sometimes even all over the world!  New studies show that more than 40% of food is thrown away before it even gets to the consumer, much of that because of spoilage during transit.

Local food advocate Joel Salatin writes on the subject, “The average morsel of food sees more of America than the farmer who grows it, traveling fifteen hundred miles from field to fork.”

Growing your own food on your property cuts out the middleman.   You can take pride in knowing that very little food is wasted when you grow it yourself.  You also don’t have to pay the farmer, the truck driver, the gas company, the cashier, the produce manager, or any one else.  You only pay yourself, and you get paid in a glorious bounty of food…best paycheck ever!

(photo courtesy of Natural News)

Control your own destiny
Growing your own food makes you feel powerful in a world where lack of control is commonplace.  Knowing that the food you’re eating is safe and full of nutrition is priceless.  Don’t get lost in the shuffle and leave your fate in the hands of others. You can pull yourself up by your bootstraps and take control!  Families in the 1940’s made an effort to provide for themselves, and you can too!

Be Prepared… (Cue singing hyenas and scar faced lions)
Another reason to grow your own food is for preparedness.  Food is a necessary resource, and we can’t live without it.  In times of need, be it an emergency, or getting laid off from work, it’s important to know that your family can still eat. Having the knowledge and ability to grow food will never let you down.  You’ll never find yourself saying, ‘Dang! What a useless skill!’  Unfortunately, the knowledge and skills for food production are getting lost more and more as each year passes.

Educate the Youngins’
If you talk to many children these days, you’ll find that they’re quite confused about foods that don’t come in boxes and bags.  Many of them can’t tell you that a carrot is the root of a plant, or that mashed potatoes are made with a vegetable that’s grown underground.

If you plant your own victory garden, this can be your way of showing your food independence, but you can also teach your kids valuable lessons.

This next generation is going to have to bear the burden of our current food system.  Change starts with these kids, and raising them well is the best thing you can do for our future. Your kids crave knowledge; they want to learn, so teach them! Allow them to form a connection between the earth and their plates.   Working together in the garden can strengthen your family culture. Cook together, eat together, and you will grow together.

This clip from Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution documents this issue perfectly.  I can only hope this is a very extreme example of kids’ food knowledge.

You can do it too!
You don’t need to be a farmer to grow a victory garden, and it’s okay if you don’t live on seven acres in the country. You too can grow a victory garden with just a little creativity and persistence.  For city dwellers, you’ll need to think outside the box…or inside the box, rather.

You can grow a lot of food in little containers- boxes, cartons, buckets, bags, even in old tires—the sky’s the limit!  My fiancée and I live in the heart of the city and we still manage to keep chickens and a garden.

Think about how helpful it would be if you could grow even just one of the plants you regularly eat.  You could cut that right out of your grocery bill, and I guarantee it will taste much better than store bought. To read more about growing in small spaces, check out the link on city gardening at the bottom of this article.

No Garden? No Problem!
If growing your own food is an absolute impossibility for you, but you still want to do something to make a difference, there are still several things that you can do.  Consider buying your produce from a farmer’s market, or a CSA (community supported agriculture) instead of from the grocery store.  This food is not only cheaper, it almost always comes from a local farm, and you have the opportunity to talk to the farmer first hand!

(photo courtesy of Institute for Responsible Technology)

I’m all about putting my money directly into the farmer’s hand for the food they grow, rather than paying several companies in between farm and table.  If your farmer’s market isn’t an option, start making calls to your local grocery store and ask them to carry more produce from local farms.  If they are eager to keep you as a customer, they will do what it takes to make you happy.

I truly believe that every action made to improve our food system makes a difference.  Even if that action is simply shopping at the farmer’s market once a month or starting an herb garden on your windowsill, every little bit of change helps.  These things add up, and before you know it, you may start a food revolution in your own neighborhood.  You can change the world; all you have to do is take that first step.

(photo courtesy of Red White and Grew)

Sowing for victory in this day and age has a different connotation than it did in the 1940′s.  Growing your own food may not help in the war effort, but it will help save the environment, strengthen family bonds, save money, and increase your independence.

The time is now, so get out there! Sow some seeds! Sow for independence! Sow for knowledge! Sow for victory!

References for further education:

On Victory Gardens:

National WWII Museum

Victory Garden Foundation

Living History Farm

Bring Back the Victory Garden

On Gardening and local agriculture:

Find a CSA near you

Find your local farmer’s market

Small Space, Low Skill Gardening

Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden

Gardening Basics for Beginners

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

On the condition of food:

Milk: America’s Health Problem

Joel Salatin

Food Inc.

Center for Ecoliteracy

Sustainable Table

The Food Trust

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Wow – thank you, Meredith! Now if that doesn’t make you want to get up right now and start your own patio garden or hit up your local farmer’s market, I don’t know what will.

Meredith isn’t just another pretty face full of vast knowledge, folks. She also has baby chickens and a super cute rescued angora rabbit. Go check out her blog!!

xo
Rochelle