Origins

Victory gardens - home vegetable gardens promoting self-sufficiency - experienced a dramatic revival in spring 2020 as COVID-19 caused food supply fears, echoing WWII-era victory gardens.

The Pandemic Revival (March-June 2020)

Triggers:

• Grocery store shortages (meat, produce, flour)
• Fear of food supply collapse
• Quarantine time/boredom
• Desire for control amid chaos
• Historical parallel to WWII (“do your part”)

Growth:

• Seed companies sold out (6-12 week delays)
• First-time gardeners surged 300-500%
• #VictoryGarden posts hit 100K+ by summer 2020

What People Grew

Most popular:

• Tomatoes (cherry, heirloom)
• Lettuce/salad greens
• Beans (bush, pole)
• Zucchini/squash
• Cucumbers
• Herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley)
• Peppers

Less common (but aspirational):

• Potatoes, onions, carrots
• Corn (requires space)
• Fruit trees/berries

The Reality Gap (Summer-Fall 2020)

Many first-time gardeners faced:

• Overambition - planting too much, too late
• Pest problems - aphids, hornworms, powdery mildew
• Weather - drought, heat waves, early frosts
• Space limitations - tiny yards, balconies
• Time - gardens need daily attention
• Harvest glut - too much zucchini, not enough tomatoes

Community Mutual Aid

Victory gardens sparked:

• Neighborhood produce sharing
• Facebook “free food” groups
• Little free pantries
• Seed swaps and sharing

The Dropoff (2021-2022)

As normalcy returned:

• Many abandoned gardens (too much work)
• Seed sales dropped 40-50% (2021)
• Those who stuck with it became serious gardeners

Cultural Legacy

Victory gardens 2020 represented:

• Desire for self-reliance amid uncertainty
• Reconnection with food systems
• Historical nostalgia (greatest generation parallels)
• Hope through action

A moment of collective resilience.

Sources

• Seed Savers Exchange sales data (2020)
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds order backlog (spring 2020)
• “The Victory Garden Revival” (NPR, May 2020)