Awesome old USDA poster

[Recursion]

I wish the USDA still thought like this:

[demosocialist]

1. REC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. cool poster

[iandhr]

3. When was this from?

[Demoiselle]

6. Must be between Pearl Harbor and 1945.

(I have no expertise...just a guess.)

[xxqqqzme]

7. I would guess later than

'45 - just because it doesn't reference gardening as home front war effort.

[spooky3]

8. It looks older than that to me--just the typeface used, etc. I hope an expert

will chime in. It is an interesting poster.

[Riftaxe]

24. It is older, it is part of a 1917

USDA campaign.

There was a series of the "Demonstrate Thrift In Your Home" posters. Other posters in the series had messages with "Waste No Food" as well as "Food Will Win The War".

[spooky3]

63. Thank you!

[Recursion]

10. World War One

According to google

[handmade34]

12. it is from 1917

and this

[green for victory]

4. and this one

[kag]

66. Priceless!

[NYC_SKP]

5. K/R

[myrna minx]

9. What a great poster!

I have two cool posters from the WWII era about saving cooking fats and pledging to not purchase black market food.
It's sad to see how the mission of the USDA has changed over the years.

[Andy Stanton]

15. I worked there for 34 years

The mission is largely to support the industry. In Democratic administrations some effort is made to support small farmers and the general public. In Republican administrations the effort is virtually 100% on the side of huge farms and corporate interests.

[lynne]

11. Some ideas are timeless -

- I have a garden, can the produce, and have a small flock of hens. Great food and great fun!

[handmade34]

13. ...

[Cleita]

14. Except many cities won't let you raise chickens.

Also, many home owner's associations tell you what you can grow in your yard along with what color you can paint your house.

[Major Nikon]

17. My next door neighbor painted his house pink

I'm kinda glad the HOA made him change it.

[Cleita]

18. Sorry but I see nothing wrong with pink.

My neighbor across the road just painted his house pink with blue and white trims. It looks really good.

[Major Nikon]

22. I've seen some pink homes that looked good. This was not one of them.

They are from India and whatever they were aiming for wasn't exactly in line with western motifs. I really like my neighbor, so I didn't complain about it, but it really looked bad. Our HOA is pretty easy going, but they called him on it and he changed it. I told him I'd help him repaint, but he hired a professional to do it. He understood and didn't get upset over it.

[Blanks]

20. Even if there are ordinances specifically against...

Raising chickens. I would expect that if you didn't have any roosters and the density was small enough that there wasn't an odor problem. Nobody would complain.

If you live somewhere with restrictive covenants and a homeowners association... Well, I don't know what you were thinking.

[Cleita]

23. My grandmother raised chickens in the middle of Los Angeles during WWII.

She had a couple of roosters at a time. (Most of them made Sunday dinner before they were a year old.) But since it was during the war, she provided the neighborhood with eggs, which were rationed at the time, so no one complained about her chickens.

[Hekate]

26. 4 hens, no roosters, seems to be about what the neighbors can live with nearly anywhere...

... in Suburbia. We have 4 hens that we got by accident, and have had zero complaints from the neighbors. The guy next door likes them so much he got a few of his own. The rest of the neighbors get gifts of eggs from us every so often and are very pleased.

[xtraxritical]

39. I thought you needed a rooster to get hens to lay eggs?

[Granny M]

45. No, not for eggs.

Roosters only needed for fertilized eggs. They are too noisy for me, although many people like to keep them around to look after the hens.

[AlbertCat]

76. many people like to keep them around to look after the hens.

And depending on the type...they can be beautiful!



But they are noisy. Peacocks are beautiful but REAL noisy! Great watchdogs tho'.

[Granny M]

81. He's gorgeous.

There's a garden center in town that has several Cochin hens and a rooster. He is stunning, and huge. Also has some kind of bantam rooster who is beautiful, too.

I've heard that it's good to have the roosters for the hens' protection. They will even battle foxes.

I'm too light a sleeper, though. I'm afraid the noise would drive me nuts.

[Recursion]

84. El gallo es guapo! (nt)

[LeftInTX]

60. Females don't need a male to ovulate - LOL

In Homo Sapiens, these eggs results in a monthly gift called, menstruation.

[Granny M]

44. I have 3 hens.

I look after them, cleaning their nesting box daily and cleaning their run area when it needs it, usually a couple of times a month. They don't smell, and they hardly make any noise at all. They free-range in our garden for a few hours every day. They cause no problems. I wonder why anyone would object to 2 or 3 hens in someone's back garden?

[Blanks]

53. I agree.

It's almost as if there are people out there trying to keep people dependent upon this non-renewable resource driven economy.

A chicken only needs about a 10 square feet area with good drainage. They help keep the bugs down.

There are a lot of good reasons to encourage people to have chickens; it makes no sense to me that they are 'illegal'.

My wife jokes about establishing an urban chicken defense fund. Our local ordinance are not based on any kind of logic; just an arbitrarily selected maximum number regardless of lot size.

[pansypoo53219]

70. i saw a fancy young turkey in a little cage once at an estate sale.

in Milwaukee.

[Granny M]

73. I wonder what they're like to have around.

The hens are delightful little pets. Never heard about turkeys.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. It's hard to be more local than food you raise yourself. nt

[limpyhobbler]

19. Victory gardens...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_garden

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 the 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.

[Blanks]

21. Good stuff. eom

[xtraxritical]

40. I live "inland" in SoCal, the ground is hard pack and the HOA and neighbors would just freak

if I tried to put hens in my yard. I've tried to grow a garden for years but a 110 f in the summer it's too hot for even tomato plants.

[Granny M]

47. Would a garden grow in fall, winter and spring?

I had raised beds last year because of poor soil in our area. Had to buy some good topsoil, but it worked pretty well. We moved to a new place, and I may try a few grow bags and pots this year.

[Kali]

50. grow in containers and use shades

you will have fall tomatoes, no problem

[Ednahilda]

56. Check out this blog:

rootsimple.com
These folks do the small-scale urban homesteading thing in Los Angeles and have a lot of information about growing food in hot climates. Even though I live in the cold Northeast I still find lots of good stuff there. Big plus: they have a good sense of humor.

[LeftInTX]

62. In South Texas, tomatoes don't survive our summers.

We plant late February, then early Sept. We plant determinant(shorter season) heat setting varieties too.
Many other vegetables don't survive the summer either.
Greens are strictly a winter crop down here.

[xtraxritical]

64. Thanks for all the great info. guys!

[raouldukelives]

25. Kick! Always loved the old line "Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without."

In our new age of climate awareness, it is the least any of us can do. Maybe it is far past time for Climate Victory Gardens but every little bit can only help.

[DaveJ]

27. There is a large version at WikiMedia if anyone wants to read it in detail

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22Help_Feed_Yourself._Make_back_yards_and_vacant_lots_productive._Work_a_garden-_Raise_children..._Somebody_has_to..._-_NARA_-_512681.jpg

What comes to mind is whatever the U.S. was trying to avoid back then, looks like we lost. As many have said, farming is not allowed on most property, alot is not large enough, people are just expected to suckle the teet of corporations including Monsanto. They won. But it doesn't mean we can't fight back.

[Recursion]

57. Thank you!

I'll see if I can get the print shop at work to surreptitiously print that out for me on stock.

[longship]

28. Kicking this thread! DURec, too. nt

[midnight]

29. I love those chickens... anyone here have chickens?

[lynne]

31. Have three hens -

- and I love those fresh eggs. My area did not allow chickens but the laws were amended last year. Backyard chickens are very popular right now and laws are being amended in many locations to allow for having hens for fresh eggs.

We're in the middle of a snowstorm right now and "the girls" hate the snow so I imagine they'll not be happy when the sun comes up!

[midnight]

82. That is a concern for me... Keeping them warm in the winter... My family says that is when

the hens are sold off or eaten.. So I keep re-thinking this... but have wanted to own them for some time.. I grew up next door to a Veterinarian who built a pond and had little chicks running around... but that was in Arizona.. and while it does get cold at night and snow in the mountains.. It is nothing like here in Wisconsin...

[lynne]

83. I'm not concerned with the cold -

- unless it would be a long stretch of sub-zero weather. Many breeds of chickens do wonderfully well in the cold provided they have a chicken coop that isn't drafty but has good ventilation to allow escape of excess moisture.

My girls are just being Diva's as we haven't had a lot of snow this year so they're not used to it. I threw straw over some of the snow and they'll only walk out as far as the straw extends. LOL!

I've learned a lot from http://www.backyardchickens.com/ and there are many discussions regarding chickens in the winter. Members in Alaska and Canada don't have any problems and do not use supplemental heat. There are also members from Wisconsin who could give you some pointers. Guess their girls learn to live with the snow!

[JDPriestly]

38. In small towns where houses are on large lots, chickens

may be fine and healthy, but in a city where lots are 50 by 150, chickens are a horror -- and a health problem. The manure is nice for a garden, but chicken coops and shelter have to be kept very clean. My neighbors who had them let the chickens' coop become filthy. And the chickens were all over my yard all the time. Free-range eggs are great but the chickens that lay them need room.

[MineralMan]

41. Nonsense. One dog will generate more feces

than a dozen chickens, and many, many people own dogs. I own a dog. Its crap is constant issue. Still, I have one. As for noise, one dog can make more noise than however many chickens you might have in your suburban yard, frankly. There's one at my rear neighbor's house that barks almost constantly. I'd prefer a dozen chickens and even a rooster to that.

There is no earthly reason why people should not keep chickens in their back yard. No reason at all. Making reasons up is not the answer, either.

[JDPriestly]

51. Don't get me started on dogs in the city.

I'm cleaning up my yard constantly. If you want a dog, clean up after it -- even in your own yard.

At least what the chickens leave will fertilize your yard. What the dogs leave kills the grass in my experience.

[MineralMan]

52. My wife and I are fastidious about cleaning up after

our beagle-basset mix chap. I wish the same were true with my neighbors and their dogs.

People who whine about a few chickens in a backyard are missing the whole picture, IMO. I'd love to hear a rooster crowing in my neighborhood. Then I'd know that someone was keeping chickens, and that's always a good thing.

[IrishAyes]

78. As to the great dog/chicken war...

Hens are one thing, roosters another. Those damn roosters start up BEFORE daylight to summon the sun, didn't you know that? But if noise and health laws are strictly and impartially enforced (and when has that ever happened in a small town?), raising chickens can be fine. They've never been prone to attacking other pets and humans either, unlike roosters and dogs.

It would be WWIII in this town if I hadn't put up a 4-ft fence around the entire perimeter of my quarter acre - that's about the average size lot here. I have real issues about people with free range dogs, because I garden and landscape and those nasty little male dogs used to pee on my front door because I had female dogs indoors. After 2 years and several cans of pepper spray, at last I found the kind of vintage fencing I wanted to go with the house. Only one place I could find still makes it, and at that just about once a year when they get enough special orders to make a run. So I had a time of it for awhile.

Once the fence went up I could let my chows out when I couldn't take them for a walk, so that made life easier for me. Neighbors didn't like it because my property no longer served as a convenient short cut, and they didn't want to challenge the chows or me either for that matter. Anyway, with my dogs having the run of the yard I had to fence in the garden area too, but it was worth it. You can grow almost anything in raised beds. Once you get them established and collect your own seeds from heirloom varieties, gardening can be very cost effective. Most heirlooms reseed themselves w/o any help.

Strawberry plants make excellent mulch and keep down weeds so well, even creeping charlie which I encourage to grow along the fence row because I don't like to trim. No need to buy fertilizer either if you compost. Just go entirely organic and you're better off in every way.

[JDPriestly]

79. There are lots of roosters in our neighborhood.

But only if the neighbors don't complain because there is, I think, (or at least used to be) about the distance the chickens must be from the house, and our lots are too small to allow for chickens.

We woke up on Easter morning to find a rooster on our fence crowing away. I assume someone's Easter dinner had escaped.

[xtraxritical]

42. Eggzactly.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

30. Now it's only legal to consume.

[HiPointDem]

32. by design. people have been channeled into that via pricing and time. cheaper to buy most

things new than to pay to have them repaired. cheaper to buy eggs in the store than to keep chickens.

[jerseyjack]

33. Why waste your time planting stuff when we have Monsanto?

[toby jo]

34. My great-grandma used to tell us of the victory gardens from WWII.

I studied ag in the late 70s' - these gardens were widespread in Europe. They also use their land more productively in general. For example, they would have gardens and crops planted right up to the edge of the road, whereas in the states, we would have a 'front yard', or at least a lawn strip up against the road.

[IrishAyes]

75. The Problem

.... with such dense planting so close to a roadway is that exhaust fumes from the vehicles do get into the produce. I wouldn't eat anything grown that way for love or $.

[JayhawkSD]

35. If one out of ten homeowners in America planted gardens

I'm guessing the pollution would stagger the imagination. We would not even be able to wade in the Pacific Ocean, let alone swim in it.

[Recursion]

48. What pollution? (nt)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

58. Huh? Please expound.

[MynameisBlarney]

36. And to think

Some cities will fine you for doing such things these days.
This should be encouraged!

[JDPriestly]

37. Demonstrate thrift in your home. How sensible.

Too sensible for so many Americans.

In spite of the huge sums we spend on refrigeration and other ways to keep food fresh, middle class Americans waste enough to feed everyone on food stamps plus.

Waste not that ye want not.

Still good advice.

[xtraxritical]

43. With people working two (or more) jobs just to survive they're supposed to be farming too? geez

[JDPriestly]

49. You don't have to farm to avoid wasting food.

[Blanks]

54. Gardening. Not farming. There's a difference.

I think most people would find that if it were a part of their daily routine; it would actually save time.

If you had a few chickens and a little know how you could grow a few things like lettuce and tomatoes and throw your scraps to the chickens.

I don't know about you but it can take a while to go to the grocery store; drive to it, wait in line, put it in bags, drive home put it away, prepare your food.

If you planted a little kitchen garden you could go out pick a healthy snack and feel a sense of accomplishment. Not to mention begin to really enjoy eating.

The thing is; I've never heard anyone say "I sure feel stupid for trying to grow a garden, what a waste of time".

Think about it; have you? Everyone that I know who has ever tried gardening has found it to be a truly enjoyable hobby.

[phantom power]

46. I feel like that attidued died with Carter's 'wear a sweater' speech

That was the moment when politicians concluded that asking Americans to sacrifice, or give back, or 'ask what they could do for their country', was a political loser.

[Burma Jones]

55. Here's a similar one I have in my basement bathroom

?1304704113

[datasuspect]

65. when did we, as a culture, stop

using the word luncheon?

sounds much better than lunch.

[lumpy]

80. I thought that it was 'the upper crust' people who prefer using the word luncheon.

The word 'the' sounds much better than 'tu', also.

[dem in texas]

59. WWII Victory Gardens

I was a small child during WWII, but I remember the big Victory garden we had in our back yard in Dallas. We also had a flock of chickens. I can remember my mother and grandmother making soap out of lye and old grease in the back yard because there was a soap shortage.

[Starry Messenger]

61. My apartment doesn't lend itself to raising chickens or hoeing dirt.

I'm happy for people who can do those things, but some of us rely on stores.

[Doremus]

74. Do you have a balcony?

Then you have the perfect place for a container garden. Even a window sill is great for growing herbs.

You don't have to have acreage to have a garden.

[Starry Messenger]

77. No. Fire escape we're not allowed out on.

No roof access either, sadly.

[Melinda]

67. Thanks for posting this! Here's a few more...

and yours is in this set as well. These are a part of many images from the North Dakota State Historical Society website. Just click on the individual photos to enlarge each one:

http://history.nd.gov/exhibits/gardening/objects5.html

This one is from that set:



The entire site and the history therein is fascinating and wonderful. Enjoy

Oh, and K&R!

[Mutatis Mutandis]

68. people who practise these actions nowadays would be derided as preppers and labled by DHS, MIAC, etc

as exhibiting traits of potential domestic terrorists. It's all about ensuring full-spectum helplessness.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

69. My husband and I were just talking about this concept - it's great and

thanks for sharing. I wonder why there is so little in PSA out there now. Think Obama should
revive the program - get some good info out there on health care too.

[The2ndWheel]

71. Then energy got cheaper

The cheaper the energy, the more waste there will be, because the more waste there can be.

[99th_Monkey]

72. This should become Exhibit A

in class-action lawsuits against Monsanto.