Started wondering about a German variant, but am now thinking their internal propaganda was never that keen on anything that might imply things were going anything less than positively to the man in the street. The point also occurs, perhaps more solidly, that they were expanding agriculturally with all the occupied territories, rather than under food production pressure by threats to trade-lines like the UK? Obviously that would change as things went on, but I don't really know enough about German food supply. Sad innit - one reads all sorts of stuff about Steel, rare metals, chemicals etc. but personally I obviously haven't taken much in on Axis civvy food supply at all.
I asked D & Heimbrent if they could think of a German comparitor, as they can handle the lingo. They've pointed me towards the 'Blood & Soil' concept, and a few RAD style projects. But I think we'd likely agree they're not quite the same thing as Dig for Victory - more on the state/ideological side of town. Macro rather than Micro. (Will hunt about further with some terms they provided though, cheers chaps.)
The German technical press reports the large-scale preparation of a standard 30-pound (approximately) so-called dried vegetable "bomb" containing an assortment of compressed dried beans, peas, carrots, cabbage, spinach, onions, and potatoes. These rations are designed to be dropped from airplanes to isolated German units. It also reports special balanced-meal units composed of dried vegetables, meat, fruit, and fats compressed into a single cube prepared particularly for use in long-distance submarines. German Concentrated Food for Military Uses, WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 20, March 11, 1943 (Lone Sentry)
March 1943 eh? Stalingrad sort of period. You have to wonder, when dried fruit bombs are being considered, whether it might just be possible that normal supply lines have gone the merest tad awry...
You're a naughty man, so nobody post that well-know modern news picture of the placard and we'll get back onto civvies and digging with no further distractions ^_^.
I'll go for a safe sweeping stereotype then: Germans live either in the country or in towns in flats. The former would probably be growing things as a matter of course, the latter couldn't. Did Germany lack significant suburban development that could respond to a DfV-style campaign?
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 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. Victory garden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Will hunt about further with some terms they provided though, cheers chaps.) I tried Sieg Garten and Kleingarten, but without much luck...
VP - sorry can't help with the mechanics of pig keeping as the only time I was interested was when dinner was served and we had porkchops... Cheers
BRILLIANT! This is exactly the type of thread I was hoping to find on here! Going to have a good browse around and try to learn a whole load more about this topic! At home, which I call Frugaldom, I'm trying to create a self-sustainable household that grows all its own veggies. I keep ducks, hens and quail for eggs and I still have plenty to learn about how things get done to ensure maximum produce from minimum space on a miniscule budget. Guaranteed, I'll be back here soon.
Ministry of Agriculture Dig For Victory Leaflet No. 1 Dig For Victory WWII Allotment Garden Plan - Grow Vegetables Year Round Many thanks for posting this link, CL1, going to make the most of how it should be done and sincerly hopig I have 90' x 30' of solid growing space in the new garden. Is anyone else on here actually attempting to do this now?
.... Is anyone else on here actually attempting to do this now? This is what my attempt looked like last year:
What a lovely, tidy vegetable patch, Stormbird! I've been trying for the past 5 years to grow enough vegetable for the household but kept having to start again after housemoves. Now, finally settled in our ow house, I have started again and think the best way to do it is to follow in the footsteps of those who had to do it out of need, rather than want. I wish you all every success with your food production. I try to keep my blog up to date with progress, but then get distracted by other things - like World War II and how little I actually know about what occured, despite having taken history as a subject at school.
Originally Posted by Frugaldom .... Is anyone else on here actually attempting to do this now? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes started 2 years ago, had to rabbit proof it we are overun with them, done well with runners this year, and toms in greenhouse, outside toms all died, and we catch and eat the rabbits, we water straight out of the brook that runs next to the plot, looking forward to pulling the leeks soon, see my attempt below. lofty
Lofty, that looks brilliant! It;s so neat and tidy compared to what I'm starting off with, here. Mine will need rabbit proofing but only because I have a pet rabbit that I don't like to see shut in her hutch all the time. She doesn't seem to touch the leeks, turnips or pumpkins, thankfully.
Amazon have The Spade as Mighty as the Sword: The Story of World War Two's 'Dig for Victory' Campaign on clearance if anyone's interested:
Brilliant, many thanks for pointing that out for us! Off to see if it comes in ebook format... guess who is into the 21st Century with a Kindle for Christmas?
