Modeled after the World War II Victory Gardens, gardeners can do their part to fight climate change by planting Climate Victory Gardens. Climate Victory Gardens focus on rebuilding and restoring soil health and employs regenerative agriculture principles at home. Regenerative agriculture is a type of farming that turns dead or degraded dirt into rich, biodiverse soil that acts as a carbon sink. Healthy soil sequesters more carbon than dead dirt. A worldwide switch to regenerative farming could reverse climate change.
Ron Finley and Rosario Dawson teamed up to narrate a video explaining the Climate Victory Garden. Produced by Green America and Kiss the Ground, the video highlights five gardening practices. Together, Ron and Rosario explain the importance of growing food, not using chemicals, composting, keeping the soil covered, and encouraging biodiversity. Although the Climate Victory Garden principles are in alignment with sustainable gardening, Ron explains that sustainable gardening just leaves you in the same place. Regenerative gardening helps reverse climate change by building and restoring soil which can then help pull carbon from the air and store underground.
In order to create a Climate Victory Garden, gardeners are encouraged to commit to the practices mentioned in the video and a few more for a total of eleven. More detailed information on these eleven is on Green America’s website:
- Grow edible plants
- Keep soils covered
- Encourage biodiversity
- Plant perennials
- Ditch the chemicals
- Compost
- Integrate crops and animals
- Use people power
- Rotate plants and crops
- Get to know my garden
