Climate Victory Gardening, sequestering carbon in our garden soils!

We're bringing the concept of carbon farming home, literally, to the soils of our yards and gardens.

Climate Victory Gardening is inspired by the World War II efforts of millions of Americans growing gardens to feed troops and make up for farm labor shortages at home. Now, we’re asking Americans to grow gardens to sequester carbon; we have brought back Victory Gardens and this time it’s for the planet. As a bonus, we get healthy soils and fresh food for our families and communities.

Check out what activist/actor Rosario Dawson and guerrilla gardener Ron Finley have to say about it:

The great thing? Many gardeners and permies are likely already using methods in their garden that sequester carbon--things like composing, planting perennials, integrating animals, and protecting soils. Really, it's all about keeping the soils healthy and supported in their natural tendencies to hold carbon. With awareness of these methods and a little intentionality, gardeners have the potential to draw huge amounts of carbon underground where it belongs! Read more about the methods that sequester carbon here.

Right now, we have around 1,300 gardens registered as Climate Victory Gardens--that's around 9 million sq ft. Check out the map. And, we know there are so many more out there.

If you have a garden using soil-improving methods, please register your garden.

When you register, you'll have access to lots of great resources, like the Climate Victory Gardening Toolkit and the facebook group where gardeners share advice, photos, and support for each other in this journey to sequester carbon.

Questions? Email me at ClimateVictoryGarden@GreenAmerica.org

Welcome to Permies, Jes.

I was just wondering if there was a practical reason to register your garden. Are there any benefits to it you could tell us about?

Otherwise, I am glad to see celebrity put to good use in promoting such a pragmatic approach to change. After all, what is more reasonable, and impactful: if one person takes a single day to shift a giant boulder, or if thousands take a second each day to shift a tiny rock?

-CK

hau Jes, all plants that are alive and growing sequester some carbon, grass is a plant that is superior for the purpose of carbon sequestering since so many of them can grow in a small space, this is something that is either little known or forgotten about.
I love that so many "celebrities" are jumping on the bandwagon since they can influence the masses far easier than all of those of us in the scientific world put together.

I just wish I could see the link you posted but, alas my work comp doesn't allow those sorts of things through the firewall and I don't have internet at the farm because of costs to get satellite internet.

Thanks for your question Chris!

There are a few benefits, some more tangible than others:
1. you'll have the option to be sent new educational resources as we come out with them.
2. you can join the facebook group, which is similar to permies.com, but is Q&A specific to drawing carbon down in home gardens (we also have contests and give aways on this page).
3. we envision the map to ultimately be a resource for individuals, for them to be able to see other gardens in their area that they may be able to network with, share supplies, and learn from.
4. we're building a movement where we talk about and treat soils differently, and as our numbers grow, we're seeing more people get excited and more involved, which creates a great ripple effect sor soils and the planet. We're all about accessibility, and the more diverse participants and gardens we have, the more we feel that non-traditional audiences will become more interested in permaculture and carbon farming.
5. recognition, for what that's worth. We want to build up and support those who take what's not always the easiest or fastest route, folks who recognize that the time and effort are worth it for building healthy soils, growing good food, and addressing climate change.

Thanks,
Jes

I'm so happy to see this, I can't even express how much! Victory gardens were originally called "War Gardens", hence the name of my tiny little plot of land that I named "Ware Garden Farm" for my own personal inspiration.

Can you imagine everyone growing food and native/beneficial plants in every yard? This is the way we transform not only our communities, but heal ourselves.

Thank you so much for doing this.