Herrick library's 'victory garden' is a WWII-style response to food shortages

WELLINGTON — Bare grocery store shelves and sky-high inflation are the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they remind Janet Hollingsworth of another dark chapter in history: World War II. Eighty years ago, Americans grew "victory gardens" to get through the hard times. So taking a page from the past, Hollingsworth has planted her own victory garden outside the Herrick Memorial Library, where she is director. "I consider we're in the same kind of food crisis now," she said. Chatting up patrons while checking out their books, Hollingsworth said she kept hearing frustrations and fears about food. People in southern Lorain County are having a hard time putting dinner on the table. Just outside her front doors lay an answer. The village removed a row of locust trees from raised beds in front of the library in March, trying to prevent their roots from growing large enough to ruin sidewalks. Until the trees are replanted in the fall, Hollingsworth has turned the beds into "square-foot" gardens, tightly packed with green beans, sweet peppers, cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, zucchini, onions, basil and parsley, as well as flowers thought to ward off insect pests. Gardens don't have to be sprawling, nor are long rows necessarily the best layout, she said. Veggies can grow closely together, which prevents weeds from sprouting, and a garden can be as small as a 5-gallon bucket. Her husband, David, helped build chicken wire enclosures to keep critters at bay. Then Lorain County Joint Vocational School junior Madison Mickey and library patron Jessica Joppeck helped plant seeds. When harvested, the produce will go to Well-Help, the Wellington nonprofit that distributes food in the village and surrounding townships. "We're getting more people who haven't been to Well-Help for a really long time," said the nonprofit's office coordinator, Bernie Raab. "Most of them are saying they just can't afford to go to the grocery store." She said more and more people are relying on the food pantry to cover gaps at the end of each month. Hollingsworth said many people don't realize that Well-Help has to purchase much of the food it gives away, and does so on a shoestring budget. With prices skyrocketing, Raab said she can't afford to purchase much produce. What comes from gardens, though, is basically free — Oberlin Community Services and Thrive Southern Lorain County provided seeds for the library's project, and The Gathering, the nonprofit arm of Ken Ganley Auto of Norwalk, donated toward fertilizer. The latter is also paying to bring in two speakers this summer to talk about gardening at the library. So far, Hollingsworth and company have offered two introductory classes on growing food, and more are planned to cover canning, teaching people to preserve their produce through the cold months. Even in a rural community surrounded by farmland, gardening has become something of a lost art, Hollingsworth said. Many people know to put the seeds or roots in the ground. What they're much less sure of is technique, and they're turning to books and the library's classes for a little guidance. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.