1940's Nostalgia, Rationing and Victory Garden

Grocery shopping is certainly not what it used to be...or it?

Like most of us I tend to buy what is on sale and in season or at least try to! Our household is rather small these days since both our children have moved on. But despite all my careful planning (which I constantly tweak as my daughter calls it) I still am shocked at the cost of food!

Quality versus quantity was always my choice but even there I have made some adjustments.

Along the years we have found ways to cut costs by switching lightbulbs, placing water savers, reduced electric usage, canceled services such as satellite tele, magazines subscriptions, land line and so on...

Inflation always seems to catch up...

We limit our trips off island to once or twice a month and these mainland trips are clocked for maximum efficiency...Gas (petrol) cost continues to climb!

The old adage that you should divide the cost of any item by the amount of time you will use it is still a good one prior to purchase thankfully!

'Keep calm and carry on' is of course my husband's motto! Victory gardens, rationing were very much 'in vogue' when he was growing up and we are therefore adapting to a return to austerity programs such as advocated by Mr. Cameron and Mr.Obama...Neither one of these gentlemen have had yet a taste of Lord Woolton's pie!

So, on with a Victory garden...complete with 8 to 10 feet height fences to keep the deer and racoons away, lots of slug pellets to repell the nasty little things, raised beds repleted with countless bags of soil to supplement our poor island soil, we are trying our hand at gardening for produce! Hopefully we should reap something of our carefully planted seedlings of green beans, parsnips, melons and so on...

 Our nights are still around 7 degrees C (45F) whilst these 'warm summer days' average around 12 degrees C (55F)... I do not imagine the tomatoes will produce much despite their containers setting but I can attest the strawberries were not too bad...all 8 ounces!

The flowers however are bountiful and the (never ending) showers helps their growth year around! 

And so remembering the 1940's nostalgia I thought it a good idea to look in some ideas for 'new and inventive ways' to help our family...To be sure there are worse things in life but the following rationing still was an eye opener.

One Person's weekly food allowance in 1940:

4oz (113g)	lard or butter
12oz (340g)	sugar
4oz (113g)	bacon
2	eggs
6oz (170g)	meat
2oz (57g)	tea

Hum...There is no coffee on that list, or chocolate or...Keep calm and carry on will not be easy!

The nostalgic 1940 era often brings to mind the 'good old days', Big Band music, Vera Lynn singing 'Bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover' (oops, somebody forgot to mention to the lyrics writer they are no blue birds in England!), air raids, shelters, the swap of clothes and farewells to the troops...

Like many people I am fond of the 1940's and movies such as 'Mrs. Miniver' and 'The Best Years of Our Lives' are some of my favourites! 

But the reality is far from the romantic ideas we hang on to... 

God is good,God is great, let's pray we never see another War...