In 1943, at the height of the popularity of FDR’s Victory Garden campaign, the USDA determined that some 40% of American’s fresh fruits and vegetables came from people’s backyards. Today, while that number is so low the USDA doesn’t bother to track it, the trend is catching on again. So-called “edible lawns” are taking root (so to speak); zoning laws are being loosened to allow residents to keep chickens inside suburban and even urban neighborhoods; and many cities (San Francisco, Chicago) are offering incentives for property owners to green their rooftops with vegetation.

Glen Brook can help, too. We recently teamed up with Skyhorse Publishing in New York to offer greening tips for everyone interested in living closer to the earth and in balance with the rhythms of nature. Glen Brook’s web site now features editorial selections from Skyhorse’s current book list on such topics as composting, enhancing food production on small plots, and saving energy in our homes and work life.

Skyhorse is run by Tony Lyons, who attended Glen Brook as a camper in the 1970s and graduated from the Rudolf Steiner School in New York. He said he jumped at the chance to be involved with Glen Brook as an adult and to parlay his working life with Glen Brook’s green image.

“I remember my time at Glen Brook as if it was yesterday,” Lyons said on a recent visit to his office on Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. “Picking blueberries on Blueberry Hill, playing Capture the Flag, picking up garnets, watching Mr. Kretz jump over a broomstick, and all the songs we used to sing are just a few of the beautiful experiences that come to mind. It warms my heart to know that Glen Brook is bringing these types of experiences to the lives of a new generation of children.”

Selections will be published (online) quarterly, under our Farm & Garden/Green Living tabs. Site visitors can also email Glen Brook Culinary Director Ash Sheehan for gardening tips, particularly as they relate to biodynamic principles. Backyard gardening is as valuable a mission today as it was in 1943.