大象传媒

This story is by Joyce Gibson, and has been added to the site with their permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions. The story was collected by Joyce Gibson, transcribed by Elizabeth Lamont and added to the site by Bruce Logan.
====

During the first few months of World War II, known as the 鈥淧honey War鈥� we prepared for the worst. We lived in the suburbs of London and, in response to the admonishments to 鈥渄ig for victory鈥�, my mother grew more vegetables in our small garden, although she didn鈥檛 know how to control the maggots and they were often inedible. Amongst her successes was a twenty-two pound pumpkin, which, when displayed in the window of a small caf茅 in Central London, (incidentally next door to Sweeney Todd鈥檚 barber shop) raised over twenty pounds for the Red Cross. Customers, in return for a small donation, were asked to guess the weight. The prize? To become the proud owner of the huge pumpkin.

My mother was also a great fan of Dr. Charles Hill, the Radio Doctor. Every morning he would broadcast food tips to ensure the best possible use of the little food we had. One message got across very well. We ate raw white shredded cabbage every day for the rest of the war! I have only recently been able to look raw white cabbage in the eye, no doubt because I am lucky enough to be able to obtain the ingredients for a tasty dressing. I remember too, a terrible yearning for a big juicy orange! Sadly, they wouldn鈥檛 grow in our garden.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.