Hi Jack, NormK
Love that assembly line photo, where in Aus did this take place?
I think that older generation grew up living off the land prior to the wars when cars were only available for the wealthy, the higher class society would drive to the corner store and not get their hands dirty digging veggies while the rest had to survive in these tough times. We also need to remember not everyone had a fridge or ice box to keep things fresh back in those days, this is probably why the outside dunny was next to the veggie patch so when you got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet you could get a snack on the way back to bed.
The war was probably the biggest factor as this caused a great increase of migrants such as the Italians and Greeks who as we know came to this country in droves during the 50's & 60's. This is what these guys knew how to do best and every migrant terrace backyard had a bricked up veggie patch and no grass. Still to this day the last remaining survivors of theses migrants still have a veggie patch, my Italian grandmother who passed away 7 years ago still has to this day the bricked up veggie patches in her Sydney backyard where the old Landmaster did its job. My mother has now continued on the veggie patch growing strawberries, mangoes, parsley and even a pineapple to name some.
The newer generation think veggies are made at Cole's and Woolies like the hot cross buns and wouldent know how to survive if the next war came along.
