We've Moved!

Hi guys! It's true; I've traded this old dig for a swankier pad. Victory Home & Garden has paved the way for Anarchy in the Garden™-an amalgamation of micro urban farming, boot kicking punk rock, with a hard dose of DIY.

There are bugs in the new garden but regularly scheduled blogging will resume as I work out the kinks. In addition to customary homesteading content there are several exciting tidbits to share. Including a second more focused and rockin' podcast, an article contribution to a local zine and a new feature for a rad weekly.

Thank you to Haythem, Creative Director/Owner of DUB Magazine, for taking time from his busy schedule to design my new little blog.

A very special thank you to everyone that has followed this blog. Please update your links and I hope you will follow me to the dark side.

VH&G never die!

Anarchy in the Garden™ Podcast

Ugh. Good luck guys listening to my shrill voice. I’ve been sitting on this podcast for a while; wanted to spare you. The conspiracy theories are flying. Why do I mention fish injected strawberries? Oh because mom mentioned it earlier as a cause of my skin rash. Wha? Yeah we're both nuts.

Socialist society, aphid infested squash, radiation treated tomatoes, tasted tasteless tomatoes; say that three times. Those are just some of the gems you’ll be listening to throughout the 27:36 minute podcast. Burpee you owe me seeds. Who do you think dropped your name to the AP writer for said AP article? Hollah!

Special thanks to Rey. He saved me from boring you to tears. Well, I still may bore you. No promises. Thanks to H for chiming in from time to time and putting up with listening to my rants yet again. I promise to wrangle in my ADD for the next podcast and play more songs in between my rambling. Without further a do:



Shout out to Sasha at 1928 Tudor. I hope I didn't butcher your co-op story. And shout out to Judita. We're starting your fan club. Creepy.

Drink Your Beets!

While watering the vegs this morning I thinned out a few beets. It is important to thin beets because beets are a dried fruit with 1-5 seeds in each fruit. Thinning is très important. If several seedlings emerge from one fruit in the same spot quickly yank out the weakest link and thin to 1 seedling per 1”. After 3-4 weeks thin to 3-5 inches apart.

Or you can soil block your beets like I do and transplant your seedling 3-5 inches apart from the get go. You’ll still have to sacrifice a beet like described above but you’ll only thin your seedlings once instead of twice.

Here’s kind-of- a-meal from the garden. I skipped the usual lemon water this morning and instead went straight for a smoothie. The beet thinnings are from my garden. The kumquats were scored through the food exchange and the vanilla almond milk is homemade. Here’s a short “video.”

Disclaimer: Punk rock will be heard.

DIY Deep Watering

Hey, so check it out. Victory Home & Garden will soon become Anarchy in the Garden™. Not to diss VH&G but I was never in love with her. It conjured up too many images of the victory gardens of yore and that’s all good but it’s not what I’m about. The victory I speak of is victory against the man, corpo agribusiness. It’s the ability to whip up an organic vegan feast from the garden in minutes and with two dogs and an omni husband I need to!

Anarchy in the Garden™ is a mixture of DIY ingenuity and tried-and-true old timey techniques with a punk attitude. It’s not your grandma’s grandma’s garden. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel; just give you my perspective, share my techniques, what works and what doesn’t. Most importantly I’ll share my failures so you don’t screw up 160 soil blocks like I did.

So here’s a short slide show on the high tech deep watering system I employ. A video would have been better but the mic on my camera is useless.

Directions:
Step 1: Locate a 1 gallon nursery container (you know you have a ton in your shed).
Step 2: Drill ½ in holes (or get the husband to do it like I do) all around the container up to the lip.
Step 3: Dig a hole where the container will be “installed.” I usually shove one of these between two tomato plants.
Step 4: Fill the container with water. Y voila!

Why do I do this? Good question. Firstly, this is the only way I’ve ever watered my tomatoes. Second, I don’t have a fancy drip irrigation system. That would just be too easy.

These watering containers slowly allow water to seep through the holes and directly to the plant’s roots. Establishing a strong root system equals happy healthy long producing plants. Did I mention I have tomatoes long into December?

Also, it frees up your hands. I’m a multi-tasker. I can’t just do one thing at a time. Dump the hose into the watering container and walk away; tend other garden chores. Keep an eye on the water level, once it reaches the top toss the hose into the next container. You can even splash a little Sea Magic Organic Seaweed Growth Activator like I do. Have fun!

Anarchy in the Garden™

Hey dudes, I'm working on a podcast, Anarchy in the Garden™. It's an amalgamation of my favorite worlds, gardening and punk rock. My suspicion of the establishment has been called out so now it’s time to yell it out. Growing your own food is revolutionary and empowering and this podcast will echo such sentiments.

I need your help. Submit your edible gardening questions like, "what is soil blocking?" and I’ll answer them during the podcast. Please, no questions about roses or geraniums. I’m not that kind of girl.

Here's a tune by one of my favorite Los Angeles punk bands, Circle Jerks. They formed in 1979. I was 3 years old. This footage appeared on New Wave Theatre and was shot at Florentine Gardens in Hollywood, CA.



*The hubs was at this show. He's sitting next to the amp. That explains his bad ear.