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!

Ode To My Chef Knife

Lately it’s the simple things that stoke me out and my New West KnifeWorks Chef 8 knife is really doing it for me. Until now, I’ve never owned any fancy cutlery. Instead I own a whole block of knives. The obligatory set purchased when you move into your first apartment; scissors included.

My block o’knives do serious damage on my homegrown tomatoes. Chiffonade? Forget about it. A more adult blade was needed. Enter New West KnifeWorks Chef 8. It’s not just any shiv. It’s functional and chic; a work of art.

Description from website: These knives were designed for the professional chef. For that reason, we selected a special high-carbon stainless Japanese steel for their construction. The steel has 70% more carbon than a German Wusthof Trident. This blade will take on the finest, sharpest edge of any chef knife you have ever owned. Your best cooking deserves the best chef knife.

Sold! I quickly ordered one with a “Mountain Iris” colored handle. There are 10 handle colors to choose from and it retails for $149.00. It’s first task, slicing and dicing tomatoes, like butter. More:



If you’re in the market for a rad new knife I highly recommend a New West KnifeWorks knife.

Picking Berries

Rocky discovered his snack jar:

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.

"In Food We Trust” Photo Essay Contest

Listen up fellow farmers/music lovahs! HomeGrown.org is gifting two tickets to Bonnaroo! Did I mention I'm a judge? Well I am. Neko Case and Booker T will be performing at Bonnaroo and I'm working on attending the event. I may even give seed starting demos! Ah whut?!

Gist:
In a series of six (6) photos or fewer, show: How are you eating differently these days and how are you connecting to the sources of your food?

Example: Are you growing some of your own food? What are you growing and how? Do you know your farmer? What does he/she look like?

Contest Deadline: Thursday May 14th 2009 at 11:59pm ET
Winners Announced: Monday May 18th 2009

Please visit HomeGrown.org for all pertinent details.

Guide to an Anarchist Weekend

Ok, it’s more of a “what’s-the-happs” run down on events around town. Ok ok, it’s what I plan to cram and/or wish I could cram into my weekend.

Saturday, May 2nd:
Get your tree hug on while the finest Long Beach child labor does the dirty work for you. Wrigley is Going Green is throwing their first tree planting of Anaheim Street with the youth from Long Beach Housing Development Company. Event commences at 14th Street Park and Pacific Avenue in Long Beach at 8:30 a.m. Adult volunteers are needed to help keep this project safe. I'll be there cracking the whip.

For more info email: wrigleyisgoinggreen@hotmail.com

Hey hipsters William Elliot Whitmore will be performing at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood. He’s a farmer, tattooed, and belts out roaring verses. Need I say more? He goes on at ten. *Rawr*

He recently performed Old Devils on Later… with Jools Holland:



Sunday, May 3rd:
Start your week off right. Spreading the good raw vegan word and slingin’ heavenly fudge brownies, Judita will be teaching her Raw Food 101 class. It’s the perfect class for those who want to learn about raw food but don’t know where to start. I walked away inspired and have made some serious changes in my diet since taking her class. Thanks Judita!

I highly recommend this class. Email Judita now at rawjudita@yahoo.com because there are only a few spots left!

Rocky's Snack Jar

Recently H and I witnessed very peculiar behavior while standing next to a strawberry jar. A very brash Rocky was sniffing out three lowly ripe strawberries I was babying. He picked off one strawberry at a time and retired to his weed patch for a little afternoon snack.

Rocky’s love for this healthy snack inspired me to redo a strawberry jar just for him. I set off to Armstrong and armed myself with armfuls of strawberry plants. The person ringing up my purchase shot me a look of disgust when I told him the strawberries were for my dog. He can suck it. On to the pictorial!

Song: All Systems Go from the album ‘You Were Never My Age’ performed by Stepmothers courtesy of Posh Boy Records (c) & (p) 1981

Materials:
*One clean strawberry jar (Mine has 9 pockets and the top measures 9" in diameter)
*3 PVC pipes, 1" to 1 ½” in diameter (Depends on the opening of the pot)
*Drill and ¼” drill bit
*Strawberry plants (I used 11 strawberry plants)
*Soil

Directions:
1. Measure the top of your strawberry jar to determine how many PVC pipes will fit. If the diameter measures between 7" to 9" you can fit three PVC pipes.
2. Measure depth of jar to determine length of PVC pipes. Cut about an inch under. You don't want the pipe sticking out of the jar.
3. Drill ¼” holes along the length of the pipe. This will allow water to seep to the strawberries planted at the lower part of the jar.
4. Plug one end of the pipe to hold the water.
5. Position PVC pipes and start filling jar with soil.
6. Pause at the edge of each pocket and carefully shove in plants. I shove them from the inside out. It works for me.
7. Keep the soil and plants coming! Be careful not to get soil in the pipes. I usually cover them with my hands while H fills the jar with soil.
8. Plant the top of the jar. I comfortably fit three strawberry plants.
9. Fill the pipes with water and splash some on top y voila!

Why Do I Plant This Way? Thanks for asking. Ever planted in a strawberry jar only to have whatever you planted die a dehydrated death? Yeah me too. The PVC pipes allow me to water the plants at the bottom more efficiently. Watering the pockets individually sucks and is near impossible.