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Pssst.....Are you replicating the Victory Garden meme?
Pick of the Week: Marvelous new online magazine to read...Hen & Harvest. If you haven't seen it yet, then get right on over there...if for no other reason than to read an excerpt from Sharon Astyk's forthcoming book, Depletion & Abundance (yup, you can start preordering now at Amazon et al...I just added a blurb about it on my Join the Victory Garden Revival Squidoo.) Word is that novelist/blogger/herbal expert Susan Albert (Lifescapes) will contribute articles to H&H on raising herbs.
Two More Bits Worth Noting:
• Organic Garden Takes Over San Francisco's City Hall Lawn (The Wall Street Journal's Developments blog, 8 August 2008) - Y'all take a good look at the Comments...and remember that I said there would be a coming backlash. Expect more. You can count on it. For the record, however, I too live in "flyover" country and have been around gardens, farms and ranches all my life, in some shape or form. I've helped planted them, written about, eaten food from them...even sold food from one of them door-to-door on my bike. My "middle America" credentials in full view, I'm darn proud to support a Victory Garden revival as much for the chance to spark interest in gardening as way to foster a sense of unity in the face of adversity, be it peak oil or salmonella or childhood obesity or another related headline-grabbing issue. It ain't a liberal or a conservative thing (actually, in WWI, the leading proponent was a Republican). Victory Gardening is a "be a good, responsible American citizen" thing. More than that, gardening is a pretty darn good skill to have in one's repertoire--wherever you live. Some of us know how to do it, some of us don't. Anything that helps close that gap...any event/happening/book/web site...be it in San Francisco or Timbuktu or on the White House lawn...that promotes a sense of responsibility, of stewardship of our country and our land...I'm down with it--even if I may disagree with parts of it. But enough with the divisiveness, k? Oh, and, while we're at it, enough with the fear already. Just sayin'.
• Turning Your Lawn into a Victory Garden Won't Save You...Fighting the Corporations Will (AlterNet.com, 23 June 2008) - I think I ran this link before, but I rediscovered it this weekend and think there are some provocative points made. Not that I agree with them all, but I do think it's important to consider all rational and articulate perspectives/dissent. Take a look. Tell me what you think.
On to the 'burbs and Gardens...and Beyond...
• Thriving in the 'Burbs - a new-ish site offering a downloadable monthly newsletter on the topic of sustainable living in the suburbs. You can customize each issue for your community. Worth checking out.
• Sustainable Dunwoody blogger Pattie (aka FoodShedPlanet.com guru) has a great post worth replicating: A Glorious Cacophony of Color and Fragrance and Food. In it, she gives basic advice for folks in her 'burb on planting a fall veggie garden. Very nice!
• One of my fave people ev-ah, Rose Hayden-Smith, has a nice new video about building a Victory Garden. She, together with Roger Doiron, is a Food Society Fellow working on gardening. You might want to check out this page from the FSF program that has covers food issues (safety, security, etc.) from various angles.
• Another new blog to watch: Accidentally Frugal (Portland, Oregon). Nice post here on how Heather plans to extend the growing season with tips from Eliot Coleman. She considers herself a Freedom Gardener.
• Remember the Shibaguyz? Well, they've got some gorgeous new photos up of their container Victory Garden. Check 'em out here.
• Victory Gardens for All - Eugene, Oregon...worth checking out. No word on their progress--or if they're still up an running, but it's a compelling concept.
• Joy at Joy's Victory Garden has a new rain barrel made of recycled materials...I really want one now!
• Interesting little post here by Lorene Edward Forkner who has written what promises to be a nice read. It's entitled The Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide to Growing Vegetables (Seattle: Sasquatch Books, forthcoming 2009), and is an update of a book by the late Carla Emery. If you live in the Pacific NW, you might want to check it out next year for tips. I plan to read it because of this bit:
There is a dawning movement towards procuring local foods that follow the rhythm of the seasons - that is the seasons of the hemisphere in which we reside… for those of us willing to brave the weather, dance an evasive tango with pests and disease, kneel in the dirt, sport definitely non-fashion forward tan lines while shading our heads against the midday sun, or support friends, neighbors and small farmers who do, the table is set for a feast that feeds both body and mind, belly and spirit, at once economically sound and emotionally satisfying.
• In SF City Hall Front Yard, A Bounty of Produce (Associated Press, 31 July 2008)
• The Locavore's Dilemma: Finding Places to Plant (The Berkeley Daily Planet, 7 August 2008)
• What is That Park on O'Neill Drive? (OCRegister.com, 6 August 2008)
• Sweet Basil & the Bee: Welcome to the Table (Chico Enterprise Record, 6 August 2008)
• Victory Gardening (Austin American-Statesman, 1 August 2008)
• Sunny Side Yard Perfect for Vegetable Gardens (Dallas Morning News, 7 August 2008)
• Farmers Market at Slow Food Nation (California Farmer, 6 August 2008)
• Slow Down & Enjoy Locally Grown Foods (Kentucky.com, 10 August 2008) - Y'all know I got a soft spot for Kentucky, right?
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