Community

New Year. New Look. More Stuff.

by Adriana on January 1, 2011

Welcome to the new home of Anarchy in the Garden – Loud, punk rock fueled, always DIY gardening and home economics hub for the domestic demolitionist. I’ve eliminated the fluff and added more categories. Check em’ out!

Grow – You won’t find begonia growing tips here but you will find info on how to successfully grow your own food in the city. I garden in the only state that matters, California; more specifically Long Beach, CA. That’s USDA zone 10b and Sunset zone 22 for you academic types.

Home Ec – Working 9 to 5 can blow and dinner doesn’t have to be a Del Taco burrito. I’ll share recipes, always vegan or vegetarian, using seasonal homegrown produce. You’ll also find a healthy dose of cleaning tips, craft projects, and much more!

Style – I love Target as much as anyone but dressing head to toe in Merona is not cute. Go ahead, hold down that corporate gig and rock it pretty. I’ll let you in on unique and affordable fashion finds.

Pets – They’re the next best thing to kids! From doggie wear to homemade treats or just gratuitous pictures of my mutts. You’ll find everything pet related here.

Holidays – Handmade Valentine’s Day cards, Mother’s Day bouquets made from locally grown flowers, let’s celebrate! Homemade style.

Community – From volunteer opportunities and gardening workshops to Social Distortion tour dates. An event calendar filled with fun things to do around town.

Lastly, I promise to cut out the suck (aka self-promotion), share more useful information and always keep it punk.

Speaking of Social Distortion, check out their first-ever TV appearance on Jimmy Kimmel. They’ll be performing in So. CA this month!

Yours in Anarchy,
Adriana

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GWA Wrap-Up: Tweetups and Good Morning Texas

by Adriana on September 14, 2010

Fern Richardson of Life on the Balcony and I are back from a cyclonic trip to the long horn state, Dallas to be exact. We were there for the annual Garden Writers Association (GWA) symposium. We not only attended the conference but we threw a party as well. Pretty ballsy for a couple of garden bloggers attending their first GWA forum.

The tweetup was a huge success. Approximately seventy-five people attended and dined on pizza, Sprinkles cupcakes, and libations. When in Dallas…

We could not have thrown such a swinging party without our partners. Thank you Botanical Interests, P. Allen Smith, Corona Tools and Hootsuite for believing in Beetnik Media. People mingled until the wee hours.

I ran into my sister at GWA:

Angela Palmer, @Plantweenie on Twitter and of Plants Nouveau had the best booth. Hey, it’s Shayna of Botanical Interests and one of my favorite peoples.

I am really looking forward to trying out Fiskars Composting Bin. It’s collapsable, affordable (about $50) and stylish. Available spring 2011.

GWA felt more like college for some of us. Giggling until 3:00 a.m. and lulled to sleep by the glow of our iPhones. With Christa Hanson and Fern.

Fern and Cindy Shapton eagerly awaiting Make More Money: Writers as Revenue Generators session.

Patty Craft, editor, Horticulture Magazine; Katie Elzer-Peters, The Garden of Words, LLC; and Jayme Jenkins, aHa! Modern Living gave an excellent presentation on how to earn income as a garden communicator.

Patty offered an editor’s perspective and shared challenges editors face on the business side. Katie discussed different options and opportunities for writers including storefront, wholesale, online businesses, and ghost writing. Jayme talked about writing opportunities open to people without a traditional journalism background, as well as her advice on “selling” yourself in the new media arena. Great job ladies!

Fern and I rounded off the weekend with a live appearance on Good Morning Texas.

We were going to demonstrate a new use for Corona Tools hedge shears but instead decided to talk about cool garden finds we saw at GWA.

Is there a “I’m on a jumbo-tron” badge on Foursquare?

I clumsily tipped over P. Allen Smith’s Container Gardens Deck and neglected to mention the plant I was talking about was Monrovia’s “Katrina” African Iris.

Thank you to Shirley Bovshow and Joe Lamp’l for kindly offering invaluable tips for being on live TV and a huge hug to all our garden blogger friends that had kind and supportive words for Fern and I. Thank you.

For a complete list of garden products highlighted please check out Fern’s What’s New and Cool for Gardeners – Adriana and I Were on TV! post.

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Back to the LBC – Patchwork Wrap-Up

by Adriana on June 29, 2010

My legs are sore but my heart is full. Sunday was the second installment of the beloved Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival in Long Beach, CA. Anarchy in the Garden was once again a co-sponsor of the hippest, hand-crafted event in Southern California.

Nothing says, “I’ve arrived bitches!” like my beautiful anarcho-punk canopy.

Hey look! That’s Fern of Life on the Balcony. What is she up to?

Well, this Patch I decided to offer 15-minute, DIY gardening workshops. Since I heart collaborations I decided to solicit help from none other than Orange County Master Gardener, uber-blogger, container gardening expert - Fern Richardson of Life on the Balcony. Jealous?

I don’t mind saying that a lot of Patch attendees came specifically to seek gardening advice from us. I know, we’re kind of a big deal. =D

This little fashionista approved of the gardening workshops.

Full house. Fern leading a workshop – How to Grow Tomatoes in a Container.

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Check out the fancy container Fern made!

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Fern also provided a useful hand-out to workshop attendees.

Great big hug to Fern for doling out serious gardening knowledge. Check out her blog post on how to turn containers from drab to fab HERE.

The Anarchy in the Garden booth was a buzz. All. Day. Long. It may have had something to do with the 4′X4′ redwood raised garden bed that I was raffling off for a mere $1.00. That’s not all, I threw in 13 seedlings including annuals, herbs, and vegetables, plus delivery, installation, and one-hour consultation with me. Did I mention it was a $1.00 raffle?

Insert picture of raised bed here. Oops, I didn’t take one. Here’s a close up of a pepper instead.

Unveiled at spring Patch, Anarchy in the Garden home edition – Culinary Gardens for an Urban Environment. After receiving several inquiries and being commissioned to design and install gardens for blog readers I thought I would fearlessly fling myself into green entrepreneurship. I service Long Beach, Orange County and the South Bay cities. For more information please check out the tab above.

I didn’t get a chance to visit many of the other booths. However I did sneak in jam and chocolate samples from Delilah’s Backyard in a Jar and Courtney’s C Salt Gourmet. I ain’t no dummy!

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Thank you to everyone that stopped by my booth! Plans are in the works for the Fall Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival. Tell me what you want to see! I welcome any and all suggestions.

Special shout outs to:

The husband – I am benefiting from all your years on Warped Tour. Thank you for being my handy man and my biggest cheerleader.

Fern – Your workshop was a hit! Thank you for helping me sell raffle tickets and for answering people’s gardening questions.

Patchwork’s bold leaders – Delilah Snell and Nicole Stevenson for putting on another stellar event. You inspire me!

We Love Long Beach. I love you!

The lovely couple that traveled all the way from Newport Beach to visit me. It was a whirlwind. Please feel free to email me with any questions I wasn’t able to answer.

Anarchy in the Garden blog readers. I appreciate your support. You like me, you really like me.

Neighbors and friends – Keana, Francine and Mei Mei, Lisa, Stefanie, Josh and Shannon, John H.

Fellow Master Gardener Class of 2010 – Amy W.

and everyone that stopped by to say HI. You made my day.

*UPDATE*
According to Random.org the winner of the 4′X4′ redwood raised bed is #105. I’m looking at you Pamela Weinstein. Congratulations! I will be in touch with you shortly.

In the meantime please purchase soil. You will need 8 cubic feet of soil and 4 cubic of mulch for a 4′X4′X11″ raised bed. I recommend Kellogg Garden Products Patio Plus Soil and GroMulch or N’Rich for mulch. Or you can purchase bulk soil from Whittier Fertilizer and pick up free mulch from the City of San Pedro.

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Patchwork Profile – C Salt Gourmet

by Adriana on June 24, 2010

Rarely am I jealous of omnivores. That is until it comes to sweets. Milk chocolate, fudge, pecan praline ice cream with it’s familiar amber-colored swirls. My palette evolved, I transitioned into a vegan diet and out went the milk chocolate.

Enter C Salt Gourmet; artisan, hand-crafted, refined, sea salt dusted cocoa sweets.

Proprietor and chief chocolatier, Courtney Dudman Donley, launched C Salt Gourmet on Valentine’s Day, 2008 at the behest of upscale Promelis Westcliff Market owner in Newport Beach, CA. From brittle to truffles to vegan pistachio cherry (wink) confections all are ‘Hand-made with love by Courtney.’

Courtney Dudman Donley of C Salt Gourmet

As if she wasn’t kick ass enough, Courtney is committed to helping build a new world where the earth and its inhabitants are treated justly. C Salt Gourmet uses organic, fair-trade ingredients.

Visit Courtney at the C Salt Gourmet booth this Sunday, June 27 at the Patchwork Indie Arts & Crafts Festival in Long Beach, CA. C Salt Gourmet is exclusively sold at uber hip vintage shop Fancy Disaster in Long Beach.

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Garden Art, #Gardenchat & More Giveaways!

by Adriana on June 1, 2010

Check out the sweet mural in Michele’s garden. This sweet piece of art was lovingly painted by her husband. *Aww* She blogs at The Gardening Greenhorn. Check it out!

Hey, remember my ode to everything compost and #gardenchat? Well, on May 24 I guest hosted the weekly Twitter session and talked all things school gardens.

Missed the chatter? Check out the #gardenchat transcript HERE; #gardenchat resumes Monday, June 7, 9:00 p.m. EST on Twitter. Fern of Life on the Balcony will be leading #gardenchat and discussing container gardening. Join us!

Thank you to Daily Breeze staff writer Sandra Barrera for including the Wrigley Village Community Garden in an article about community gardens. Read full story HERE.

Fruitful and Multiplying: More turning to community gardens

Last month Anarchy in the Garden turned one. As a token of my appreciation I promised to dole out prizes daily. Well, it didn’t quite happen that way. The celebration will continue until all goodies are divvied up. Slow and steady wins the race!

Per Random.org #11 is the champ – That’s you Andrea of Heavy Petal! You win heavenly Gardener’s Scrubbing Soap in Basil Poppy Seed by Botanical Interests. Just email me your mailing addy!

This week’s contest is courtesy of Corona tools. They’re graciously gifting a pair of Corona bypass pruners BP6250D. These pruners have a 1″ diameter cutting capacity, are ergonomic and lightweight. Lucky!

Leave a comment; tell me what you are harvesting in your garden. A winner will be picked at random in one week. Good luck!

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← Previous Entries

Community

New Year. New Look. More Stuff.

GWA Wrap-Up: Tweetups and Good Morning Texas

Back to the LBC – Patchwork Wrap-Up

Patchwork Profile – C Salt Gourmet

Garden Art, #Gardenchat & More Giveaways!

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