AGUA DULCE GARDEN ESTABLISHMENT EASTER GATHERING 4/3 & 4/4, 2010

Join Lawn Crusaders and the Victory Gardening Movement at the
AGUA DULCE GARDEN ESTABLISHMENT EASTER GATHERING
on SATURDAY APRIL 3 AND SUNDAY APRIL 4, 2010
in Agua Dulce CA 91390, this Saturday 4/3, 2010.

Please email victorygardeningevent [(at)] gmail.com for the directions.

Join Lawn Crusaders and the Victory Gardening Movement at the 7th Congress Thanksgiving Activism Party in Tarzana this Saturday 11/21, 2009

Join Lawn Crusaders and the Victory Gardening Movement at the 7th Congress Thanksgiving Activism Party in Tarzana this Saturday 11/21, 2009

Events and Classes Schedule for June 19 to June 27, 2009

Schedule for June 19 to June 27, 2009

ORGANIC GARDENING CLASSES & GATHERING SCHEDULE FOR JUNE 2009:

We and many Organic Victory Gardeners will be at the Live H2O Event in Long Beach this week-end...

Friday to Sunday June 19th, 20th, and 21st: Live H2O 2009 Long Beach
Join the Victory Gardening Movement on the Beach in Belmont Shore
5180 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach Ca 90803.

Wednesday 6/24 from 3:00 to 7:30 PM in Compton CA 90222
[Most important series of classes to attend! - Learn HOW TO
GROW YOUR OWN SUPERFOODS!]

Saturday June 27 from 10 AM to 7 PM, Venice Beach EcoFest 2009
Come volunteer at our booth!

This week-end, no classes at any of our Gardens, you are all invited
to be a part of a worldwide event to focus human attention and healing
on water and the oceans: LIVE H2O 2009, where all our team including Dr Green,
Dr Smith and Dr Martin will be present and speaking on various subjects.
As usual, no costs whatsoever to attend: The event is totally open to
the public, on the Beach in Long Beach near Belmont Shore
(5180 E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach Ca 90803), on Friday June 19th,
Saturday June 20th, & Sunday June 21st 2009 from 10am to 9:30pm.

There will be two main stages, a yoga platform, and one childrens stage.
The event will include live musical performance, vendors, speakers,
healers, dancers, fire performance, and (at 5pm on Sunday the 21st)
a special 9 minute group ocean healing using the power of sound.
The event will be broadcast worldwide, and simulcast between each
of the venues. On Sunday there will be a synchronized worldwide
focus/prayer for 9 minutes to put energy into the oceans at all
the venues simultaneously.

At the appointed time, along with many different visiting elders
and medicine people (we have the Water Shaman from the Hopi tribe
leading the ceremony) the participants are all going to “om” into
the water and heal its structure. As shown to be possible by our
Featured Speaker: Dr. Masaru Emoto, and in the films “What the
bleep do we know? (2004)” www.whatthebleep.com/ and “Water (2006)”
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1195401/water_the_movie_trailer/ .

==============================================================
June 19 - June 27 Organic VICTORY GARDENING CLASSES & EVENTS

Next classes are:

We will have a strong presence this week-end at the
Live H2O 2009 in Long Beach - June 19th, 20th, and 21st,
with both Dr Martin, Dr Smith and Dr Green!
We highly recommend attending - Event is open to the public at no cost!
On the Beach in Belmont Shore 5180 E. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach CA 90803.
Read on for more details!


We hold classes usually both on week-ends, Saturday or Sunday, and also
often have weekday classes in the late afternoon, usually starting at
3 or 4 or so. (These often end after 8, always with a few people
coming only after 5. It is perfectly OK to do that, particularly if
you work normal hours.)

Wednesday 6/24 from 3 to 7 PM in Compton CA 90222.
Saturday 6/27, 2009, 9 AM to 7 PM, we have the Venice Beach Ecofest,
for which we need volunteers all day long!

Wednesday 7/01 from 3 to 7 PM in Compton CA 90222.
Wednesday 7/08 from 3 to 6:30 PM in Compton CA 90222.
Wednesday 7/08 from 7 to 9:30 PM in Garden Grove CA 92841
"California Organic Gardening Club".

Please note: We also need to prepare CLASS & GROUP LEADERS -
So if you feel that's something for you... please tell us!

Wednesday 6/24 and 7/1 VICTORY GARDENS & LAWN CRUSADERS are
continuing to team up with GREEN HOPE USA Community Garden Project
for the Planting of 2000 MORINGA Trees at Green Hope's Community
Garden and Model Forest Garden in Compton! Learn how to plant
the fastest growing, most nutritious tree in the world and help
start transforming Los Angeles into a Superfood Pioneer!

=======================================================
Live H2O 2009 Long Beach - June 19th, 20th, and 21st:

Join the Victory Gardening Movement on the Beach in
Belmont Shore 5180 E. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach Ca 90803 -- View map:
http://maps.yahoo.com/map?q1=5180%20E.%20Ocean%20Blvd.%20Long%20Beach%20Ca%2090803%20US&mag=5&ard=1#mvt=m&lat=33.75576&lon=-118.137841&mag=5&zoom=14&q1=5180%2520E.%2520Ocean%2520Blvd.%2520Long%2520Beach%2520Ca%252090803%2520US
More Info: 949-254-2191 www.myspace.com/liveh2ola

http://maps.google.com/ will give you the exact directions from your location.
=======================================================
=======================================================
More on Live H2O 2009 Long Beach - Friday to Sunday
June 19th, 20th, and 21st:

The main venues are located in: Vancouver-B.C., Long Beach-California,
Kudaka-Japan, Cardiff-Whales, Tokyo-Japan, Hawaii (Big Island),
Toronto-Canada, Los Cabos- Mexico, and Delphi-Greece, and many smaller
events are going on in numerous other cities. (I’ve heard recently
that we’re now at 135 cities). The Long Beach event is being put
on by volunteers and has been funded by grass-roots level donations.
We have put together the most positive live music, the most intelligent
speakers, the best trained yoga practitioners, and the most beautiful
performance artists that we can find.

This event is really about the audience and the awesome healing power
of sound as it interacts with the Living Water in us. Dr. Lee Lorenzen
(a biochemist) discovered that there is a frequency of sound that heals
the human body, and for this event most of the musicians and performers
will be using this altered tuning to help heal the audience and the
ocean. This altered tuning is already used throughout Europe and is
known to musicians as tuning to A444 (or 16 cents sharp). This new
tuning, and the understanding of how human intention changes the
structure of water are for the first time being combined with the
global network that synchronizes us in time via satellite -- to do
something that has truly never been done before.

Come join us for a big party on the beach to raise our consciousness
about one of our most valuable resources. And remember, about 95% of
the mass of any plant (and much more for some) is composed of Water,
Air, and sunshine. Water is much more complex than mechanistic science
wants us to believe, and basically Water lives, ansd sustains, informs
and imprints life. This is why Water is so important! As the great
Viktor Schauberger put it, it truly is the "blood of the Earth".

Don't miss this event! Live H2O Long Beach 2009 event websites:
http://www.liveh2ounitedbylove.net/
The Myspace site for the event.
www.myspace.com/liveh2ola
The Facebook site for the event:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/live-h2o-united-by-love/68377026800?ref=ts
A Promo video for the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvanAOQi6yQ
Here is the site for the international event
http://www.liveh2o.org/
=======================================================
More classes: Sometimes soon, we should also have
a follow-up class at our location in Alhambra.

Classes will continue all of this month and the coming months,
usually on week-ends, but in different locations.

And remember, on June 27, 2009, we have the Venice Beach Ecofest,
for which we need volunteers all day long!

=============================================================
SUPERFOODS: To learn more about the Moringa, just go to sites such as:
http://savegaia.blogspot.com/2005/04/wonderplants-moringa-miracle-tree.html
http://moringanow.blogspot.com/2005/05/wondertree-100-facts-moringa-fact-01.html
http://moringanow.blogspot.com/2005/05/wondertree-100-facts-moringa-fact-12.html
http://greling.com/2008/09/20/grow-a-miracle-tree-in-your-backyard/
"SaveGaia: Cultivation of Moringa – I used these growing directions
and they worked well" which refers to the best page on the subject:
http://savegaia.blogspot.com/2005/05/growing-moringa-part-ii.html also
found here:
http://gaiathelivingplanet.blogspot.com/2005/05/growing-moringa-part-ii.html
http://biodynamic.blogspot.com/2005/05/moringa-manure.html

A short list of other SUPERFOODS & WONDERPLANTS can be found here:
http://biodynamic.blogspot.com/2005/02/looking-for-land.html
A search on Google for: “ savegaia moringa ” (without the “”)
will yield links to more material. In a nutshell, Moringa is
a revolution in the making!

Moringa leaves compared to common foods - Values per 100gm portion:
Nutrient Moringa Leaves Other Foods
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Vitamin A 6780 mcg Carrots: 1890 mcg
Vitamin C 220 mg Oranges: 30 mg
Calcium 440 mg Cow's milk: 120 mg
Potassium 259 mg Bananas: 88 mg
Protein 6.7 gm Cow's milk: 3.2 gm

And actually, when it comes to the Moringa, which is a native
Philipino tree, Dr Green, who will teach you at the Compton class
and event, gets extensively quoted by no less than the Philipino
Government, as you can see here (So be assured you will be
in good hands!):
http://www.pcarrd.dost.gov.ph/message/viewtopic.php?id=2137

=============================================================
JUNE: Announcing this year's EARTHDAY L.A. VENICE BEACH ECOFEST
coming on Venice Beach on June 27th, where we will of
course have our own booth, for which we need volunteers!
=============================================================
=============================================================
=============================================================
NEW INTRODUCTION VIDEOS LISTED AT THE END OF THIS EMAIL
PLEASE Methods - Vertical Layers - Robert Hart's 'Forest Gardening'
http://www.adrive.com/public/69975eca5bb3a3ec26714eaa99c44d1d3fc3b98d4b0f98675d41f7e4571030b9.html
=============================================================

An idea for which the time has come - reaching beyond Tinseltown!
Do you speak and write a foreign language? People need your help!
http://victorygardens2.blogspot.com/2009/04/victory-gardening-events-go-national.html

Permalink - The permanent link for the present page is:

Presentation - PROJECT OVERVIEW 3

Presentation - PROJECT OVERVIEW 3

This is Version V103-94&

UNDERSTANDING UNITS

IN THE P.L.E.A.S.E APPROACH TO

INTENSIVE ORGANIC & SUSTAINABLE

'VICTORY' GARDENING
a.k.a. "VICTORY GARDENING 2.0"

A pefa stands for [Pound of Edibles per (square) Foot per Annum].
A kema stands for [Kilogram of Edibles per (square) Meter per Annum]. A hema is 1/10th of it.

These units are used to evaluate how productive your intensive Victory Gardening project is. Particularly if you want to do anything quantified, so what you do can be compared to similar endeavors or is better understood. This is very useful for group endeavors or semi-commercial, or commercial ventures (market gardening). So there are many reasons why it is a good idea for you to start thinking in pefas and kemas, preferably as you start to do P.L.E.A.S.E. gardening.

The Pefa is a purely U.S. unit, but it can also be used in Myanmar.
The Kema is the unit in use for the whole rest of the world, except indeed Myanmar [former Burma], which expresses its love of the United States [or perhaps its utter backwardness ;)] by using the same units than us.
A Hema is simply 1/10th of a Kema, and is perhaps the most useful unit of the bunch, as you can think of it as a “portion”, in terms of numbers of 100g “portions” per surface per Annum.

[For your information, 1 m2 = 10.764 sqFt and 1 # = 0.4536 Kg or 453.6 g(rams), meaning that 1 Kg or 1,000 g(rams)= 35.274 Oz or 2.205 pounds. Therefore one pefa in international standard units translate into = .4536 x 10.764 = 4.88 Kg/m2. So 1 pefa is approximately equal to 5 kemas or more exactly almost 49 hemas.

The h in hema stands for hectogram (1 hectogram being 100g) and the hema is actually the unit of choice for people who want to think "calories" per portion of 100 g, since a hema is actually exactly that: A portion of 100 g of organic high-quality food locally produced in your own garden. This, the hema, is probably the unit you really want to use.]

Translated into English, these calculations mean that each time you produce about 1 pefa (pound per square foot per annum) using cutting-edge gardening approaches such as the PLEASE approach, it translates into about 5 kemas (Kg/M2/yr or kg (a Kg is 1,000 grams) per m2 or kilogram per square meter, per year) or most closely, 49 hemas, for the rest of the world.

These apparently weird units actually make lots of sense, once you get accustomed to them. Your goal in climates like Coastal Southern California, Florida, Southern Spain and France, coastal Italy and Greece, coastal North Africa, etc, and all subtropical or tropical countries can reasonably be to produce 1 to 5 pefas that is 50 to 250 hemas for each square foot you have under intensive cultivation.

The Dervaes family at http://www.pathtofreedom.com/ nowadays routinely produces about 2.5 pefas or 122 hemas of the highest quality organic produce per cultivated foot in Pasadena. In 2008, this translated into over 10,000 pounds of the best possible produce for the surface they have available, which is about 4,000 square feet. Pretty good! And even better...

So could you! Indeed, you could do exactly the same! This is NOT rocket science or brain surgery. With proper guidance, a child can do it! And the best proof of that is that children are routinely doing it.

Plus, higher yields are definitely possible with a bit of automation, and, someday, with a bit of agricultural and gardening robotics, and high-tech input.

Presentation - PROJECTS OVERVIEW 2

Presentation - PROJECTS OVERVIEW 2

This is Version - V100-94&

THE P.L.E.A.S.E APPROACH
TO INTENSIVE ORGANIC & SUSTAINABLE “VICTORY” GARDENING
a.k.a. "VICTORY GARDENING 2.0"

(coming)

Presentation - PROJECT OVERVIEW 1

Presentation - PROJECT OVERVIEW 1
This is Version V105-94$

When you start a Garden of your own, there are basically five possible approaches:

1/ If you have both the knowledge and the time, do it yourself!
Perhaps enlisting the help of friends and family, whom you can entice and bribe with the promise of some organic fresh produce of the like that is sold between $2 and $6 a pound and more at Whole Foods, etc.

2/ If you don't have both the knowledge and the time, then have it done for you for free, if you have land, space and wits available. Land to do it. Space to host a Coordinator and perhaps some Resident Volunteers. As for the wit component, it is necessary as well, first to simply understand that such a thing is actually possible (we do it all the time for people just like you, so we *know* it's possible! ;) ), and then, to persuade yourself to actually do it.

3/ The alternative being, if you have the money, to purchase a ready-made garden, at a cost that will usually vary between $25 and $100 per installed square foot of raised beds. Here again, wits are needed, first to understand that layered raised beds are the only reasonable option for *intensive* food production in the Garden. That is, producing 1 to 5 pefas or 5 to 25 kemas. [These are units used to evaluate organic edible production of a Garden in the P.L.E.A.S.E. approach to Victory Gardening 2.0. Please see the note at the end of this document about what P.L.E.A.S.E. and these pefas and kemas are, and how they apply to you!]

But of course, if you have lots of land and manpower available, then you could also consider doing things in more conventional ways. Why indeed would you care if you produce only say 0.2 kema on your acreage, as long as it is marginally profitable, if you farm 10, 100 or 1,000
acres? Or more.

4/ If you don't mind sharing your place and its production with neighbors and people in the local community, then consider Teaming up for a Community Garden.

5/ If you have the patience and knowledge for that, you could seek and get a grant to do all or any of this, or personally, or at the community level. Once you have secured your grant, you will be back to 3/.

These avenues, in reverse, are also open to you if you don't have your own land yet, but are looking to create something on someone else's land.


Let's go over this:

0/ First, WHY HAVE A GARDEN AT ALL?

As to why one would want a Garden (aka "an organic and sustainable food-producing garden") at all, you could for example read:
http://www.heartbeetgardening.com/urban.php
http://greenlagirl.com/2007/05/16/book-review-food-not-lawns/
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html which you can also download in .pdf form from here:
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf
plus of course all the material on our own or our friends websites, such as
http://victorygardens2.blogspot.com/
http://vg2gardenerhandbook.blogspot.com/
http://buildinggreenwithearthandplants.blogspot.com/
http://victorygardeningevents.blogspot.com/
www.pathtofreedom.com and www.pathtofreedom.org
among many more. Please notice that each site has its own copyright, disclaimer and privacy policies.


1/ IF YOU HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE, DO IT YOURSELF:

There is plenty of information on the Net about all aspects of Garden Design and Maintenance. Use these resources. A good introduction to doing it right is known as "Square Foot Gardening", and had met with huge success over the years.

There is an overview video about it available here:
============================================
Square Foot Gardening Introduction Video.avi
http://mybloop.com/go/cnCt5i
============================================
(Sorry, this link is VERY fickle and unreliable. Also, this is a video about 180 MB big, and take time to download. None of this is under our control.)


2/ IF YOU DON'T, HAVE IT DONE FOR YOU FOR FREE:

This is only an option if you have land, space and wits available aplenty.

Land, to create the garden on.

Space, to host a Garden Design Coordinator for the 10 to 20 weeks (or more) it will take to design and create that Garden for you (unless you are particularly lucky, and a suitable coordinator lives a walking distance from your place).

Wits, as the wit component is first necessary to understand that such things are actually possible (again, it truly is – we do it all the time!); and then, to persuade yourself to actually do it. Actually, later, a bit of wits could also prove useful when it comes to actually maintaining that garden, preferably in a close to optimal state, once you are on your own.

For example, having such a Garden made for her is something that has just happened in the Eastern part of Los Angeles for "Mary".

Who is "Mary"? No one who had special connections, or anything. Mary just read one of our ads proposing to do create a Garden at no costs to her, and thought it was interesting...

So, no one in particular, besides being someone smart enough to actually read ads, understand that ads perhaps mean exactly what they say, inquire, and then do her homework (in her case, by visiting another prior Project in Topanga, and see what's there) and finally, decide to go for it and actually get a Garden of her own.

The capability to do all this obviously already sets "Mary" apart big time... ;) However, in truth, none of it rocket science. Anyone with a backyard and a space to host a Garden Design Coordinator for a couple weeks could actually do it.

So, if you have a backyard you want transformed into a Garden at no cost to you, and also have one room or RV or whatever available, which a Garden Design Coordinator could occupy for 10 to 20 weeks, (in Mary's case, she had one room that was going to be empty for 10 weeks), you too could do it!

10 weeks is of course too short to truly put a complete Garden in place, 15-20 weeks being more like it normally, and the actual length of the Project of course depending on parameters such as the surface of finished beds you seek to install, how easy material procurement will be, the quality and complexity of the beds and of the soil being designed, and the number of volunteers or other people available for the task.. (A practical rule of thumb being about 50 square feet of complete optimally-made raised beds per week from the fourth or fifth week on, for a small Project with a budget of zero, and twice as much for a bigger Project with some money available for expenses.)

Particularly in that case, as we had no prior Project in the Alhambra to Altadena area since 2006, where “Mary”'s Project was located, and had to start a new one again from scratch. Which normally also takes about 15-20 weeks.

But 10 weeks is certainly enough to create the general frame of a Garden. Thereafter, of course, "Mary" will have to manage her Garden on her own. Since she is pretty resourceful and tried to learn while she could, she will probably make it at say, 60% or 70% from optimal.

Meaning that her Garden's production will probably be around 1.5-2 pefas (PEFA = Pounds of Edibles per [square] Foot per Annum). Which is already quite remarkable compared to what most laypeople achieve when trying their luck at "gardening". Which is in the order of, say, 0.15 to 0.25 pefas or 3-4 Oz/SqFt or 85-125 g/SqFt or .93-1.25 Kg/m2 (optimal here in SoCal being 15-20 Kg/m2 and over), per year. These higher numbers being exactly what is now routinely achieved by the Dervaes family in Pasadena, as you can see on their websites here:
www.pathtofreedom.com and/or www.pathtofreedom.org

To get familiar with these units and how they relate to you, and how you could actually make a business out of it, please read the document that goes over them and a host of other technical and economic issues.

We can arrange the same thing we arranged for "Mary" for anyone equally so blessed with land, space and wits, with this only limitation that at the time being we only have about half a dozen Coordinators with sufficient knowledge in soil design and permaculture edible landscaping that will do this without pay. Of course, if money is no object, we have access to quite a few more... And again more money will get you the Edible Landscapers to the Stars, people such as the bio-dynamic magician Jack McAndrew.


3/ IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY, PURCHASE A READY-MADE GARDEN:

Of course if someone like you is willing to pay for the service, there are plenty of people of various levels of competence available. In general, commercial garden designers will charge between $15-25 and $100 per square foot of finished raised beds (which, again, are the only reasonable way to go for small surface intensive gardening).

31/ For example, on the more affordable side, see:
Heart Beet Gardening at http://www.heartbeetgardening.com/ .

From an L.A. Times article: "Most of Heart Beet's work, however, isn't large yards but smaller vegetable gardens and edible landscapes. Want Heart Beet to help set up yours? Call them, and you could have your own garden in just a week. The cost for a 100-square-foot garden with a raised bed runs between $1,500 to $2,500 for set-up, depending on the condition of the soil, the type of irrigation system desired, and other factors particular to your garden. Seeding and planting is of course additional, costs depending on what you want planted.

Once you have the garden set up, Heart Beet can help you maintain it for $75 a month, which includes weekly visits to your garden. Of course, a vegetable garden really needs to be looked at more than once a week, and Heart Beet's overall goal is to get more people gardening themselves. Says Megan: 'It's not rocket science'."

We do similar things (actually, what we do is one notch or two above what you can get from the sources we are listing here, which we believe to otherwise be the best available locally. but that's normal, since we do research and teach on a steady basis. Plus, we fully integrate complete soil design to our Garden Designs, and what we do is based on over 100 years of direct mentorship affiliations with the very best people in the field, topped by over 50 years of direct experience for our most senior Expert Organic Gardeners.

The main difference being that we are a non-profit and do it for free.

Of course we will do it for hire as well, if we have to. And in both cases, it is quite safe to say that we are usually acknowledged as being among the very best. To the very least.

32/ A bit less affordable but equally good (well, perhaps a tiny less good on some marginal details, and a tiny better on others), you have for example "Gardens To Gro":
http://www.gardenstogro.com
There you can get 45 sqFeet plantable for $1,500 to $3,150 (plus the cost to assemble it, so let's say a total of between $35-$40 and $75-$90 per usable square foot installed).

The most affordable of their units is: "8'x8' Garden to Gro - All models include gopher-proof beds (approximately 45 SF planting space), 3' high bunny-proof fencing, automatic irrigation unit (battery-operated controller, soaker hose, coil hose, and hose holder), and weed barrier for walkway. Deluxe models and plastic lumber gardens also include 5'8" high built-in trellis. 8'x8' Standard Garden to Gro - 12" high beds Price $1,500. Price does not include delivery or assembly.

You can buy their ready-made 16 sqFt (about 14+ SqFt usable) "Eden Garden" model for just $499 at Home Depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100661952

33/ Then you have elite Edible Landscapers and Biodynamic Gardening experts such as the famous Jack McAndrew, best known as “the Bio-Dynamic Gardening Expert to the Stars”, who charges $2,000 to $3,000 per 30 square feet bed filled with the most exquisite choice materials, mainly pure organic alfalfa leaf and bio-dynamic compost, at the rate of 65 pounds per square foot or so, and more, depending on the material of the bed itself. Polished marmor and granite beds of course cost even more. His website is http://biodynamiccompost.com .

What's even more remarkable is that Mr McAndrew actually teaches at no charge at several different schools, and that it is often easier to get an appointment with him at no costs for a non-profit rather than for some sizable amount of cash. Through his mentors such as Peter Dukich and Margrit Selke, and their mentor Dr Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Mr McAndrew is just two generation away from Rudolf Steiner himself, who founded biodynamic agriculture and the Waldorf school system, the biggest and most widely acknowledged private school system on the planet.


4/ GET TOGETHER WITH FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS TO START A COMMUNITY PROJECT OF YOUR OWN:

If you have land and a strong desire to get wholesome food, it could be a viable option for you to actually share your land with such a group of local people, putting together a system where each input, such as land, water, knowledge, work, etc, is valued and acknowledged equitably.

This is best done through community-based “hour” or similar currencies, and having such a system up and running locally if or when the economy truly crashes might in the end prove one of the best things you ever did.

This is worth substantial developments, and we will go over it in details later. For now, let's just mention here that this is an option you might want to consider as a landlord or a leaseholder.


5/ IF YOU HAVE THE PATIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE TO APPLY FOR ONE, GET A GRANT TO DO ALL OR ANY OF THIS:

Some ideas about that can be found here, in a paper already referenced:
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanag.html
which you can also download in .pdf form from here:
http://www.foodsecurity.org/urbanagpaper.pdf

So, and particularly (but not only) if you were to be interested in forming a community program for the purpose of creating a community garden, you could possibly even get grant money for that. See:
http://www.foodsecurity.org/funding.html

There are numerous other grants possible. We are currently in the process of evaluating the opportunities, procedures and practicalities relating to ordinary people going for grants.
[ Actually, we ourselves could use a grant to prepare something comprehensive in that area! ;) But haven't yet found the time to ask for it! :( ]

Get on any of our mailing lists, and we will keep you informed on what's possible in that area. Or look at any relevant blogs regularly, such as:
http://victorygardens2.blogspot.com and its complement
http://vg2gardenerhandbook.blogspot.com , as well as other sites such as http://lawncrusade.blogspot.com
www.healththrugardening.blogspot.com
www.topangamodel.blogspot.com and many more.


6/ FOLLOW GREAT ROLE MODELS: In fact, if you were in need of some ENCOURAGEMENT TO ACTION, perhaps just consider that the First Lady Michelle Obama just joined the Victory Gardens 2.0 movement, and that maybe she is on to something, doing so... ;)

Sure, one may argue that what politicians do is rarely a reference for anything... particularly considering that at the same time, politicians in the same party are working hard on making organic gardening plain illegal, and organic farming close to impossible! Of course, to “protect you”... under the guise of “Food Safety”.

About that, you could read:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Linn-Cole-1-Monsanto-Zero-by-Robert-Singer-090320-126.html
(If you are so inclined, this could be a good occasion for you to contact your Representatives and tell them what you think about the plans of some of their colleagues for you and your health!)

However, while still legal, if it's good enough for the White House, shouldn't it be the way to go for all of us? ;)


We hope you will find this paper useful, and that this answers your questions about these issues.

Your friends at the Projects Coordination Team at
Victory Gardens 2.0
Cutting-edge Intensive Organic Gardening for the XXIst Century
http://victorygardens2.blogspot.com

Presentation - COVER LETTER 2

Presentation - COVER LETTER 2

This is version [V104-94$]

Hello!

If you have a piece of land or a rooftop on which you might consider starting an Organic & Sustainable Gardening Project, we certainly would be happy to look at what you have so to evaluate the potential of your location, so to see if it is possible to start a Project managed by us at your place, or to give you some guidance for a self-managed one.

Everything we do is completely free of charge, including evaluating a location. However we have no budget to actively support you or anyone else, and this includes to pay for gas to evaluate the potential of a location (if we would do that, we'd have to have a $500 or $1,000 a month budget just to cover for gas expenses!). Therefore, anyone with a location to evaluate must either pick-up one of our evaluation specialist from where they live and bring them back there, or cover gas expenses at the minimum rate of $0.14 per mile.

Asides covering this or any other actual cost incurred for the purpose of serving you, we do not charge anything to assist you in your Organic Gardening projects – we do not handle any conventional agricultural or gardening projects at all anyway. This, on the principle that if anyone is foolish enough to feed on pesticides, herbicides and GMOs, (to say nothing about nice additions such as irradiation, artificial hormones, antibiotics and “diet” sugar substitutes), they can certainly get the stuff from their local supermarket or fast food joint, and certainly do not need any help from us with slowly poisoning themselves.

Fact is, as the quality of commercial food constantly degrades, with all the implications this has for our health and the health of the people we care for, this, as we face a return of the Great Depression, or even a “Greater Depression”, creating and maintaining our own organic food-producing Gardens becomes an evident solution to many of the issues we face!

Addressing the issue of a reliable supply of functional and non-poisonous food is slowly but surely truly becoming an urgency and possibly already an emergency, as more and more people realize that things are getting worse by the day with the ubiquitousness of the latest ploy to keep us chronically ill with GMOs, artificial hormones, antibiotics and irradiation in about every possible “conventional “food”, in addition to our previous constant dosing with herbicides and pesticides. In fact, it looks more and more like, for some corporate poisoners, the pests are US!

Here is a collection of information to help you decide what approach to Organic and Sustainable Gardening and Victory Gardening is best for you:

We hope these documents help you make the right choices!

The Projects Support Team at
Victory Gardening 2.0
http://victorygardens2.blogspot.com/


PS: Don't try to re-invent the wheel! As someone told us about 2000 years ago:
“Knock, and it will be opened to you. Seek, and you will find. Ask, and it will be given you.”