After an initial attempt at starting a garden with Eric Radey in me mum's backyard nigh on 15 years ago, & a couple of large buckets with semi-functioning tomato plants in the interim, my dream of having a garden has been realized. I gritted my teeth through the usual table-saw nightmares that i have while cutting wood for the raised beds, day-dreaming of the spinning blade coming undone from the machine & ripping my chest open... It was a particularly moving moment because i ceremonially listened to Chaos UK while hauling seemingly endless amounts of dirt into the backyard. I left the tender-handed job of planting the plants to the wife, but anyhow, it was a glorious moment. So now, we've got three raised beds, a blueberry bush, two cherry trees, an apple tree & an apricot tree in what was originally a very empty plot of land. This was all made extra-satisfying because as the economy collapses & fecal material keeps on making it onto the commercial lettuce, it's nice to have food growing in the backyard! I wanna add a couple of chickens to the mix, but this is a family debate. While i've both romanticized farming & argued that it's passé in the past (it can be both), this spring i have come full circle & become 18 again! Ha ha. Tuesday, April 14, 2009
I Loves It, Being a Farmerrrrrrrr.
After an initial attempt at starting a garden with Eric Radey in me mum's backyard nigh on 15 years ago, & a couple of large buckets with semi-functioning tomato plants in the interim, my dream of having a garden has been realized. I gritted my teeth through the usual table-saw nightmares that i have while cutting wood for the raised beds, day-dreaming of the spinning blade coming undone from the machine & ripping my chest open... It was a particularly moving moment because i ceremonially listened to Chaos UK while hauling seemingly endless amounts of dirt into the backyard. I left the tender-handed job of planting the plants to the wife, but anyhow, it was a glorious moment. So now, we've got three raised beds, a blueberry bush, two cherry trees, an apple tree & an apricot tree in what was originally a very empty plot of land. This was all made extra-satisfying because as the economy collapses & fecal material keeps on making it onto the commercial lettuce, it's nice to have food growing in the backyard! I wanna add a couple of chickens to the mix, but this is a family debate. While i've both romanticized farming & argued that it's passé in the past (it can be both), this spring i have come full circle & become 18 again! Ha ha. 
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i never really thought about it before, but you're right: gardening captures the essence of chaos punk. welcome back to the goblin king.
ReplyDeleteI don't think i was trying to say that gardening captures the essence of Chaos Punk, in fact, true Chaos Punks would drunkenly destroy the garden, but it definitely captures alot of my weird ethos! I took Chaos Punk & added alot of elements to it, some of which are from my Montana/California survivalist mentality. Anarcho Punk did this as well, at least as communicated via Profane Existence magazine, however, part of their hang-up that i can't stand was all of that fucking leftist anarchism as a Trojan Horse for Communism shite. True Goblinism is nationalist & chauvinist by nature.
ReplyDeleteSkip the chickens and go straight to pigs. They've got more personality, they don't attract rats, and there's a lot more bacon on them than on your average bantam.
ReplyDeleteHere's my guru Hugh's advice:
http://www.rivercottage.net/EdibleProjects~Livestock/237/GettingStartedwithPigs.aspx
Cultivating a garden is no more a nod to survivalism than publishing a zine is a call for Ludditism. Just keep making your life beautiful and to hell with politics.
Eric, holes in your shoe, spiders in your shoe.
ReplyDeleteClint, can't raise pigs in the city limits! Luckily there don't seem to be any rats in Eugene, at least none in comparison to Oakland or Baltimore. Really none in that respect. I will have to read what Hugh has to say though. As far as what gardening means, it depends on the person. I don't think i was trying to equate gardening with survivalism, i was merely saying that my motivations around gardening involve survivalism to some degree. Doesn't have to be that way for you. As far as making my life beautiful, what an ungoblinist notion! Blech!
Call your real estate agent, then, because after you watch Episode 5 of "Escape to River Cottage," you'll be pining for the country life. Here's one link to the video:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/lifestyle_lifestyle/watch/v303033jZsXktC3#watch%3Dv303144h5kZKMNw
Long Live the Chideock Cider Circle!