The stereotypes associated with the “old lady gardening club” have vanished. At least they have for Cal State Long Beach alumna Adriana Martinez, who blends two of her passions — punk and gardening — to create a 15-minute gardening workshop called “Anarchy in the Garden.”
Martinez’s workshops attracted a wide variety of people on Sunday at the Patchwork Indie Arts and Crafts Festival at Marine Stadium Park, where handmade goods, ranging in variety from organic jams to children’s apparel, were showcased.
This was the second time the festival was held in Long Beach. It originated in Santa Ana before branching out to Long Beach last.
“We just didn’t see anything like this here, so we thought it would be a perfect fit,” Patchwork co-organizer Delilah Snell said.
The turnout was larger than the first festival in Long Beach, according to Snell. This was a result of increased planning and word-of-mouth advertising.
The Patchwork Festival is an effort to build a better community through supporting local businesses, according to Snell, who described the festival as “rad.”
As a Master Gardener, Martinez was certified after undergoing intensive training, which instructed Martinez on how to teach others to grow their own food.
“I also manage a community garden in Wrigley,” said Martinez. “Our mission is to educate people on how to grow their own food, and be a little bit more sustainable.”
Orange County Master Gardener Fern Richardson, who writes for the blog “Life on the Balcony,” instructed the first workshop of the day entitled “How to Grow Tomatoes in a Container.” Richardson’s audience swarmed into Martinez’s Anarchy in the Garden tent to learn how to grow their own food.
Two other workshops emphasized the practicality of creating a home garden. A seminar called Potty Pots taught audience members how to turn a toilet paper roll into a seed growing container. Another workshop showed how to create a successful compost pile.
Snell plans to continue to spread the word about the festival in hopes of increasing the turnout in the future. The next Patchwork Festival will be in November.
Prospective Vendors may e-mail their application to [email protected].
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.