Kevin the Epic Gardner is a Breath of Fresh Air in this Dystopian Hell

Prepare your urban garden for the impending Apocalypse with Kevin.

I was walking out of Whole Foods the other day ogling avocados and free-balling straight men in basketball shorts when I noticed a selection of beautiful orchids on sale. I desperately wanted to buy one or two to add life to my otherwise dark apartment but having long ago accepted the fact I was not blessed with a green thumb, was reluctant.

As I sat there weighing whether I should sentence this beautiful plant to death row, this little old lady started commenting on not only the beauty of the plants but how easy they are to take care of – “just one ice cube every week” she said – the last petal on my orchid fell yesterday…after it’s fourth day as my roommate.

Why am I talking about plants, free-balling Whole Foods patrons, and old ladies? Well, this is just my longwinded way of explaining why I gave Kevin Espiritu’s YouTube page a look – honestly, I should treat his videos as gospel.

Unlike that sweet old lady from Whole Foods who offered me both unsolicited and ultimately incorrect advice, Kevin Espiritu, the creator of the Epic Gardening YouTube page, knows his shit.  He’s a young amateur improv student who provides solid, practical, and correct gardening advice to a community of over 65,000 eager gardening online ingénue. He’s also not just teaching you which daisies to plant when, but rather how your garden could help you survive the inevitable nuclear holocaust.

So, HEYO fam, roll up your sleeves and actually check out what the yellow orb in the sun looks like – with Kevin’s help, maybe you could grow your own avocado so you won’t need to spend $7 on that organic shit from Whole Foods (how you choose to satiate the eye candy issue is up to you).

Check it out…what do you have to lose?

Relatable Goals

 

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?? YES ?? • As Epic Gardening has grown, I’ve gone more and more into the idea of a “Hi-Tech Natural” lifestyle. Technology is not all bad, modern life is not all bad. But there are serious downsides to it…for our physical and mental health, our environment, and our communities. I envision a future for myself where I’m using the best of modern technology and the best of ancient practices to create a blended lifestyle that is healthy, fulfilling, and not harmful to the Earth. It starts with learning some of the older ways of being…gardening, cooking healthfully, being connected to those around me…these things can easily be lost in modern life. I hope to do a small part to change that! Keep growing, Kevin

A post shared by Epic Gardening (@epicgardening) on Nov 17, 2018 at 10:42am PST

 

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LEAFMINERS ?. did you know that thousands of different fly or moth larvae are considered to be leaf miners, and each variety has its own favorite plant type? • There are a few different ways you can approach leaf miner control: • ➡️ Apply neem or bt to affected leaves • ➡️ Pinch your finger and thumb along the trails to kill larvae inside the leaf • ➡️ Introduce leafminers parasite (Diglyphus isaea) • ➡️ Spinosad and setting traps early in season (thanks @sandiegoseedcompany for this tip) • Fellow epicly-named gardener @epicyardfarm captured this awesome example of leaf miners at work. As always, there is a full article on prevention and control on the Epic Gardening website, as well as a podcast episode!

A post shared by Epic Gardening (@epicgardening) on Nov 11, 2018 at 11:23am PST

 

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Epic purple top turnip harvest! I’m sure most of you know, but turnips are Brassicas! I used to ignore turnips as an option in the garden, but I’m focusing on root crops this fall and winter, so they’re back on my gardening radar. This variety is called purple top because only the area of the tuber above ground becomes purple…the rest of the tuber is a perfectly creamy white color that makes for an incredible contrast. If you’re a turnip lover, let me know your favorite preparation…I’ll be honest I’m still working out how to make them taste amazing, hahaha.

A post shared by Epic Gardening (@epicgardening) on Nov 6, 2018 at 12:25pm PST

 

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Propagating ginger from rhizomes! Watch to the end for a spicy surprise ??. • Ginger is exceptionally easy to propagate. Put it in water until the rhizomes start to sprout roots and new growth from the eyes. Once this happens, you can snap them off and plant them in containers full of moist, nutrient-rich soil or straight into a raised bed. You can also cut up the ginger root, making sure a few eyes are present on each chunk, and toss those into the soil about 1″ deep. Honestly, you can even just throw entire pieces of ginger into the ground too…it’s a forgiving plant. I like the water propagation and snapping method because I can keep getting more ginger babies off of the same ginger root for quite some time. Have a ginger tip for us? Drop some knowledge in the comments ?

A post shared by Epic Gardening (@epicgardening) on Oct 19, 2018 at 4:43pm PDT

Stop teasing us, Kevin.

 

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Double tap if it’s hard for you to take your eyes off of a nice specimen as well! ? • whenever I travel, I make sure to make a stop in Chinatown if the city has one. The sheer variety and quality of produce always gives me ideas for what to grow in the garden. From jackfruit, to durian, to the wide variety of Asian greens that aren’t as commonly grown in most people’s gardens, I think I’m going to mix up some of my plantings for this fall!

A post shared by Epic Gardening (@epicgardening) on Oct 1, 2018 at 8:47pm PDT

Versatile.

 

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Mason jars have to be one of the most versatile tools in an urban gardener’s tool kit! From using them for classic canning and preserving to ideas like this, where you can grow a highly portable herb and green garden just about anywhere you have four to five hours of sunlight… • I usually don’t add gravel to the bottom of my containers, but because these don’t have drainage holes in them, I find giving my plants’ roots a little buffer from being completely soaked is a good idea. You can also put charcoal at the bottom to prevent bacterial build-up, too!

A post shared by Epic Gardening (@epicgardening) on Sep 25, 2018 at 6:09pm PDT

Bonus content: Kevin discussing his improv community. 

For more on Epic Gardening, visit the site here.