Guerrilla Gardening
Apr 15 2007 23:13
There's an empty lot down the road from me that has been empty for about 10 years after a house was torn down. Nothing has ever been done with this spot of land, so a friend and I started talking about turning it into a sort of "guerrilla garden."
Neither of us have any gardening skills, but we're trying to learn so that we can get it started and then maybe more experienced gardeners can do more with it. We're also going to have to think of ways to get the garden started secretly to avoid being punished before the community is even aware.
Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, resources, etc? We're really just looking for some good tips and support.
Apr 16 2007 02:17
#2
I would say just go for it, most people will either assume you have permission or be glad that something is finally happening to the empty lot. Start small and make it bigger as your skills increase, and be friendly to the neighbours.
Apr 16 2007 03:24
#3
have the clocks went back to 1999 or something?
Apr 16 2007 16:42
#4
try planting some sunflowers, theyre pretty hardy and eyecatching to boot.
Apr 16 2007 16:45
#5
organise
Discussion of workplace issues, campaigns, political organisations, etc.
Apr 16 2007 17:25
#6
in fairness there's no horticultural section...
Apr 16 2007 17:30
#7
ftony wrote:
in fairness there's no horticultural section...:)
And with good reason.
Apr 16 2007 20:25
#8
Quote:
We're also going to have to think of ways to get the garden started secretly to avoid being punished before the community is even aware.
my guess is that the community will like it.
here's something to read.
Apr 17 2007 23:52
#9
thugarchist wrote:
organiseDiscussion of workplace issues, campaigns, political organisations, etc.
Well, seeing as Libcom has an article about gardening (http://libcom.org/organise/gardening-and-food-growing-guide) under its "organise" section, I figured this post would fit best here. If you don't agree with the placement of my post, you can either a) complain to someone who might care or b) piss off. Take your pick.
To the others, thank you very much for your advice. I'll be sure to show this thread to my friend who also wants to do this. I hope we can pull this off.
Apr 17 2007 23:56
#10
nalyd wrote:
thugarchist wrote:
organiseDiscussion of workplace issues, campaigns, political organisations, etc.
Well, seeing as Libcom has an article about gardening (http://libcom.org/organise/gardening-and-food-growing-guide) under its "organise" section, I figured this post would fit best here. If you don't agree with the placement of my post, you can either a) complain to someone who might care or b) piss off. Take your pick.
To the others, thank you very much for your advice. I'll be sure to show this thread to my friend who also wants to do this. I hope we can pull this off.
Its not my fault if libcom makes stupid decisions. Cunt.
Apr 18 2007 00:52
#11
1. both of you cut it it out
2. moving to libcommunity.
Apr 18 2007 15:02
#12
You might want to use some seedballs,
http://www.pathtofreedom.com/pathproject/gardening/seedballs.shtml
which were declared an illegal weapon at some greenie conference in california a few years ago
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2003/06/266757.shtml
The New York Guerrilla-community are beautiful, have fun!
Seems to me reclaiming abandoned private property and making something out of it for the community can be as much class struggle as forcing wages up.
Apr 18 2007 15:49
#13
Quote:
The New York Guerrilla-community are beautiful
and receive almost universal support: blue collar, white collar, poor, well-off, liberal, conservative, all colors.
"almost", because giuliani and bloomberg and their developer friends detest it.
Quote:
Seems to me reclaiming abandoned private property and making something out of it for the community can be as much class struggle as forcing wages up.
Apr 18 2007 15:52
#14
newyawka wrote:
Quote:
The New York Guerrilla-community are beautifuland receive almost universal support: blue collar, white collar, poor, well-off, liberal, conservative, all colors.
"almost", because giuliani and bloomberg and their developer friends detest it.Quote:
Seems to me reclaiming abandoned private property and making something out of it for the community can be as much class struggle as forcing wages up.
yeah it damn well can be, which is why i despaired at how Guerilla Gardening was quickly recuperated by the activistoid scene and became a hollow ritual, like twats tipping a load of soil on a road and sticking some flowers in it.
Apr 18 2007 15:58
#15
Reminds of all that RTS stuff in the 90's that i missed out on. I'm reading some pamphlet about mayday and guerilla gardening and it seems like good stuff to me. I would reccomend looking at reclaim the streets or earth first as they seemed involved in a lot of that stuff, but they seem pretty inactive these days. Maybe the pamphlet would be a good start, i haven't read al of it though, nor do i know how easy it is to find, its called Mayday! Mayday! Visions, collisions, and reality.
Apr 18 2007 16:02
#16
Sam wrote:
Reminds of all that RTS stuff in the 90's that i missed out on. I'm reading some pamphlet about mayday and guerilla gardening and it seems like good stuff to me. I would reccomend looking at reclaim the streets or earth first as they seemed involved in a lot of that stuff, but they seem pretty inactive these days. Maybe the pamphlet would be a good start , otherwise i'm not too sure, its called Mayday! Mayday! Visions, collisions, and reality.
no it was shite. let's like tip some top soil on a road, chuck in some flowers, jump in a tripod and imagine that we are detourning capitals spatial hegemoney. it's like 'woah those guys are fucking with my mind, i used to thinkof roads and public spaces as nothing more than networks for the valorisation of capital, now I can see the possibilities!'.
Apr 18 2007 16:18
#17
A bunch of activists making a garden isn't shit to do with class struggle. Organizing with the folks in the neighborhood to do it collectively may well be.
This is lima bean vangaurdism.
Apr 18 2007 16:54
#18
earth first blows.
Quote:
i despaired at how Guerilla Gardening was quickly recuperated by the activistoid scene
in manhattan this hasn't much happened. i know some people heavily involved, and they're not activoids, they're your basic cross-section of lower east side wierdos.
Apr 18 2007 16:59
#19
newyawka wrote:
earth first blows.Quote:
i despaired at how Guerilla Gardening was quickly recuperated by the activistoid scenein manhattan this hasn't much happened. i know some people heavily involved, and they're not activoids, they're your basic cross-section of lower east side wierdos.
nah i know that, i even saw the manhattan thing on tv late one night.
Apr 18 2007 17:03
#20
thugarchist wrote:
A bunch of activists making a garden isn't shit to do with class struggle.
Which this thread isn't about. Activists in the UK seem to have long given up on this and the examples i have seen like the site i linked to is a really good example of people who are interested in improving their local environment pooling resources and doing it for themselves.
Which is why this thread should have stayed in organise 
Apr 18 2007 17:09
#21
rkn wrote:
thugarchist wrote:
A bunch of activists making a garden isn't shit to do with class struggle.Which this thread isn't about. Activists in the UK seem to have long given up on this and the examples i have seen like the site i linked to is a really good example of people who are interested in improving their local environment pooling resources and doing it for themselves.
Which is why this thread should have stayed in organise ;)
Read the original post. They're gonna randomly plant some shit and then hope the people will be so inspired as to spontaneously rise up and garden.
Which is why it should be in the bin. 
Apr 18 2007 17:11
#22
thugarchist wrote:
A bunch of activists making a garden isn't shit to do with class struggle. Organizing with the folks in the neighborhood to do it collectively may well be.This is lima bean vangaurdism.
Me doing a poo has nothing to do with class struggle either, what was your point? I don't think the OP was claiming this would be a knife in the back of capital. It's just 2 local people wanting to do something to improve their area, I don't any grand claims were being made for activism.
Collective action would be great, but if people aren't too enthusiastic about doing something they may think is illegal I hardly think it would be leninist to start something off to show the benefits of transforming something ugly.
Apr 18 2007 17:14
#23
tigersiskillers wrote:
thugarchist wrote:
A bunch of activists making a garden isn't shit to do with class struggle. Organizing with the folks in the neighborhood to do it collectively may well be.This is lima bean vangaurdism.
Me doing a poo has nothing to do with class struggle either, what was your point? I don't think the OP was claiming this would be a knife in the back of capital. It's just 2 local people wanting to do something to improve their area, I don't any grand claims were being made for activism.
Collective action would be great, but if people aren't too enthusiastic about doing something they may think is illegal I hardly think it would be leninist to start something off to show the benefits of transforming something ugly.
I'm pro-vegetables. I originally just made a comment about two people gardening being in the organize section.
Apr 18 2007 17:17
#24
Yeah, sorry, I overreacted a little. 
Apr 18 2007 17:36
#25
thugarchist wrote:
They're gonna randomly plant some shit and then hope the people will be so inspired as to spontaneously rise up and garden.
No it doesn't. They just say they want to plan something at the end of their road and that more people might get involved. If i was the poster i'd probably talk to other people on the street and just ask them if they wanted to get involved, but do it anyway if its just unused land.
Apr 18 2007 17:44
#26
rkn wrote:
thugarchist wrote:
They're gonna randomly plant some shit and then hope the people will be so inspired as to spontaneously rise up and garden.No it doesn't. They just say they want to plan something at the end of their road and that more people might get involved. If i was the poster i'd probably talk to other people on the street and just ask them if they wanted to get involved, but do it anyway if its just unused land.
Maybe organize means something different when spelled with an s.
Apr 18 2007 18:05
#27
True it has nothing to do with the class struggle, doesn't make it overly bad, just a bunch of hippies growing plants. I assosiated the term guerilla gardening more with the activists because the first time i heard about it when it was linked pretty heavily to RTS and EF. The things i see here are more like community garden projects although i guess the difference here is that guerilla gardening is illegal. It might not make too much of a difference, probably more if it was a local action rather than an activist one, but i don't really have any big objections with it whatever the case, its making good use of what is otherwise disused land.
Apr 18 2007 18:13
#28
I'm fairly sure there are few people taking an anti-gardening stance.
Apr 18 2007 18:30
#29
I think the best guerrilla gardening I heard about was some council gardeners who were sent out by their hated boss to plant bulbs on a busy roundabout. When the bulbs flowered in the spring it was seen that they'd been planted to spell 'fuck you manager Jones' or words to that effect. I think they got away with it cos they blamed it on long-gone temp staff.
Maybe they got the idea from the guy in the 70s who got sacked from the factory where they make sticks of seaside rock. His last act before leaving was to change the lettering in the rock from 'Clacton-on-Sea' or whatever to 'Fuck Off'. They made thousands of sticks before they found out. That incident was reported in the papers.
Apr 18 2007 18:31
#30
thugarchist wrote:
rkn wrote:
thugarchist wrote:
They're gonna randomly plant some shit and then hope the people will be so inspired as to spontaneously rise up and garden.No it doesn't. They just say they want to plan something at the end of their road and that more people might get involved. If i was the poster i'd probably talk to other people on the street and just ask them if they wanted to get involved, but do it anyway if its just unused land.
Maybe organize means something different when spelled with an s.
You don't really have a point do you?
fwiw this fits fine in the context of the organise forum as someone asking for advice on how to improve an aspect of their local community. and there isn't really much more to say 
These ppl always look all right though i know nothing about them - http://www.guerrillagardening.org/
There's several groups like that though, can't remember any other names.
Welcome to the forums btw.