Guerrilla gardening
2119992
225919897
2008-07-16T00:45:13Z
76.174.26.143
/* External links */
[[Image:Guerrilla gardening.jpg|thumb|right|Guerrilla gardeners planting vegetables in downtown [[Calgary]].]]
'''Guerrilla gardening''' is political [[gardening]], a form of [[nonviolent direct action]], primarily practiced by [[environmentalism|environmentalists]]. It is related to [[land rights]], [[land reform]], and [[permaculture]]. Activists take over ("[[Squatting|squat]]") an abandoned piece of land which they do not own to grow crops or plants. Guerrilla gardeners believe in re-considering [[Land ownership and tenure|land ownership]] in order to reclaim land from perceived neglect or misuse and assign a new purpose to it.
Some guerrilla gardeners carry out their actions at night, in relative secrecy, to sow and tend a new vegetable patch or flower garden. Others work more openly, seeking to engage with members of the local community, as illustrated in the examples that follow. It has grown into a form of proactive activism or [[pro-activism]].
==History==
The earliest record of the term guerrilla gardening being used was by Liz Christy and her Green Guerrilla group in 1973 in the Bowery Houston area of New York. They transformed a derelict private lot into a garden. The space is still cared for by volunteers but now enjoys the protection of the city's parks department. Guerrilla gardening of this form - that is gardening on someone else's land without permission - has been around for centuries, there is even a reference to it in the bible{{Fact|date=February 2008}}. Two celebrated guerrilla gardeners, active prior to the coining of the term, were [[Gerrard Winstanley]] and [[The Diggers]] in [[Surrey]] [[England]] (1649) and [[Johnny Appleseed|John "Appleseed" Chapman]] in [[Ohio]] [[United States|USA]] (1801). Some would consider the latter, John Chapman, to not be a guerrilla gardener as he was planting orchards on untitled land.
Guerrilla gardening is happening all over the world. In Northern [[Utah]] [[apple]] trees commonly grow along the banks of canals. [[Asparagus]] grows along the smaller ditch banks. Many of these plants were seeded 150 years ago by the workers who dug the canals, by burying their lunch apple core in the freshly dug soil, or by surreptitiously spreading seeds along a new ditchbank{{Fact|date=February 2008}}. Guerrilla gardening continues today as individuals secretly plant fruit trees, edible perennials, and flowers in parks, along bike trails, etc. Some guerrilla gardeners do so for the purpose of providing food. For example the Tacamiche [[banana]] [[plantation]] workers in [[Honduras]] illegally grew vegetables on the abandoned plantation land rather than leave with the plant's closure in 1995.{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
The term "guerrilla gardening" is applied by some quite loosely to describe different forms of radical gardening. This includes gardening as an entirely political gesture rather than one with genuine horticultural ambition such as the London May Day protest in 2000 when no long term garden was expected to take root. Guerrilla gardening has also been used by a number of writers to give a radical edge to their gardening books. One of these is a book titled "Guerrilla Gardening" was published in 1983 by John F. Adams aimed at encouraging amateur gardeners to grow [[heirloom plant|heirloom]] varieties that are not the result of corporate [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]]. Another was a book by Barbara Pallenberg called "Guerrilla Gardening" which instructed how to make a garden on a small budget.
The term ''bewildering'' has been used as a synonym for guerrilla gardening by Australian gardener Bob Crombie.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/on-the-verge-of-a-revolution/2008/02/19/1203190824164.html?page=2 ''On the verge of a revolution'', Sydney Morning Herald, 20 February 2008]</ref>
==Examples==
===Pure Genius!!===
One high-profile example of guerrilla gardening took place in May 1996, when about 500 activists affiliated with The Land is Ours, including the journalist [[George Monbiot]], occupied 13 acres of derelict land belonging to the [[Guinness]] company on the banks of the [[River Thames]] in [[Wandsworth]], [[south London]]. Their action aimed to highlight what they described as "the appalling misuse of urban land, the lack of provision of [[affordable housing]] and the deterioration of the [[Built environment|urban environment]]".{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}
A [[intentional community|community]] grew up on the site called "Pure Genius!!" (named after the Guinness advertising slogan). They lived there for five and a half months before being evicted.<ref>[http://www.tlio.org.uk/campaigns/wandsworth/whaapp.html#contents 'Pure Genius' land squat, Wandsworth, London, 1996]</ref>
===Have på en nat===
Later on [[July 1]], [[1996]] [[Have på en nat]] (en: Garden in a night) was made by the Danish Økologiske
Igangsættere (en: Organic starters).
An empty piece of land in the middle of the city at [[Guldbergsgade]] in [[Nørrebro]], [[Copenhagen]] [[Denmark]] was transformed into a garden in a single night. About 1000 people took part in the project.{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
===Mayday 2000===
On [[May Day]] [[2000]], [[Reclaim the Streets]] organised a mass guerrilla gardening action in [[Parliament Square]], [[London]]. After a carnivalesque procession with a samba band, and a [[Critical Mass]] bike ride from [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], thousands of guerrilla gardeners occupied the square and planted vegetables and flowers. A [[maypole]] was erected around which many of the gardeners danced. Banners hung in the square reading '[[Resistance movement|Resistance]] is Fertile' (a pun on "futile"), 'Let London Sprout', '[[Capitalism]] is Pants', and 'The Earth is a Common Treasury for All,' the latter being a quote from the seventeenth century [[Diggers|Digger]] [[Gerrard Winstanley]]. An [[Indymedia]] public access terminal was set up in the new [[Allotment (gardening)|allotment]], and the statue of [[Winston Churchill]] was given a green turf [[Mohawk hairstyle|mohican]]. The perpetrator (an ex British soldier) was fined for his vandalism of the Churchill statue.<ref>[http://www.urban75.org/mayday/index1.html London Mayday 2000 pages on Urban 75]</ref>
===Leaf Street Community Garden===
Leaf Street is an acre of land in [[Hulme]], [[Manchester]], [[England]] that was once an urban street until turfed over by [[Manchester City Council]]. Local people, facilitated by Manchester Permaculture Group, took direct action in turning the site into a thriving [[community garden]].[http://www.foodfutures.info/site/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=53]
===Abahlali baseMjondolo===
The [[South Africa]] [[shack]] dwellers' movement [[Abahlali baseMjondolo]] has begun gardens in a number of their affiliated settlements such as the [[Kennedy Road]] settlement.
===MST===
[[Landless Workers' Movement]] (MST), in Brazil, has occupied millions of hectares of land in [[Brazil]] and put them under cultivation.
===GuerrillaGardening.org===
GuerrillaGardening.org<ref>[http://www.GuerrillaGardening.org GuerrillaGardening.org]</ref> was created in October 2004 by Richard Reynolds as a blog of his solo guerrilla gardening outside [[Perronet House]], a neglected council block in London's [[Elephant and Castle]] district. At the time his motivations were simply those of a frustrated gardener looking to beautify the neighborhood, but his website attracted the interest of fellow guerrilla gardeners in London and beyond as well as the world's media. Richard's guerrilla gardening has now reached many pockets of south London and news of his activity has inspired people around the world to get involved. He also works alongside other 'troops', some local and some who travel to participate. He has also guerrilla gardened in Libya, Berlin and Montreal. Today GuerrillaGardening.org is still his blog but also includes tips, links and thriving Community<ref> http://guerrillagardening.org/community/index.php Community</ref> boards where guerrilla gardeners from around the world are finding supportive locals. His book, "On Guerrilla Gardening"<ref>[http://www.onguerrillagardening On Guerrilla Gardening]</ref>, describes and discusses activity in 30 different countries, was published by [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] in the UK and USA in May 2008.
===Richmond Virginia Birdhouses and Gardens===
Early on Saturday, April 26, a team of volunteers installed forty-nine small birdhouses along the entire length of Hanover Avenue in The [[Fan District]] of [[Richmond, Virginia]]. They were built from untreated lumber and were specifically sized to provide a safe haven for some of Richmond’s local song birds including [[wrens]], [[blue birds]], and [[finches]] from the unwelcome non-native species such as the [[Starling]] and the European [[Barn Swallow]].
The installation was inspired by a combination of several local developments.
Additionally, the Guerrilla Gardening movement has been catching on in Richmond, Virginia. In 2006, [[Style Weekly]] reported an act of Guerrilla Gardening in an alley off Hanover Avenue adjacent to the new birdhouses.<ref>Style Weekly Article: http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=13219</ref> Also, a group called Tricycle Gardens has begun the reclamation of blighted urban spaces in some of Richmond's poorest neighborhoods.<ref>Tricycle Gardens: http://www.tricyclegardens.org/blog/index.html</ref> Their efforts are bringing locally grown food and a better understanding of the interconnectedness humans have with nature to the city.
The volunteers who installed the birdhouses have asked members of the community to tend the houses in the fall once the breeding season is complete. The houses have been designed with a hinged right panel for easy cleaning.
===LAGuerrillaGardening.Org===
A covert group in Los Angeles headed up by an agent know only as Mr. Stamen has a garden in Hollywood at Wilton and Sunset. The garden consists of many drought resistant plants and has been supported by community members. Photos of their garden are here http://www.laguerrillagardening.org
==Further reading==
* Reynolds, R. 2008. "On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook For Gardening Without Boundaries." Bloomsbury. http://www.onguerrillagardening.com ISBN 9780747590811
* Tracey, D. 2007. "Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto." New Society Publishers. http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3945 ISBN 9780865715837
* Lamborn, P., and Weinberg, B. (Eds.), (1999), ''Avant Gardening: Ecological Struggle in The City and The World''. Autonomedia. ISBN 1-57027-092-9
==See also==
* The [[Diggers]]
* [[Food security]]
* [[Vermicomposting]] (may be used to derive nutrients from food obtained by dumpster diving)
* [[Dumpster diving]]
* [[Seed Bomb]]
* [[Seed ball]]
* [[Flash mob]], [[Smart mob]]
* [[Anarchism]]
* [[Pro-activism]]
* [[Situationist International|Situationism]]
*[[Johnny Appleseed]]
*[[The Man Who Planted Trees]]
*[[Abahlali baseMjondolo]]
*[[Ecotivity]]
* [[Communal garden]]
* [[Commons]]
* [[Community Supported Agriculture]]
* [[Community gardening]]
* [[Intercultural Garden]]
*[[Urban gardening]]
*[[Urban horticulture]]
== References ==
<references/>
==External links==
* [http://www.gruenewelle.org Gruenewelle.org]- Multilingual Guerrilla Gardening Site
* [http://www.guerrillagardening.org GuerrillaGardening.org]- The global forum for guerrilla gardeners
* [http://journeytoforever.org/cityfarm.html Guerilla and organic city gardening information by Journeytoforever]
* [http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=8075862560861551314 Blind Guerrilla Gardener] An inspirational short film about a blind guerrilla gardener in London
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/apr/25/guerrilla.gardening Police vs guerrilla gardeners] The Guardian filmed guerrilla gardeners in London encounter the police
* [http://www.gb0063551.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/guerrilla/ Allotmenteering] Reflections on Guerrilla Gardening and Allotmenteering
* [http://www.heavypetal.ca/archives/2007/04/operation_moss_graffiti.html Moss Graffiti] How to make moss graffiti
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/apr/25/seedbombing Domestic Seed Bomb production] Richard Reynolds demonstrates the Californian method of seed bomb making
* [http://www.communitygarden.de ANOTHER WORLD IS PLANTABLE!]- FILMS on Guerilla Gardening Community Gardens world wide
* [http://makesomethinghappen.net/2008/07/10/mshcast-5-erik-knutzen-guerrilla-gardening-and-urban-homesteading/ Interview with the author of Urban Homestead]- Erik Knutzen discusses guerrilla gardening and other collective action
* [http://www.laguerrillagardening.org]
===Regional===
* [http://www.laguerrillagardening.org laguerrillagardening.org] Guerrilla Gardening in Hollywood and Los Angeles, California
* [http://www.guerrillagardening.it/ Italian Guerrilla Gardening] Guerrilla Gardening Italian community
* [http://www.bladediary.com/index.pl?stencil=223 Posterchild] Guerrilla Gardening by Posterchild in Toronto
* [http://publicspace.ca/gardeners.htm Toronto Guerrilla Gardening] - Organized by the Toronto Public Space Committee
* [http://www.gruenewelle.org Gruenewelle.org]- Guerrilla gardening in Berlin, Germany
* [http://brussels-farmer.blogspot.com/ Brussels Farmer] Guerrilla gardening in Brussels Belgium
* [http://www.greenguerillas.org/ Green Guerillas] Supporting community gardening in New York
* [http://www.guerrillagardeners.nl GuerrillaGardeners] Guerilla gardening in the Netherlands
[[Category:Community building]]
[[Category:DIY culture]]
[[Category:Environmental organizations]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:gardening]]
[[Category:Urban agriculture]]
[[Category:green anarchism]]
[[de:Guerilla Gardening]]
[[it:Guerrilla gardening]]
[[hu:Gerillakertészet]]
[[nl:Guerrilla gardening]]
[[sr:Герилско баштованство]]
[[sv:Guerrilla gardening]]