I was walking home the other day and noticed that a short stretch of road smelled of rosemary. On doubling back, I discovered that someone had planted herbs along the previously bare median in my Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood: rosemary, lavender, cilantro, and basil.
Guerrilla Gardening is a movement that got its start in the 70′s when Liz Christy and the Green Guerrillas turned an abandoned lot in New York into a community garden. From their underground gardening roots, tossing seed bombs into vacant lots and turning unused space into green space, the Green Guerrillas have grown into a nonprofit group that’s helped organize over 600 gardens in New York.
The Liz Christy Bowery Garden
After cleaning up an abandoned lot at the corner of Bowery and Houston in late 1973, hauling away trash and revitalizing the soil, the Liz Christy Green Guerrillas petitioned the City’s office of Housing Preservation and Development to make the Bowery Garden an official community garden. They planted flowers, trees, and edibles, offering workshops. The group hosted plant giveaways to help folks in other areas start their own community gardens.
In 2005, new construction threatened the Bowery Garden’s future. The garden closed to the public from 2005-2006, while construction in an adjacent lot was underway. Fortunately, the gardeners were able to negotiate a deal with AvalonBay Communities. The developers were swayed in no small part by the petitions and letter-writing campaigns from the community.
New York City’s first community garden is still at the corner of Bowery and Houston today, and the Green Guerrillas continue their efforts to help New Yorkers learn about community gardening and growing their own food. These days, the Green Guerrillas help New Yorkers plan and maintain community gardens through organization, education, and advocacy. They also still help maintain the original Bowery Houston Community Farm and Garden.
A Growing Movement
From its humble roots in New York, the concept of guerrilla gardening has spread across the world. From small bits of activism, like the herbs I encountered in Atlanta to underground gardens in the UK, folks are taking action to beautify their surroundings and make fresh fruits and vegetables accessible. There are even wonderful books on the topic, like Richard Reynolds’ On Guerrilla Gardening.
[Image Credit: Creative Commons photos by Jordan Davis]
About Becky Striepe
An edible landscape always looks better than some ugly ornamental landscapes. I always make disparaging remarks to my neighbors about their ornamental landscapes and make recommendations about using edible flowers, berry bushes, nut and fruit trees.
I’ve been solo guerrilla gardening for many years in Los Angeles county. In the past few months many people have been joining in to put in guerrilla gardens all over LA. To join in and help out go to http://socalguerrillagardening.org/
Thanks so much for the link, bulbil321! I love the pictures of the hummingbird here: http://socalguerrillagardening.org/?p=161
Shades of Johnny Appleseed, another great American gorilla gardener! By the post (GRD) great republican depression era, green front lawns, mimicking 17th century British lifestyles will have passed from American fancies, and great edible gardens will prevail. We will be working 4 day weeks at best and part-time and occasional work will be the norm. We will have the time, and the need for such change, and the bug free, GMO’ed faster, bigger “Americanized” garden veggies will reign. We will strive towards “Zero upkeep, Zero running cost, survival shelters and a large part of the population will remain in Shanties, built from materials stolen from the rows of now decaying and foreclosed McMansions. The GRD will have changed us in dramatic paradigm shifts greater than a direct nuclear hit could have done, and we will recoil from money-lenders and develop a self-sufficiency only know in the days of Walden Pond and Thoreau’s great works. The LED light will become our guiding light in a day where sustainability will reign. We will have no choice, the Chinese will “foreclose” on us, the Saudies and OPEC nations will realize how close they are to the bottom of the oil barrel, and become protectionist, We will ignore solar and wind power just long enough to miss the boat on perpetual energy sources, and have to fend for ourselves with our bare hands! The gorilla gardener will be likened to the village minstrel, bringing new seeds and plants wherever he goes, and spreading good will and good food along his way!
expunge remorseful
eliminate sorry 34
very similar in concept to my http://www.weedouthate.org concept
How informative.. thanks for sharing.