On Guerrilla Gardening: The Why, What, and How of Cultivating Neglected Public Space by Richard Reynolds
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really dug this book. I have been a guerrilla gardener off and on now for several years, mostly planting giant sunflowers. To clarify, a guerrilla gardener gardens on neglected public land without permission. Discovering this book was like finding the handbook, and network, I always wished I had. Richard Reynolds takes it farther than I had previously imagined, enlisting troops to go on large digs (roadside embankments, traffic circles, vacant lots, etc.) in an attempt to beautify the urban landscape for the betterment of all. Points of interest include seed bombs and bulb mining. He also goes into the history of it (with recorded history as far back as the Diggers in 1649)and shares the knowledge he has gleaned from other troops in the field across the globe. Check it out at
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A green thumbed guerrilla
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3 comments:
just talked to a parent this afternoon who has convinced a local church to allow him to "farm" an acre of their property and grow fresh food for their food pantry ... some neat ideas out there :)
That is exactly what I did at the Heartside Garden in GR. The plot was owned by a local church and the garden was for the locals. The only I could get in was if I agreed that the majority of the harvest would go to the Hard Times Cafe which was run by the head gardener.
I have considered doing it agian here in Chicago under the guise of urban share cropping. I would cultivate a vacant lot and donate a share to the local food pantry and a share to the owner if they are interested. There is plenty of unused space in this city.
on a side note, I ran a google search for urban sharecropping and got a posting on craigslist by someone looking for a lawn to cultivate in exchange for fresh veg in Minneapolis.
i told him about what you had been doing there . . . that's exactly his intent also . . . . i may have some of the kids in my class do some volunteering with him in the food pantry next year
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