Guerrilla Gardening
I have the luck of living in both a rural mountain town some of the week
and then my lovely apt in San Francisco the rest of the time. This means
in one place I get to shoo away deer, and in another place I get to pick
cigarette butts out of my plants.
Something I've noticed happening lately in San Francisco is a new
faction of happy planters who call themselves Guerrilla Gardeners. These
folks, who live in some of the crappiest parts of the city, decided to
take wildflower seeds, sunflower seeds and sometimes veggie seeds, and
plant them in vacant lots, crack alleys and places already pretty damn
ugly.
At first I thought these people were nuts, but then I began to really
think about what they were doing. It makes sense. There are more parking
lots than parks in the most U.S. cities. And wouldn't you rather spot a
few rogue sunflowers at the bus stop instead of bent spoons and crack
vials?
So I did it. I planted some sunflower seeds (because these flowers don't
need much water and can take some neglect) as well as some rosemary
seeds in the worst alley I could find in the Mission District. It was
funny to see some of the reactions I got. This drunken guy stopped by
and asked me if I was burying some drugs. I showed him the seeds and he
asked what they did when you ate them. I think he was under the
impression they weren't seeds but some trendy drug instead. I had a heck
of a time convincing him that they were ordinary sunflower seeds.
Another person came by and asked me if I was planting pot. Who knew
planting sunflowers would create such a raucous?
I think San Francisco has at least four or five community gardens around
some of the nicer neighborhoods. But how shocking will it be when a
tomato plant pops up on Capp Street (one of the busiest prostitute
corners) -- Or when that rosemary starts spreading near a rundown
elementary school? The sunflowers will hopefully add some color to an
alley that isn't so cheery. Who knows?
You should try it in your city. You don’t need much. Just take a pal to
help out, and protect you if it's a really bad area. Also bring seeds or
seedlings, an 8-liter pop bottle full of water, and maybe a small bag of
potting soil. Also take a small shovel and some plastic milk jugs with
the ends cut off to stick around the seedlings for extra protection from
foot traffic or stray dogs. Place the plants/seeds in a sunny area
that's out of a high-traffic area. This could mean in a grassy spot near
an alley, next to an abandoned building or even next to a lonely bus
stop.
If you want to read more about Guerrilla Gardening you should pick up
the March/April 2002 issue of Utne Reader magazine. There's an article
all about how to do it and what kinds of plants work best. Good luck and
happy street gardening!
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