Brooklyn Community Gardeners

NEWS FROM ABROAD

Here's how they do it English-style

English Community Guerilla Gardeners visited NYC, and I'm pleased that some NYC community gardeners took the time to show their gardens, tell of our history, and share our collection of "invented wheels," with these highly motivated newbies.

Richard and the English guerilla gardenersf reminds me of "English Rock and Roll," which respected roots and went on to new and different things which made a difference.

Of course, the English have a long and proud history of allotment gardening, urban gardening and sent to us the late Great Alan Chadwick, whose double-dug French Market gardening beds so deeply influenced organic gardening and community gardeners through the garden he founded at the University of California, Davis,.

Community Gardening is a great chain letter, but one that you really have to continue - or there WILL be cosmic consequences. Wax on Richard!

Adam Honigman
Hell's Kitchen

-----Original Message-----
From: richard@guerrillagardening.org
To: troops@guerrillagardening.org
Sent: Sun, 1 Oct 2006 10:33 AM
Subject: Guerrilla Gardening News: 1 October 2006



http://www.guerrillagardening.org

Dear Troops

Gardening as this time of year in the UK is a game of dodging rainstorms. Two weeks ago a balmy evening planting new shrubs at St George’s Circus was topped off with a finale of torrential rain after we left. Perfect. Last week we weren’t so lucky, as a drizzly evening reclaiming the weedy front line turned into a late night bucketing. Ambushed troops escaped into the comfort of London’s red double-deckers, masquerading as muddy vagrants. Good luck where ever you are.

THE COMMUNITY
FORTHCOMING DIGS (UK)
INTERNATIONAL
GG PICNICS
NEW YORK
SEASONAL TIPS
CALLING ILLUSTRATORS
AND FINALLY


THE COMMUNITY
Nearly 700 of you have enlisted in the Community Forum in the last two months – you’ve given yourself a username and password and probably aligned yourself with a regional group. Brilliant. If you haven’t signed up to the Community you are missing out on local call-ups notifying you of digs near you and offers of help. So for example if there’s a mission planned in South London, I’ll e-mail anyone who has signed up as a UK_London_South GGs. I can let other local commandants e-mail troops in their area with briefings too. The Community is also a good place for people to offer donations of plants so people near you can pick them up. Yes we are gradually getting more sophisticated. Join here: http://guerrillagardening.org/community/index.php

FORTHCOMING DIGS (UK)
There are several planned. Here are some in London:
5 October Stratford (Richard 001)
10 October Hackney (Naomi 272)
11 October New Cross (Tim 035)
12 October Lambeth (Richard 001)
Elsewhere in the UK plans are brewing in Sheffield, Birmingham, Cardiff, Portsmouth. In Plymouth my mum (008) has led another mission in Stoke, rallying support (thanks for your young plum tree John 451). Some dates and locations are now posted in the Community Forum on local boards. You are very welcome to post your notices here too to recruit troops in your area… though I understand that some guerrillas prefer to be more discrete and may want to arrange missions off line in greater secrecy.

INTERNATIONAL
Sam (2792) has been active in Chicago, nascent cells are springing up across the USA looking for support, Francois (1056) is plotting in Paris, Jerry (2821) has been beavering away in Brisbane, something might happen in the Eindhoven and in Japan half an hour of positive propaganda was broadcast about us on NHK last week… we’re waiting for front line reports back of the impact of this exposure.

GG PICNICS
Thanks to Meike (155) for organizing the first guerrilla gardening picnic at One Tree Hill. It was a civilized tentative gathering, and at the end we planted five red tulips to mark the moment. We’ll have another gathering some time involving food. The New York community gardeners have turned their picnic’s into huge events, Adam has invited everyone from his local Hell’s Kitchen fire station to the benevolent Lady Astor. In the East Village’s Liz Christy garden they even have a “Gemini” party, since it turns out most of them (me included bizarrely) share this star sign.

NEW YORK
I spent a week in New York to find out more about the guerrillas over there. First stop the Van Alen exhibition on Pier 40 in which both London and Erin’s (342) Toronto green guerrillas were exhibited. Then lots of community garden visits with Rob (120) and his video camera. Thanks to Adam (276) Donald (277) James (2315) and Johanna (2491) for showing us around their amazing community gardens, many of which began with guerrilla activity. And to Jade (566) and Dave (1139) for accommodation. There’s a lot more to report about the visit, it was inspirational, this will go on the website some day.

SEASONAL TIPS
GuerrillaGardening.org is embarrassingly barren of horticultural advice. This is partly because I’m not an expert, and partly because I’ve been distracted building other bits. So here’s some advice to get you gg-ing, especially for a first timer. If you’re in the Northern hemisphere now is the time to start planting bulbs – daffodils, tulips, crocus. Dig a hole about 4-5 inches deep and pack the bulb in, pointy bit facing up. It is as simple as that. If you’ve got other seasonal tips please post them in the Global Forum here and I’ll add them to the TIPS section:
http://guerrillagardening.org/community/index.php?topic=127.0

CALLING ILLUSTRATORS
GuerrillaGardening.org needs a badge, a flag, a symbol to rally around. If you’re a budding illustrator or designer who can volunteer your talent get in touch and I’ll send you a one page brief.

AND FINALLY
Gary found a plastic wizard in a patch of orphaned land in South London while out gardening. He sold it successfully on eBay, raising £5.18 for the guerrilla kitty. Money does not just grow on trees.

Richard