I have a yard where the oak leaves I didn’t get around to raking last fall no longer disguise the fact that the spring grass already needs mowing, a panoply of raised beds & containers that need to be cleaned out/reassembled/adapted for soaker hoses (Eastern Massachusetts is already in a drought and they say it won’t get better soon), and a bad case of the where-do-I-starts when I try balancing my available effort versus the work required if the neighbors aren’t going to petition to have this place declared an un-attractive nuisance. I’m starting to wonder if there’s a local cadre of “guerrilla gardeners” who might mistake this place for an abandoned lot…
“Let’s throw some bombs,” a young woman calls out, waterproof floral purse swinging on her shoulder and Laura Ingalls braids flying behind her as a band of 25 followers cheer, “Cool!”
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They rush toward a drab vacant lot in Shaw. Some climb up onto the back of a truck to get better aim at their target. But these bombers aren’t likely to appear on any terrorist list or even get arrested. They’re throwing “seed bombs,” golf-ball-size lumps of mud packed with wildflower seeds, clay and a little bit of compost and water, which they just learned to make at a free seed-bombing workshop for Washington’s guerrilla gardeners.
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The benign bombing is part of a larger phenomenon known as activist gardening that is taking off this spring in cities such as Portland, Detroit, Baltimore and the District, where young urbanites are redefining the seemingly fusty pastime as a tool for social change. This is civil disobedience with a twist: Vegetable patches and sunflower gardens planted on decrepit medians and in derelict lots in an effort to beautify inner-city eyesores or grow healthful food in neighborhoods with limited access to fresh food.
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“Guerrilla gardening is urban gardening and food justice. It’s just this really cool mix,” says Emmy Gran, 25, who is teaching seed-bombing in a floppy sun hat at a recent Saturday morning workshop in the courtyard of Old City Green, a gardening store in Shaw. “But it’s controversial, too. If you see an abandoned, neglected lot and you decide to do something about it by planting vegetables and herbs, are you an occupier? It’s kind of radical, in some ways.”…
Tell me about your gardens, or your garden plans. I need some incentive to at least assemble the waist-high planter and seed some of the mesclun mixes I bought after the last time I asked you guys for gardening advice…