Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

FYI street medians are fine for native ornamentals, but food plants there
would get exhaust fumes every day. 

I've heard of Green Guerillas for years, and their intentions are good. For
my part, I have plenty of patience but I wouldn't ever refer  to them as
"these sorts of people". Politicians have been ruined before over two words
"you people", referring to the inhabitants of big city slums. I don't
dismiss the young people who've given of themselves, but I'm wary of how
much gardening will continue after they've left and moved on. The poor and
disadvantaged are always skeptical of do-gooders, esp us white bread types
who obviously have the time and resources to spare so we can volunteer. To
me it's a bit like the Peace Corps bringing "modern" methods to the
"benighted, ignorant masses" of the third world - when they should go to
those countries and ask to learn from them instead. 

That said we have to keep up the concern for society's "throw away people"
as you so well described them. I got lucky with college and all, but in my
life I've known street people and I've been homeless. You have to meet them
on their own terms. I question the part about misplaced fear and anger.
They have a right  to be angry. Those of us with computers and good  food
do so at the expense of 90% of the rest of the world; we hog the world's
resources.  In the middle class in this country we each have dozens of
"energy slaves" working for us night and day with luxury and convenience
the ancient Romans with human slaves could have never imagined. We have a
huge, hidden underclass right here at home; their numbers are growing and
the wealth gap between the very rich and the middle class keeps expanding.
Finding our own ways to grow and live sustainably (and affordably) under
the radar is our best defense. If we can help less fortunate neighbors to
do likewise, great. The main barrier is still the fact that the poorest
don't own property for growing, and nice folks don't want them tresspassing
on vacant lots. 

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 4/4/2007 at 11:42 PM Pego Rice wrote:

>I must have missed the one on food gardening in street
>medians. I do understand that Green Guerrilla's still
>search out vacant and abandoned lots, but
>organizations like Heifer International have been
>making real strides in building both marketable urban
>and small farm set ups.  Some of the urban area
>set-ups have been more like raising Tilapia for sale
>to local restaurants.  These projects may have very
>small start-up costs but they still have to have rent
>as part of their budgets.
>
>I have known many street people, some have been
>friends for many years and I have fed quite an number
>of abandoned teens over the years.  I suppose it is
>possible for them to laugh at people who are working
>with them to create a future, likely even, since there
>are "trust issues" <---groan and roll eyes> and it can
>take quite some time to plow through a lot of fear and
>displaced anger to create a real working relationship.
> I have over all found it to simply be the decent
>thing to do.
>
>The Community Gardening movement has also progressed,
>one of my local Community Gardens is coordinating with
>the Food Pantry, so their garden has a lot of people
>in distressed positions that are learning to garden
>and taking that knowledge to cut their food bills in
>measurable amounts. A number of Community Gardens have
>learned to focus their efforts narrowly and let the
>results spread.  Not all of these things bear fruit
>immediately, that's OK, some thing simply take the
>time they take and a person's responsibility is simply
>to do their part and let those seeds work their way
>out in their own time.  While finding a mode that has
>borne or is likely to bear good results is a
>responsible thing to do, demanding instant, huge
>results (or else I quit) is a little arrogant.  I am
>happy to get a solid percentage now and let later take
>care of itself. Goodness knows, my Mom and Dad's vain
>efforts to interest me in kitchen gardening took it's
>time, what, 20 years?  Only 10 if you include patio
>plants and potted herbs.  Certainly I can only hope
>Dad is watching from the "Great Beyond", Mom has gone
>a little myopic in a nursing home.  Only my last
>surviving Aunt was ambulatory enough to see my growing
>efforts over the years and even she has passed before
>seeing these current results.
>
>In all, though, dealing with these sorts of people is
>NOT for everyone.  Few people have the patience to
>deal with the results that come with throw away
>people, nor the humility to accept that "There, but
>for grace, go I"  Most react to these people with an
>atavistic fear that wants to reject any such
>possibility.  If you can't deal with these things your
>energy is best used elsewhere.  But dismissing the
>many people that have worked successfully over the
>years, is, I say quite primly, not very well informed.
>
>Yours Pego
>
><<Well, we're all free to disagree, and I disagree. I
>do not agree anything that gets people excited about
>growing food is good. ...... The usual reaction is,
>gardening is too much work and too little results.
>Forget it. Medians and vacant lots make the worst
>possible start. 
>
>Sure, making vacant lots into gardens are a cute story
>for Link TV et al.......And if it's a group effort,
>who's doing the work and providing the know how, and
>who's picking the harvest? Talk about a mess. 
>
>Go right ahead with street theater and art swaps. The
>street people willeither laugh at you or mug you.>>
>
>
>
> 
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