permaculture

["Graham Burnett" <gburnett@unisonfree.net>]

Hi Verne, thanks for your intelegent and grounded critique of my posting,

these are indeed questions that the organisers of this action have been 
wrestling with
----- Original Message -----
From: Verne L. Chinampas <moistearth@yahoo.com>
To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: 30 April 2000 15:05
Subject: Re: Guerilla Gardening


> graham wrote:
> >as part of the Mayday celebrations, Reclaim The Streets are organising
> a 'mass guerrilla gardening action' in London.  Meet 11am, Monday
> 1/5/2000 at Parliament Square...permaculture activities are planned!
>
> From the RTS info leaflet;
>
> "Armed with trowels, seeds and imagination, the idea is to garden
> everywhere and anywhere."
> ---------------------------
>
> Admiable enthusiasm represented in your post, Graham, as I understand
> that earth people get a little seed-drunk around May Day. Perhaps,
> however, a little "grounding" will be helpful:
>
> 1. The word "Guerrilla" has at it's root meaning "War", and is
> thereforefore not a good mate with "gardening" .

Within the context of this action the roots of Guerrilla gardening is taken 
to be the Green
Guerrillas who turned much derelict 'brownfield' land into productive food 
producing plots,
producing, according to Bill Mollison, 8% of New York's herbs (see photo's 
124  & 126 in the
Designers Manual)- so seems a reasonable mate to me!

> 2. Mass planting through mob design doesn't exactly fit the
> permacultural "Observation first" admonition. Is gardening "everywhere
> and anywhere" intelligent design?

Good & valid point, but I think the point of such an action is about siezing 
imagination and is
largely symbolic- about providinmg some spectacle and food for the 
imagination, empowering people
to see the potential of what urban land COULD be producing if we applied a 
little vision- so it's
proabably more about 'Wild design', unlocking imagination & creativity, to me 
an important part of
the PC design process up there with brainstorming, etc....

>
> 3. Who's responsible for caring for the plantings after the dust
> settles? What if the "bobbies" decide that the traffic
> cone-as-hanging-basket has caused three accidents by the next day?

It's probably optimistic to imagine the plantings will last til the next 
morning! as stated, this
is largely (to my mind) a symbolic action, and my understanding from being at 
the last planning
meeting was that a decision will be made at the end of the day whether the 
gardens will be left to
be trashed or whether particpants will actually dismantle the site and take 
the plants home at the
end of the day.
>
> Again, I believe your intentions are admirable. However, I suggest a
> traditional rutting in the fields to annoint the earth with fertile
> juices as ultimately more effective for druidic types. Either that or
> plan your garden activities to be fully supported by the community and
> constabulary prior to next year's "Pax Gardena" activities.

Rutting in the fields sounds like fun! hopefully there will be community 
support for what is
happening, in contrast to traditional 'protest' activitys the RTS/Guerrrilla 
Gardening actions are
about showing what we are FOR rather than what we are against. The police 
were invited into the
last planning meeting at Finsbury Park in London as they were outside in 
their van videoing
everybody going in, but they declined. Perhaps next year as you say!
>
> The King Stag and Goddess get it on today...comrades!
> Cheerio,
> Verne

Cheerio indeed! Will let you know how it went!

Graham Burnett
35 Rayleigh Avenue
Westcliff On Sea
Essex, UK
SS0 7DS

South East Essex LETS
http://pages.unisonfree.net/gburnett/


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