Guerila gardening

ceridwen

JACKIE

Have you looked into Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Gardenshare Scheme" on the one hand?

on the other hand - your local Transition Town group may well have/be in the process of getting together a gardenshare scheme specific to your locality?

(to find this:
www.transitionnetwork.org/initiatives

and it should reveal one near you).

I guess you know the basic idea of Gardenshare schemes? It started originally back in the 1970s and has been revived in the last few years - ie because of the shortage of allotments. It matches people who want a garden or allotment with those who have one (but, for one reason or another, dont/cant cultivate it) on the other hand. Your situation is ideally situated to joining one of these schemes. The idea is that the garden owner has their garden kept decently cultivated and the garden-less person gets a garden to garden in. They both share the resultant food produced from the garden.

Win/win...and I think it would suit you ideally. You would no longer have to pay someone to cut your garden back at intervals. YOu'd get some free food. You are obviously "sociable" enough that I think you'd probably like the chance to gain a new younger friend.

The_Thrilla

I have not read the stuff on guerilla gardening yet, but I imagine one could release wildlife as well: rabbits, etc.

Biggles

ceridwen wrote: »

I am not quite sure the above poster understands the concept of guerilla gardening.

I don't think s/he understands planning permission either. You don't need to own a piece of land to apply for planning permission.

The_Thrilla

Hello Ceridwen
Thanks for posting the links about guerrilla gardening. I thought it would be something interesting, but I was bitterly disappointed.

These folk are not guerrillas; they are ruddy hooligans. And I'll tell you why. For some reason, people think that patches of ground "choked with weeds" are evil, and that a suburban garden with its cultivated herbs and plastic flowers is how things should be.

Let's call weeds what they are: they are wild herbs. When wild herbs take over a patch of ground it is Nature's way of healing the planet. If the ragwort swallows up the tulips, so be it.

I am really fed up of all these suburban types with their tightly clipped lawns, and their bought fertiliser, and their garden vacuum cleaners, who b1tch about roses that have gone to briar, dandelion clocks, and next door's cat opening its bowels among their daffodils. You know, they gaze in horror as I pick a blackberry off one of my bushes and stuff it straight into my mouth. The "Hedgerow Harvest" was a boon shilled by the Ministry of Food during the Second World War. Now it is just an eyesore.

These people have completely lost contact with Nature. But that doesn't stop them from trying to ram their misconceptions instead of blackberries down other people's throats. (Mention the word "blackberry" to them and they'll think it's a type of mobile phone.)

elisamoose

Well I think I will just carry on harvesting what is there. The land is a big verge on a corner opposite my house and has been so for years.not big enough to build on or to have had a factory or similar on!