GUERILLA GARDENING
Guerrilla gardening is gardening on land that the gardeners do not have legal right to use, often an abandoned site or area not cared for by anyone. It encompasses a very diverse range of people and motivations, from the enthusiastic gardener who spills over their legal boundaries to the highly political gardener who seeks to provoke change through direct action.
RON FINLEY: A GUERILLA GARDENER IN SOUTH CENTRAL LA Ron Finley is started planting vegetables at his vacant lot in front of his home in South Central LA, which he channeled into a green garden. He did that for fun, for defiance, for esthetic reasons and to offer locally grown vegetables as alternatives to the omnipresent fast food restaurants and the chemically polluted food from the supermarkets, all this in a community where as he says “the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drivebys.” But that was just the start, he founded the organization L.A. Green Grounds, which is hosting social planting events all over South Central LA. They are cultivating vegetables on roofs, in yards of hostels for the homeless, in schools, on sidewalks, in private front gardens and wherever they find space. All of this as part of the so called Shareconomy, the culture of sharing. With a little help of friends and neighbors the community can easily cultivate their own food. There is no need for fences or any security, it is on a street for a reason, it is owned by the public and everybody can have it. It’s not only about putting a note of green into the grey city. In an area, which is ruled by fast food restaurants, liquor stores and dialysis centers; where people hide in their houses and only leave their properties well protected inside their cars; they suddenly start talking to each other, working together and are aroused from their social irresponsibility and unconsciousness. They actually notice, how every single one of them can change things, can participate in designing their neighborhood and their quality of life. As Ron Finley said, after he saw how pupils, homeless persons and poor familys got inspired and interested by his projects, “Gardening is my own graffiti, I grow my art … gardening is the most therapeutic and defiant act you can do, especially in the inner city. Plus, you get strawberries! … So let gardening become the new gangster, if you ain’t garden you ain’t gangster, let us become gangster gardeners, gangsters with shovels.” www.ted.com/speakers/ron_finley | lagreengrounds.org/
DO IT YOURSELF: CLASSIC SEED BOMBS
I N F L U E N C E
O N
U R B A N
D E S I G N
High Line in Manhatten
Cheonggyecheon River in Seoul
P R I N Z E S S I N N E N G A R T E N I N B E R L I N I N T E R V I E W W I T H R O B E R T S H A W Since 2009 Robert Shaw and his combatants from the corporation “Nomadisch Grün” [Nomadic Green] are running the “Prinzessinnengarten” [Princess’ Gardens] in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The public garden project already became a small company, which attracts 1200 visitors per year. A discussion about the long way to urban farming, doubtful time limited uses and cultivating vegetables inside the city. Where do you start, if you want to grow a garden inside of a major city? ROBERT SHAW First we had to clean up. When we walked across the vacant lot for the first time in June 2009, we mainly found tons of trash. So we spread the word in public, and asked for help. It was not really a attractive offer, so we expected 15 people maximum. But finally 150 people helped us. After only 3 hours we got rid of 2,5 tons of rubbish. It seems like nobody was interested in this lot for a long time. So, was it easy to convince the landlord to rent the estate to you? No, definetely not! Maybe one might think, if on such a vacant lot nothing happened for 50 years, the owner might be happy that someone is starting a meaningful project there, and also is willing to pay rent. But it’s not like that, because vacant lots are objects of speculation. We had to bargain for eight months, until we finally came to a rental agreement and could get started. Are you and your helpers supported by the city government? We earn a lot of appreciation in forms of backslapping. But real help is missing in almost all points. The best support would be, if the city accepts
that our “Prinzessinnengarten” is a valuable project and would allow us, to stay 5 years at one and the same place. Until now we don’t have any planning reliability. First, our contract was valid for one year, then for two years. Although we are a small company, we have employees and we render important social service to young people and the neighborhood. Where does this idea of urban gardening come from,? It is actually imported from Cuba. The people there are running urban agriculture to supply themselves. I studied there for one year and was fascinated by that idea. I came back with the question, if it’s possible to do the same in Berlin. The three year lasting process of the “Prinzessinnengarten” resulted from this idea. How can one imagine the „Prinzessinnengarten“ today? These days, 4000 boxes and 600 sacks are functioning as flower or vegetable beds, eight containers are reconverted into a kitchen and a bar, but particularly people are there! Different kinds of persons, all coming for several reasons. Some just want to take a look, but many want to help with the gardening. Nobody has his own flower bed, we are all farming together. Everybody who wants to, is allowed to help. And the grown vegetables are directly cooked in our kitchen. What can I expect, if I visit your garden just for fun? It depends – the place offers individual incentives. You can either just have a regular beer and enjoy really delicious food, or you can help others or even start your own project. The garden is a good place to talk, not only about planting. Some kind of green neighbourhood venue.
R O O M
F O R
G R E E N