Gardening Without Permission for the Greater Good.
I recently had the opportunity to consult with some new gardeners in an undisclosed vacant lot in the middle of Brooklyn. They were doing quite well for their first year gardening. This project is an inspiring example of guerrilla gardening, a form of edible community organizing that basically boils down to growing plants without permission.
Most of NYC’s 500+ community gardens originated as guerrilla gardens. Back in the late 70’s and early 80’s when NYC landlords would burn down buildings for insurance money, squatters quietly took over and tended the land creating many green havens. The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space is a great resource that tells the story of many of these gardens.
The guerrilla garden lot I visited was not visible from the street and had plenty of sunshine and heat. Cucumbers, zucchini and eggplant were thriving. Tomatoes were overgrown but healthy and numerous sunflowers were reaching skyward. Here’s some of the advice I gave them which could very likely apply to your garden space as well.
Think beyond summertime. Their space is warm and sunny enough to easily continue to produce food well into the fall.
August would be a great time to them to plant lots of sugar snap peas for a fall harvest. Also, lettuces, radish, carrots and beets could be direct seeded for september and october crops. Broccoli, cabbage and kale can grow well too.
Mid august is a great time to locate some good “seed garlic” that can be planted in October or even November for a crop in the summer of 2022.
Getting materials on no budget:
Garden Freeganism is alive and well. Gardeners are generally cool people who share more than compete. Facebook online garden groups are great resources for this sharing. Also check in with your local Buy Nothing Project group for garden tools, compost, seeds and even plants.
Coffee rescue: I encouraged them to make friends with workers in nearby coffee shops who could set them up with large amounts of spent coffee grounds for their compost bin. I’ve been personally rescuing coffee grounds for many years in nearby Pleasantville and Mt Kisco.
Free seeds: Check in with nearby hardware stores or garden centers at the end of the growing season. Seed packets are marked for sale for this year. They are like yesterday’s newspaper, they still have value. Rescue them and use them for the following year. Germination rates might not be 100% but they will be darn close.
Also ask garden centers and hardware stores for bags of garden soil or compost that are imperfect and are being thrown out.
Cardboard is another free resource that is readily available, which is great for sheet mulching. Also known as “lasagna composting” this strategy creates no dig garden beds. This is a perfect project for the fall to prepare for spring gardening.
Cross pollination is key Fortunately in NYC, there are many aligned groups to cross pollinate with. Here are some
Green Guerrillas https://www.flowcode.com/page/greenguerillas
https://www.greenguerillas.org/
Bk Rot one of my favorite community compost projects. I wish everyone would emulate it. From their website: BK ROT is a community centered, closed loop, fossil-fuel free approach to hauling and composting food waste in NYC. We represent a localized green economy rooted in the principles and values of environmental justice. Visit them! And check out their website! (I get very excited about good compost projects!)
Resistance is Fertile is a group I discovered on Instagram, I am a huge fan of their work and hope to visit this project one day soon. I notice that they are utilizing grow bags on platforms. They can be helpful in situations where there is lead contamination in the soil. Not uncommon in urban and suburban areas due to years of lead in gasoline and paint.
Green Thumb used to be the squatters who started it all. They are now part of NYC Parks, and have many courses and resources.
I highly encourage everyone to start a garden. Somewhere. With or without permission. This is the work we need in the world right now. Get your hands dirty!
