Illegal: Guerrilla Gardening, Veggie Vandalism (VIDEO)

We don't endorse vandalism. This is just something kind of amazing that's going on.

A few people who are disappointed with public spaces -- or maybe they just don't have room at home -- dig up medians and things under the cover of night and perform the dastardly deed of planting unauthorized tulip bulbs and so on.

Guerrilla gardeners use the cover of night to sneak towards their selected target, where they tamper with public property in order to . . . plant flowers, aid urban ecosystems, and improve the quality of life for people living in the community? Sounds like the most adorable form of vandalistic rebellion ever. And it is.

The gardeners undertake projects like planting sunflowers under storm grates, replanting weed-ridden street side planter boxes, and making botanical arrangements around trees lining city roads. Technically, guerrilla gardening is illegal, but there have been no reported cases of arrests, just some incidents where participants have been questioned by authorities. Some have initially been accused of engaging in terrorist activities--maybe someone confused planting the seeds of hate with the seeds of sunflowers.

Here's a news piece on one particularly brazen guerrilla gardener, via Craft:

Comments

[TrnsNtnl]

12:05 AM on 03/31/2009

Heck yeah. Making seed balls/bombs you can toss over fences or into cracks us a mighty fyn weekend hobbt in urban areas.

[pokemon]

06:32 PM on 03/30/2009

I WANT TO DO THIS! Funny as hell..... da we did not plant that there:)

[mlaiuppa]

05:38 PM on 03/26/2009

If you go to Germany, the medians beside railroad tracks, highways, etc are all planted as vegetable gardens. On purpose. Apartment dwellers can get a plot of land (not sure how it works) and then plant, tend and harvest their little patch of dirt. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, we should be encouraging it; grow local, eat local. There is no reason to waste "dirt".

[SangZe]

03:03 PM on 03/27/2009

But if we farm our own little patch of dirt, we'll be putting farmers out of work. It sounds like some whacky socialist scheme to subvert the system.

[tailgateshirts]

05:08 PM on 03/29/2009

god forbid we dont have to buy everything from a company

[kareemachan]

07:04 PM on 03/30/2009

Yeah, who will Monsanto sell all their chemicals to if this happens..

/s

[onemilliongardens]

12:55 PM on 03/26/2009

Get some free heirloom seeds for your arsenal of covert gardening weapons. How great would it be to see corn sprouting up outside the library and cherry tomatoes in the courthouse garden. Get a free packet of seeds at www.onemilliongardens.com

shhh....

[midwesthousewife]

11:51 AM on 03/29/2009

Mix clay, compost, and seeds with a bit of water, then roll the mix into small balls. Let them dry, then drop these guerilla seed balls on vacant lots, throw them over fences, and sprinkle them as you walk like Hansel and Gretel.

[spartanmom]

09:53 AM on 03/26/2009

A number of years ago someone planted corn in the median of Park Avenue

[MJinCanada]

04:00 PM on 03/26/2009

They did that here too, on a triangular patch by a major intersection. Corn flanked by zucchini so as not to interfere too much with traffic line of sight.

[gotovt]

08:07 AM on 03/27/2009

I knew the man who planted Tomato plants down that median in the 70's.

[wagadog]

09:02 AM on 03/26/2009

All around town I see decorative Kale and Rosemary -- both edible.

I still don't know why the highway medians in Texas are planted with wildflowers and not okra, beans, squash and corn.

In Europe, you see the railway rights-of-way all planted with vegetables, as well as the highway medians.

In New Zealand, they have sheep grazing in city parks.

[CrzyRussell]

10:30 AM on 03/26/2009

Somebody would get ran over and then sue the state of Texas for millions. The lack of tort reform hurts us in more ways than most people realize.

[joshquasimoto]

11:40 AM on 03/26/2009

No crap, tort reform was pushed in Texas by big business and conservative groups interested in judicial reform because of all those bad Liberal judges ruining our country(snark). I would love to be a part of some serious gorilla gardening here in Texas. It would be pleasure to also have some sort of Cedar hunting season where conservationist and nativist up-rooted the cedar, (planked what you could so you could sell it off and plant native shrubs and trees. Like a massive xero-scaping project, heck we might even see some health benefits from replacing the cedar (allergenic tree) with native one.

What do you think?

[Nepe]

03:19 AM on 03/27/2009

The wildflowers are Bluebonnets, which is the state flower. It is a tradition in Texas to plant these along the highways.