The City Is My Garden.....

Bloom Fringe is an amazing event that I visited in the first weekend in June. it is the fringe event to Dublin's Bloom Festival, Ireland's premier garden show, and I was invited by the awesome ladies who run the event to spend three days in Dublin, talking visiting awesome community gardens, and generally just to get involved in the event.
On my first day in Dublin, somewhat tired from the journey, I found this piece of street art and it made me really think.........

What does that mean?
Well for me in particular the city is my garden. Supporting gardens and gardening is my thing and is what I do as a volunteer, giving my horticultural knowledge to folk who can use it to improve those lost and unloved spaces that most areas of cities have. Whilst what I do is, of course around creating those community spaces around food and growing, it is also more than that. For me it's a horticultural call to arms. A demand, if that is not too bold a word, for horticulture to be at the centre of the way we care for our cities. A request for good horticultural practices from all the stakeholders and contractors who work within the city. Why on earth shouldn't good planting, tree maintenance and planting, care for our parks and wilder spaces, be at the centre of what we see as a healthy city.
Now I am more than aware that most people think I am somewhat crazy in my thinking but let me explain.
81% of the UK population live in urban areas and that is an ever rising figure. Our cities are becoming full to the brim and it's a frightening scenario, as mental health issues rise and the NHS and others struggle to deal with the rising numbers of people needing support. We are constantly told that we need to get people into nature, but what on earth does that means? As discussed in a previous post, we can hardly bus people out to the countryside every weekend for their dose of nature, so what do we do?
Surely it's obvious? Surely we bring nature into the city? Surely we open the door and allow not just nature, but good horticultural practices into the city and allow people to feel that they have a voice in hat their city looks like?
But what do you mean Sara? Well........
So here in Bristol there are a few things that really get my goat. Over the years pollinator projects have meant that there are a lot of areas planted for pollinators, using a seed mix that was especially formulated for that. Now that project is over, sadly the beds are very poorly, if at all managed, and we see huge swathes of Welsh and Californian poppies that have taken over from the other species sown, peppered with willow herb and other weeds that have come in. They look sad and tatty. Like nobody owns them my grandmother would have said.
We also have some junctions that have been planted as herbaceous borders,. Now this is a wonderful idea and I salute it wholeheartedly, but these borders were planted without any thought for how they might be managed in uncertain times, and now we are in a city that needs to make 101 million pounds worth of savings this year, you can probably imagine the state of these spaces. They are trimmed once a year and wood chip is used as a mulch, which by this point in the year is failing and weeds are appearing through them. Whoever designed the spaces also didn't allow for failures or for some plants being more vivacious shall we say. Phlomis fruiticosa waves in enormous drifts across the city whilst other plants struggle. In some places Peonies have been used and their beautiful blooms fall all over the mulch as they are missing any form of staking and other plants surrounding them have died away.
Bindweed is also a massive issue in all these spaces as they are trimmed yearly, or cut with a brush cutter, that cuts back the bindweed and just makes it's roots stronger so that it very quickly takes over and strangles the rest of the plants in the space.

Wolfe Tone Square in Dublin

Now I realise here I am painting a picture of doom and gloom but of course there is another way. We all know that in days gone by councils parks departments were the way so many now esteemed horticulturalists began in the industry. Today we see, in most towns and cities, the parks teams hugely diminished, if they have survived at all, and hence this entry point is closed, or severely cut. Here in Bristol parks are set to become "budget neutral" and so the parks department has to be 100% self sustaining and so our incredible council nurseries, which we are lucky to still have, have to concentrate on growing plants for other areas in order to make themselves financially viable.
But surely we can change this? With Incredible Edible Bristol we have made gardens in the most unlikely of spaces, concentrating on growing food for sure, but also, and sometimes more importantly, focusing on the change a beautiful garden makes to those most unlikely spaces.
Whilst I was at Bloom Fringe, those fierce organisers of the event took two spaces and changed them with plants, effectively making gardens, all be they temporary spaces, in a car park and in a square in Dublin city centre.
Wolfe Tone Square is, I think, Dublin's equivalent of our Bearpit here in Bristol. A lost, unloved and underused space populated by a community that is in trauma. A space used for drinking, for anti social behaviour and a space avoided by many through fear. The aim of our Bearpit garden, is to support the creation of a more safe and inclusive space, with the addition of food being more of a side line although the vast majority of the plants used are edibles. By turning the space in Wolf Tone Square into a temporary garden, the atmosphere changed dramatically. children played in the mud kitchen, climbed on the copper cow and played chess with a chess master who was one of the spaces usual community. People stood in the space chatting, talking about plants, about gardens and about life. The seating available in the square is set in place and in a line so placing chairs around the space, making it beautiful with plants and grass, albeit fake, made people stop, slow down, take a seat and begin a conversation.
Now for me this is the power of good outdoor design. We cannot change the way our towns and cities have been designed. We certainly cannot change these lost or poorly used spaces but what we can do is put nature and good horticulture into our policies of managing these spaces, turning them from lost and unloved to beautiful, productive and healthy spaces. Investment now into this along with requests to other stakeholders who manage land in our towns and cities, and a change in how we design spaces into the future, will ensure healthier city as we head into the future, and can address not just physical and mental health of people, but also the health of the city itself, using SuDs, green roof and wall technologies, and bringing nature into the city for the health of the city.
So how do we do this?
Well in my experience, we just do it. Organise your community around that space and get on and make that change. Often it can be done for the price of a few seeds and the use of some old furniture that otherwise might end up in landfill. Clear those spaces, add some seats, spread some seeds and see what happens. Bur along with that, lobby your local councillors and ask them to begin to see the areas they support as a garden. Speak to your children schools and clubs. Find those people in your community who can help with gardening, carpentry, crafting skills.
And if you need proof that this works to make more coherent communities, use the examples across the country that are really supporting nature within cities to support the health and well being of both people and place.

Bristol's Bearpit Garden

The Gangster Garden Needs Your Help!!

On 22nd January 2014 I watched Ron Finley's famous Ted talk and within an hour Incredible Edible Bristol was born!! I'll always say, for as long as I live, that Incredible Edible was the deep inspiration but Ron gave me the kick up the arse to make it happen, and following meeting him at Sheffield's Festival of the Mind later that year a friendship of respect and support through social media and occasional emails has begun.

One of the beliefs Ron and I share is that when we do what we do, creating those gardens out of sad, lost spaces, that as much as being productive these spaces need to be beautiful and if you look up Ron's garden it's certainly that. A garden on a parkway, that strip of nasty lawn that's the sandwich between the road and the path, it's full of exotics, bananas, papaya, mangoes, sunflowers all year round as well as veg like sweet potatoes, corn, courgettes and more. As a designer Ron sees the need for beauty and good design. After all bad design is what led to the garden being planted in the first place, with Ron just wanting to be able to access fresh produce in his neighbourhood.

From a horticultural view I would say this adds something important to Ron's garden. Not only does it speak of the need for neighbourhoods, worldwide, to take back control of their design, it also speaks to the world of garden design and looks at making production a thing of beauty. It makes community gardening stand up and fight for it's place within the garden world. It inspires others to take control of the design of their areas. It says good garden design can change policy. 

 

And yet Ron's garden and the headquarters of the Ron Finley Project are at risk of being lost. Down to financial mismanagement by the previous landlord, the land now belongs to an organisation that has clearly stated the only way to secure the land is to buy it, for a cool half a million dollars......

Ron runs a community organisation and let me tell you, community organisations rarely have a spare ten pence let alone half a million dollars.

 

I'd like to think that if Ron's garden was in the U.K, someone might have seen the importance of the garden and worked to save it. And the reason for my thinking is that Ron's garden is a garden that is of historic importance, maybe not now, but in years to come. It's a garden that changed the law, that supported a worldwide movement and allowed Ron, the gangster gardener, to spread his extraordinary message across the globe. Ron is a doer. He is action led. A true activist who's mission is to make us all see that our world can be made so much better by using design to give us what we need. Rather than succumbing to a poor diet due to where he lives, he planted a garden, brought health to the neighbourhood by design and changed the thinking of a generation. If he was in the U.K. he'd be the ultimate ambassador for the RHS Greening Grey Britain campaign, because he's both designing urban areas and changing both the place and the people's lives in a positive and action led way.

 

But there is no Greening Grey South Central.

So what can we do to save this historic garden of the future? Well I'm assuming no one has a spare half a million dollars but if you do, speak up!! But what we can do is make people aware. Share Ron's stories, his Ted talks and support him. You can sign this....https://www.change.org/p/do-not-allow-strategic-acquisitions-inc-to-destroy-the-ron-finley-project-s-gangsta-garden

Or donate here......https://www.gofundme.com/savethegangstagarden?d=145359298

But most of all you can share the importance of this garden. It talks of what millions are involved with across the globe from Incredible Edible groups, to the public realm work undergone by La Campesina, to Slow Food, to the education of children around food and growing and the growing urban farming revolution that's taking place around us all!!

Below are a couple of links to things Ron has done-watch the Ted talk-it's a life changer!!

Let's save the Gangster Garden!!

https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4S_xSP20OxA

 

Resolutions? Not on your nelly!

I don't do resolutions. Setting yourself up for failure on the first day of the year seems unkind and unnecessary. After all changes come slowly, incrementally and start with small changes that lead to more. 

Which reminds me of a family I have worked with for the last year. They were desperate to grow some food and teach their children where food comes from and approached me to find out how to get an allotment. Our first conversation was difficult as it was apparent really quickly that they just didn't have the time to work a plot properly and that they would have struggled and given up. This family has parents with 3 jobs between them, one car which is generally at work with one parent or the other or ferrying children around to various sports and  clubs and when we sat and worked out what their really spare time looked like it was pretty much not there. They certainly couldn't find 8 hours a week to get on top of a weedy plot!!

I always think it's harsh but kind to be really honest with people about time and gardening, because there is nothing worse than knowing something will be a struggle for someone. If  struggle is involved there will disappointment and a feeling of failure. Gardening, be it for flower or fruit, should be a pleasure, a joy and for it to be anything else is sad and wrong. 

What I didn't say to this family however, was that they couldn't garden, but that we would find a way they could, allowing for their time, or lack of it, and ensuring the youngsters in the family were involved! We looked at what space they had available to them at home in their tiny back yard and front garden and we planned to make those spaces edible, productive and beautiful. 

They discussed what they wanted to grow and a raised bed was made and some large pots bought and filled with compost. Seeds were sown of lettuce leaves and tomato seedlings were bought. Chillies were gifted and herb plants bought. Eventually everything was planted out, a feeding and watering rota was made and the growing began. Every few weeks more salad was sown and slowly over the summer the family realised they were becoming almost self sufficient in salad leaves and in late July when the tomatoes started fruiting, enough sauce was made to last a fair while and some 'sun' dried tomatoes were made using my dehydrator, and stored in olive oil. The chillies also fruited somewhat spectacularly, leaving my own crop looking embarrassingly light, and they were turned into ristras and dried and are on display in their kitchen labelled by heat level with luggage labels. 

All in all for a family that's really pushed for time, this little project has done several things. It's enabled them to eat fresh, seasonal food and learn to preserve some of it for the winter months. It's enabled them to use what garden space they have productively, and to be in that space more and so outside more. They've learnt some growing skills and are excited to learn more and have visited some gardens to look at how others grow. But most importantly it has been a family project that they have worked on together and that they all agree has helped their family to spend time together which they might not have otherwise done. With 3 young people in the house between the ages of 9 and 15 it's often hard to find something everyone will enjoy and learn from, but this has seemingly really worked. 

 

I'm told more pots and another raised bed are being planned this season and that courgettes and potatoes in bags are on the menu as well as the tomatoes, chillies and herbs of last year. And that their neighbours are keen to join in turning the project into one for the street, which they are happy to support and help establish. 

As we move into 2017, with its uncertainties and global concerns, stories like these make me realise that everyone can make change in their lives if they want to. What's important is that those changes are sustainable, not overwhelming and seen as fun. Small actions that lead to movements of change through families, into communities and beyond through real grassroots activism.

So with all that in our thoughts, let's stop making pointless resolutions. Instead let's look at one small change we can make and make it for good in away that is meaningful and offers kindness to ourselves, our friends and our planet.