On Guerrilla Gardening: A Handbook for Gardening without Boundaries - Softcover

Reynolds, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747592977 ISBN 13: 9780747592976

Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks, 2009

Synopsis

The enemy: neglect, apathy, and the disintegration of community spirit. The arsenal: daring, a packet of seeds, and a passionate commitment to social change. When Richard Reynolds first embarked on guerrilla gardening, growing flowers by moonlight outside his apartment building, he had no idea it was part of a growing global movement committed to cultivating the potential in the land regardless of all obstacles. Charting the battles fought across 30 different countries and the revolutionary history of this subculture, from 17th century English radicals to 1970s New York City artists, this is an inspirational take on gardening in the 21st century. Perfect for seasoned gardeners and anyone curious to learn more about this unusual international phenomenon, this irresistible manual is both gleefully mischievous and genuinely political—discover the techniques of seed-bombers, the art of effective propoganda, how to love litter, what to grow in perilous circumstances, and how to change your community.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Reynolds has recruited more than 2,000 troops, and his website www.guerrillagardening.org attracts 10,000 unique visitors a month.

From Publishers Weekly:

With the rallying cry, "Let's fight the filth with forks and flowers," this lighthearted guide is a seriously silly romp through the adventurous pastime of gardening other people's plots. Reynolds, after five months living in a 10-story tower block in London, missed gardening and began surreptitiously cultivating the planters in front of his building, gardening in the dead of night to avoid interference. He started a blog to share his delight in illicit gardening, and discovered he was part of an international movement. Reynolds draws inspiration from pioneers of the movement: New York community gardens built on vacant lots, dispossessed Honduran Chiquita workers who appropriated abandoned banana plantation land, and Gerrard Winstanley, founder of the short-lived but influential Diggers who, in the tumultuous year of 1649, planted beans and barley on public land in Surry, England, "that every one that is born in the land, may be fed by the Earth his Mother that brought him forth, according to the Reason that rules in the Creation." He borrows techniques from more infamous guerrillas such as Che Guevera and Mao Tse Tung ("the guerrilla 'must move with the fluidity of water and the ease of the blowing wind'"). Both a manifesto and a manual (tips include how to build seed bombs and deal with pests unique to the guerrilla form of gardening: authorities and landowners), the book delights with tales of exploits from the anarchic, artistic community of guerrilla gardeners.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0747592977
• ISBN 13: 9780747592976
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 222