Guerilla Gardening: Operation Slippery Slope Part Three

Reader Contribution by Jesus Michael Iii

A trusted friend had invited me to speak at an event she was hosting on vegan eating and alternative living at a local theatre. We both agreed that it would be a perfect opportunity to educate others on Guerrilla Gardening and Urban Planting. From it I would gain two most valued troops. 

I only had a week to prepare and it was not nearly enough time! The morning of the talk I had to move some compost, erect a fence and construct a vertical planter to use as a visual aide for the talk. Though the construction turned out to be easy, transportation was somewhat problematic as I created it using a recessed window frame and salvaged twp-by-eights, and that sucker was heavy As time was short that morning, I had to settle for presenting it without the burlap backing required to keep the growing medium in the wooden slots. The comedy is that, after putting all that work in, I mainly used the visual aide as something to hide behind while publicly speaking! 

Arriving at the venue, I crossed the busy street with my lumbering encumbrance bumbling all the way. Luckily, a random person offered to help me up the stairs because the elevator was out of service. I finally got up the stairs and settled down to read The Decadent Gardener by Medlar Lucan and Durian Gray while I waited for my time to speak. Meanwhile, a line was assembling at the superfood smoothie kiosk across the way. Time passed and I kept looking up at the line until I thought, “What the hell,” and decided to try out one of the concoctions made from goji berries and cacao. The decision would prove most advantageous (beyond whatever metabolic benefits the superfoodies boasted). This decision introduced me to my friends The Stone Man and his Lady Taylor. 

Our introduction was quite comical. I was in front of him in line for the smoothies and he accidentally stepped on the back of my heel. I turned and gave him a snide look before returning to my book. Fortunately, after my talk–meant to offer inspiration on reclaiming blighted urban land for food cultivation and instruction on building vertical planters made from discarded tires–The Stone Man and Lady Taylor approached me to seek more information. They were genuinely interested in joining the cause and rolling up their sleeves to get to work. Naturally I felt like a fool and apologized profusely for my rude initial reception. Chalk it up to lessons learned.

This would be a most advantageous reward from Kismet, as they later not only assisted with the breaking of earth, but also introduced me to a media contact at a most desperate time. But that again is a tale for another day…

  • Published on Aug 14, 2009
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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