Comments | kettunainen: side-yard dreams

kettunainen

side-yard dreams

Feb 11, 2009 21:03

So I'm currently reading Food Not Lawns and am totally loving it. It has a MAJOR activist bent to it -- the author has worked with Food Not Bombs and Greenpeace, as well as lots of other non-profit orgs ( Read more... )

pollution, activism, gardening, taking on the world, dreams, ecology

Comments 12

tamago23 February 12 2009, 04:38:31 UTC

It's possible that someone has broached the subject with them, but probably not in any sort of educated way. Here's my suggestion:

1. Approach the super. Explain what you'd like to do and make sure to reinforce that it will result in less hassle for him/her, because you will be doing the maintenance on it and it'll no longer require his/her attention. It's possible s/he may be able to give you unofficial permission (and if your landowners don't make periodic visits and you're fine without the fence, unofficial permission would be all you'd need anyway). If you do need the fence, then get him/her on your side first, and then...

2. Approach the land owners. My suggestion would be to write them a letter that covers these points:

1. This is what I'd like to do.
2. It will not require any outlay of money from you other than putting up the fence and lock; however, putting up the fence and lock would be a good investment anyway, because it will keep out the teenagers who do drugs and may deface the building, dogs who leave their wastes, ( ... )

kettunainen February 12 2009, 19:21:56 UTC

awesome awesome suggestions. Thanks, R, for taking the time to write all this out!

tamago23 February 12 2009, 21:33:26 UTC

No worries! I'd love to see you get the opportunity to garden. :D

thewronghands February 12 2009, 05:56:32 UTC

I'd guerrilla it. Gardening in such a public area, you have to be prepared for the heartbreak of people not respecting your space/fucking it up... do you read "You Grow, Girl!"? But as long as you try to remain philosophical about it, it could be fun. I have a couple, er, spontaneous gardens.

Carrots are also metal hyperaccumulators.

kettunainen February 12 2009, 19:28:46 UTC

The strip is enclosed on three of the four sides already, so we'd only need a fence on one side to make it exclusive. And it's a rectangle, with one of the narrow sides being the accessible side. So, while it'd cost $$$ to put up a fence, it's still less than it could be ( ... )

tamago23 February 12 2009, 21:32:37 UTC

I've heard of steampunkers contacting their local versions of environmental protection offices, who will send people out to scan old watch parts and such for radiation. We must have something similar here, where you could call and ask what it would take to get soil tested. They may possibly send someone out for free if it's couched as being a potential health hazard. I would try contacting this agency, explaining that there's a garden plot near you that has been heavily contaminated with batteries, fluorescent tubes, etc., and while you want to undertake a cleanup project, you need to have the soil tested first. Explain that you're just a home gardener who doesn't have the financial resources to send dirt to a lab, and ask if they have any other options. :)

thewronghands February 13 2009, 06:12:27 UTC

If the soil isn't too bad, you could try sheet-mulching over top of it to get some quick (a year to a few years) nutrients into the soil. Or maybe introduce some worms, whatever kind you have natively, to help aerate what's there if it's all compacted. Those two together have worked out really well for me... I sheet-mulched my underdeck to get actual plants in there, and am about to do it again this year. I figure after this, we'll have maybe an inch or two of real soil on top of all the sand/clay crap, and between plants and worms can hopefully begin to make serious improvements.

With carrots, check where they accumulate... if it's the roots (I think it might be), then you don't want that in your compost -- you'd just be putting those metals back in the soil.

I look forward to hearing about your gardening adventures!

Thread 5

goldoyster February 12 2009, 13:52:23 UTC

Why not dig up a tonne of soil and get rid of it and buy new organic soil and dump it there? It would be expensive but then you could grow yummy things right away. I say this cause who knows how long you'll be there, might not be worth waiting a couple yrs for the soil to clean up.

kettunainen February 12 2009, 19:21:30 UTC

where would I put the contaminated soil? I'd rather take the time to fix something to make it better for everyone than to make the bad soil someone else's problem.

If I were hell-bent on producing my own food and that was my primary goal, then sure, soil replacement would be an option for me. But that's not my primary goal at this time. Caring for the land that's already there is what I'm more interested in.

goldoyster February 12 2009, 19:32:22 UTC

Ah, I just assumed you could put the soil somewhere where the land was not being used for anything anyway. I assume most soil in the city is unhealthy. . .that all gardeners have to put rich soil to put on their property.

It all sounds very generous!

kuaimao February 13 2009, 19:29:19 UTC

Re: guerilla gardening, someone planted a bunch of tomato plants in public planters in Halifax last year. There were tomatoes growing everywhere when I was there. I am considering doing the same thing on Eglinton!

I know it's not as good at the plot next to the building, but my offer to help farm my backyard still stands. I have the stakes you brought over last year and I can't wait to start planting in the spring. Plus, I'll need help as I'll probably be pretty big by summer. ^_^