Urban Guerrilla 5 GreenUp: Launching Garden Guerrilla Actions in the City

Text by Liu Che-wei (Gorilla Green Guerrilla)

On Earth Day, a Taiwan Earth Day green market was held in front of the National Taiwan Museum, proclaiming the idea of "Taipei get moving, the city get green."

In conjunction with this green art market, the Gorilla Green Guerrilla also responded to the spirit of "GreenUp" with its "Urban Guerrilla Experience Group" activity. This guerrilla action was a process of open recruitment and action: borrowing the "Citizens Want Green Space" booth of OURs (Organization of Urban Re-s), the Gorilla Green Guerrilla set up an on-site station to call on the public, inviting people strolling through the green market to join in using plants to improve the small corners of the city.

Guerrilla Target 1: Flower of Life | A deserted tree pit on the sidewalk
Guerrilla Target 2: The Surprise Behind | A dead seat planter in the park

The gorillas recruit people in front of the booth

During the site survey, we found an empty tree pit where not even "weeds" were growing; the other guerrilla target was a seat planter in 228 Peace Memorial Park, but the plants in the planter had all withered and died. These tiny patches of urban land need healthy soil and vibrant plants, and even more they need citizens' care and stewardship.

Guerrilla Target 1: Flower of Life | A tree pit on the sidewalk

The tree pit as it originally looked

On the day of the action, the green market was crowded with people. Gorilla No. 7 held a small microphone and said: "Hello everyone, we are the Gorilla Green Guerrilla. The urban guerrilla experience action is about to begin. Anyone interested can follow me this way! Green guerrilla means planting beautiful flowers, plants, and vegetables in urban spaces, making city spaces more diverse and more beautiful. In a moment we are going to plant corn and plant food that we ourselves can eat!"

Then something magical happened: when we walked to the gate facing the road, five, six, seven, eight people followed behind us! The guerrilla action set off just like that. Crossing the road, walking and walking, turning a corner, ta-da, we arrived at the guerrilla target site!

The gorillas and the public gathered around this tiny patch of urban land, introducing who we are (the gorillas), what we were going to plant (the Three Sisters), and how to plant it (the hügelkultur / sheet-mulch planting method)! Then, it was time to get to work!

The planting process and the flower sign made together with everyone
 

Left image/ "Flower of Life" completed  Right image/ A little boy joins in the planting

We drew the shape of a flower on top of the tree pit, and each petal was a small garden bed, planted with different kinds of edible crops: corn, pumpkin, long beans, and marigold (Tagetes lemmonii).

Native Americans would plant beans, pumpkin, and corn together, and called them the "Three Sisters." When the corn grows upward, the beans can climb on the corn, while the pumpkin's large leaves can cover the ground and reduce the chance of weeds sprouting; in addition, planting marigold can fill the place with fragrance. Therefore, the gorillas named the garden "Flower of Life" and set up a sign explaining the plant species in this tree pit and the purpose behind them; on the back of the sign were the guerrilla experience reflections of every citizen who took part. After the garden was established, the gorillas and the public held a small sharing session on site (see the video), hoping that the plants could grow here in peace.

Guerrilla Target 2: The Surprise Behind | A park planter

 
Explanation before planting

The other guerrilla target was a planter located in the park, and this action was joined by many parents and children together. Because there were tall trees near the planter that blocked the sunlight, we chose to plant chicory and water mint. These two plants do not need full sun as much; besides that, when people sit on the seat, they can also smell the fragrance of the water mint and observe how the vegetables are growing. Many children were still unfamiliar with "planting," so we slowed down the pace of the operation and explained the meaning of each step one by one.

During the process, a little girl was afraid to touch the soil and felt that soil was very dirty. When it came time to take the plants out of the plug tray and pinch the root ball to loosen the circling roots, she asked us how to do it. We told her, "Actually, soil isn't dirty. Lots of very good creatures live inside it. Do you want to try? Open up this white tangled root to help the plant grow tall later." And she really did try it with her own hands!

There was also a child who, although he thought the kitchen waste stank, still pinched his nose and kept helping to dig the soil. And when the dead branches and fallen leaves meant for covering the soil surface ran out, everyone also gathered fallen leaves from the park lawn together, directly using on-site resources.

Follow-up Records

1. Flower of Life

2011/04/23 Garden established
2011/05/19 Both the pumpkin and the marigold were gone; we hope they met people who treated them kindly
2011/06/14 Long beans discovered!
2011/07/05 The corn formed a tiny ear!
 

(Image: The corn has grown)

2. The Surprise Behind

2011/04/23 Garden established
2011/05/03 "The Surprise Behind" was removed! The original spot was replanted with ornamental plants
 

Top image/ The "Surprise Behind" garden  Bottom image/ The planter was replanted with ornamental plants

Postscript
In this guerrilla action, every inch of soil and kitchen waste, every plant, and every bit of gravel and dead branches used for mulch were created by citizens with their own hands. This is a process and concept very different from ordinary "greening and beautification"!

In the city where we live, many "urban greening and beautification" projects are underway, and many bureaus and departments are responsible for promoting "urban greenery." The gorillas believe that the current "urban greening and beautification" offers citizens a somewhat narrow space for imagination, and that the phrase "urban greenery" is also somewhat empty, with some of its substance not actually being brought out.

The experience of this "Urban Guerrilla Experience Group" action happened to provide a comparison:

●    Can simple greening and beautification works be transformed into "rich edible landscapes"?
●    Can visually oriented planting arrangements be transformed into "actually creating the environment that plants need"?
●    Besides the construction methods of landscape engineering, can "sheet-mulch planting" or other resource-recycling, land-friendly environmental creation methods be adopted?
●    Can the contract-based tendering and construction process be integrated with "mechanisms for citizen participation, environmental education, and maintenance and adoption"?