Hello,
A few of the fine visitors to this blog slipped me a few quid back in 2009 to help my guerrilla gardening troop buy spring bulbs. Once again heartfelt thanks to those generous souls. If anyone who donated would like to see the early results of their generosity, they can see the first flowers of 2010 to bloom on our site here and there is much, much more to come. Still there's nothing like a few early bloomers to banish winter angst.
Most of what you see in these snaps wouldn't be there if people hadn't helped out with planting, donated cash or in a few cases both. There is a before snap tucked away somewhere in gallery linked to above.
I've been haunted by terrible visions of nothing blooming despite our efforts so the sense of relief in seeing those early blooms has lifted my spirits enormously. The whole fundraising period was very hard and most painfully of all we were very badly let down by someone who promised us a great deal of help with our efforts. Still I'd rather be looking at our developing garden , knowing I'd done all I said I'd do, than be a selfish, passive/aggressive bullsugar addled parasite.
That's enough of the fall out from my bad friendship choices. Let's dwell on happier things and goggle at the flowers.
Cheerio
Showing posts with label guerrilla gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guerrilla gardening. Show all posts
3/14/2010
8/16/2009
The North Kelvin Meadow
Hello,
The good folk of The North Kelvin Meadow need your help. For the last year or so they've been transforming local wasteground from an overgrown haven for junkies, neds and flytippers into a brilliant and much needed community garden.
Unfortunately for this truly remarkable band of volunteers, the council had ear marked the land for private flats. Personally I don't quite understand this desire the council has to build yuppie flats everywhere but then I'm the sort of thicko that thinks people and communities are more important than private profit which no doubt my dribbling band of occaisonal emailers will inform me is typical of my stalinist p.c outlook. Though quite why I'd want to replace a system which subordinates the majority to the whims of private profit for one that subordinates them to ideology and one party state corruption has never been explained in these charming messages.
Anyway to return to the point, the good folk of the Kelvin meadow are due to appear in court on 21/08/09 and need folk to fill the public gallery to overflowing. The case reference is A2833/09 and the address for the Sheriff Court is: 1 Carlton Place, Glasgow G2 1DU. In other words it's the court in the Gorbals. I shall do my best to pop in on my lunchbreak as I'll be in that neck of the woods. I hope to see a few familiar faces.
I honestly can't see the need for any more flats in the West End, maybe some family housing but frankly the amount of horrible neglected, brownfield land in the East End is the obvious place to build. I must admit I'm very disappointed that the council are taking this heavy handed attitude to the gardeners on the meadow, given how helpful recent contact with them suggests they are to our activities.
Whilst I do not accept these flats must be built at the very least the council should be engaging with NKM in a positive way. If that land really cannot be used to benefit the whole community, then surely they could find them an alternative garden to tend. Court action, calling them tresspassers and treating them like criminals is not a proprtionate response by any stretch.
In my working day I breeze through the poorest bits of Glasgow. Contrary to popular belief the majority of residents are decent folk but very often are left living in fear because of the anti-social conduct of their neighbours. Yet for some reason nothing can be done about fly tipping, vandalism, assaults, breaches of the peace and the like.
We as a city need more people like NKM not less and it is a real shame the council are taking such a hard line with them. As far as I can tell they seem like good community spirited people, if the council in this case really feel flats are the best use of this space, better than a garden that helps build a strong community then shouldn't we have the debate rather than strong arm tactics? Shouldn't the council be trying to channel their energies where they can be better used rather than treating them like common criminals. Do the council not see that heavy handed actions like this stifle local initiative when that's the very bloody thing we need in this city?
I have always had a lot of time for council staff. Oh I know the council do their very best to conceal them but there are some marvels in there. This leads me to wonder if this is just being driven by a local councillor who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing in cahoots with a few of the less imaginative council officers. This Labour notion that everything that doesn't turn a profit is evil needs to stop. Maybe if the council let well orgainised communities get on with what they are doing we'd be able to do more to help out the genuinely helpless in our city.
Cheers
The good folk of The North Kelvin Meadow need your help. For the last year or so they've been transforming local wasteground from an overgrown haven for junkies, neds and flytippers into a brilliant and much needed community garden.
Unfortunately for this truly remarkable band of volunteers, the council had ear marked the land for private flats. Personally I don't quite understand this desire the council has to build yuppie flats everywhere but then I'm the sort of thicko that thinks people and communities are more important than private profit which no doubt my dribbling band of occaisonal emailers will inform me is typical of my stalinist p.c outlook. Though quite why I'd want to replace a system which subordinates the majority to the whims of private profit for one that subordinates them to ideology and one party state corruption has never been explained in these charming messages.
Anyway to return to the point, the good folk of the Kelvin meadow are due to appear in court on 21/08/09 and need folk to fill the public gallery to overflowing. The case reference is A2833/09 and the address for the Sheriff Court is: 1 Carlton Place, Glasgow G2 1DU. In other words it's the court in the Gorbals. I shall do my best to pop in on my lunchbreak as I'll be in that neck of the woods. I hope to see a few familiar faces.
I honestly can't see the need for any more flats in the West End, maybe some family housing but frankly the amount of horrible neglected, brownfield land in the East End is the obvious place to build. I must admit I'm very disappointed that the council are taking this heavy handed attitude to the gardeners on the meadow, given how helpful recent contact with them suggests they are to our activities.
Whilst I do not accept these flats must be built at the very least the council should be engaging with NKM in a positive way. If that land really cannot be used to benefit the whole community, then surely they could find them an alternative garden to tend. Court action, calling them tresspassers and treating them like criminals is not a proprtionate response by any stretch.
In my working day I breeze through the poorest bits of Glasgow. Contrary to popular belief the majority of residents are decent folk but very often are left living in fear because of the anti-social conduct of their neighbours. Yet for some reason nothing can be done about fly tipping, vandalism, assaults, breaches of the peace and the like.
We as a city need more people like NKM not less and it is a real shame the council are taking such a hard line with them. As far as I can tell they seem like good community spirited people, if the council in this case really feel flats are the best use of this space, better than a garden that helps build a strong community then shouldn't we have the debate rather than strong arm tactics? Shouldn't the council be trying to channel their energies where they can be better used rather than treating them like common criminals. Do the council not see that heavy handed actions like this stifle local initiative when that's the very bloody thing we need in this city?
I have always had a lot of time for council staff. Oh I know the council do their very best to conceal them but there are some marvels in there. This leads me to wonder if this is just being driven by a local councillor who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing in cahoots with a few of the less imaginative council officers. This Labour notion that everything that doesn't turn a profit is evil needs to stop. Maybe if the council let well orgainised communities get on with what they are doing we'd be able to do more to help out the genuinely helpless in our city.
Cheers
8/01/2009
Really Quite Astonishing
Hello,
Obviously as we all know the most terrifying phrase in the English language is 'come and see my friends band'. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it involves watching a load of spotty boys trying and failing to sound like some popular mediocrity or worse being wacky or worst of all- sensitive. Consequently I try and avoid going to see any friend's bands because I always end up resenting them for robbing me of an hour of my life that could have been better spent watching River City or sleeping.
However I broke my rule last night by going to see The Hidden Masters at McChullis and for once, allowing my curiosity to get the better of me proved to be one of my better decisions. They are jaw droppingly good, really quite astonishing. In a sane world they'd be all over the tabloids falling out of nightclubs pissed on the proceeds of their offshore investments in one of the world's leading tax havens. As this isn't a sane world the masses are deprived and Coldplay's deal with Satan continues to pay massive dividends.
It's a risky business going to see live music in these parts. I have still not recovered from seeing a young man who's name escapes me playing a really tedious song about candyfloss and genocide and peroxide and suicide and the USA, that was over ten years ago. Then there was that outbreak of all those really thick women who used to dress like two year olds and play really badly for some reason or another apparently inspired by feminism. Still that was all a very long time a go and mercifully such antics are not so widespread nowadays.
Anyway I highly recommend popping along to have a peep at The Hidden Masters next time they're in your neck of the woods. Marvel at a band who actually make an effort to be entertaining, gasp as you realise you have not wasted a whole evening watching a gaggle of twats trying to recreate 1982 badly, send yourself mad wondering why they haven't been handed a fat record contract and a mansion full of sexually adventurous models to play with. Honestly you will not be sorry.
In a totally unrelated bit of news I'm still fundraising for my guerrilla gardening troop and our ongoing effort to blanket Glasgow in ten thousand spring blooms. All we need is 76 people to chip in a tenner and we've hit our target. Thanks to those who've helped out so far, it really is much appreciated.
Cheerio
Obviously as we all know the most terrifying phrase in the English language is 'come and see my friends band'. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred it involves watching a load of spotty boys trying and failing to sound like some popular mediocrity or worse being wacky or worst of all- sensitive. Consequently I try and avoid going to see any friend's bands because I always end up resenting them for robbing me of an hour of my life that could have been better spent watching River City or sleeping.
However I broke my rule last night by going to see The Hidden Masters at McChullis and for once, allowing my curiosity to get the better of me proved to be one of my better decisions. They are jaw droppingly good, really quite astonishing. In a sane world they'd be all over the tabloids falling out of nightclubs pissed on the proceeds of their offshore investments in one of the world's leading tax havens. As this isn't a sane world the masses are deprived and Coldplay's deal with Satan continues to pay massive dividends.
It's a risky business going to see live music in these parts. I have still not recovered from seeing a young man who's name escapes me playing a really tedious song about candyfloss and genocide and peroxide and suicide and the USA, that was over ten years ago. Then there was that outbreak of all those really thick women who used to dress like two year olds and play really badly for some reason or another apparently inspired by feminism. Still that was all a very long time a go and mercifully such antics are not so widespread nowadays.
Anyway I highly recommend popping along to have a peep at The Hidden Masters next time they're in your neck of the woods. Marvel at a band who actually make an effort to be entertaining, gasp as you realise you have not wasted a whole evening watching a gaggle of twats trying to recreate 1982 badly, send yourself mad wondering why they haven't been handed a fat record contract and a mansion full of sexually adventurous models to play with. Honestly you will not be sorry.
In a totally unrelated bit of news I'm still fundraising for my guerrilla gardening troop and our ongoing effort to blanket Glasgow in ten thousand spring blooms. All we need is 76 people to chip in a tenner and we've hit our target. Thanks to those who've helped out so far, it really is much appreciated.
Cheerio
7/15/2009
7/06/2009
Any Spare Bulbs Mate?
Hello,
I and my merry troop of gardeners are trying to round up and plant ten thousand bulbs of varying sorts between August and December this year and would like your help to do so.
To help out click here or here to make a donation at no cost to yourself.
Cheerio
I and my merry troop of gardeners are trying to round up and plant ten thousand bulbs of varying sorts between August and December this year and would like your help to do so.
To help out click here or here to make a donation at no cost to yourself.
Cheerio
4/13/2009
8/22/2008
A Blooming Success
Hello,
Sorry for my absence I've been recovering from my Wednesday night gardening escapades which were as enjoyable as they were exhausting. We got a great turnout and the area looks so much better. Better still I've at long last managed to find some folk who share my interest in guerrilla gardening and have some exciting plans of their own.
Although I'm happy to work alone if needed I must admit I've been feeling rather isolated of late -not only around this but not knowing anyone who shares any of my interests or desire to to just take same action to stop the relentless bloody boredom of daily life. It probably comes from too much reading and daydreaming but I do like to have a scheme on the go -though this is the first one in quite some time that's relied on other people and not been a disaster. So I'm feeling somewhat optimistic about the future.
Not least because Wednesday was just the start, a group of us are meeting on 30th August in Babbity Bowsters and 1:30pm to plan our next floral attack. If you are even remotely interested do come along and join in.
To see some snaps of the dig and transformation click here and scroll down.
Finally heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped out and in particular to Richard Reynolds for getting fed up living in a London high rise with no garden, doing something about it and writing a book that knocked me off my feet and has led two at least two bits of Glasgow looking a hell of a let better than they did before.
Cheerio
Sorry for my absence I've been recovering from my Wednesday night gardening escapades which were as enjoyable as they were exhausting. We got a great turnout and the area looks so much better. Better still I've at long last managed to find some folk who share my interest in guerrilla gardening and have some exciting plans of their own.
Although I'm happy to work alone if needed I must admit I've been feeling rather isolated of late -not only around this but not knowing anyone who shares any of my interests or desire to to just take same action to stop the relentless bloody boredom of daily life. It probably comes from too much reading and daydreaming but I do like to have a scheme on the go -though this is the first one in quite some time that's relied on other people and not been a disaster. So I'm feeling somewhat optimistic about the future.
Not least because Wednesday was just the start, a group of us are meeting on 30th August in Babbity Bowsters and 1:30pm to plan our next floral attack. If you are even remotely interested do come along and join in.
To see some snaps of the dig and transformation click here and scroll down.
Finally heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped out and in particular to Richard Reynolds for getting fed up living in a London high rise with no garden, doing something about it and writing a book that knocked me off my feet and has led two at least two bits of Glasgow looking a hell of a let better than they did before.
Cheerio
8/18/2008
Volunteers Required!
Hello,
As I mentioned below a Guerrilla Gardening dig will be taking place on 20th August at 7:30pm and we need help. It's a great opportunity to be part of something positive, creative and hopefully attractive by the time we've finished.
We'll be meeting at the site (the lane between Stirling St and Parsons St) at 7:30pm and I'm led to believe that there will be tea and biscuits. Either email me to let me know you're coming or surprise me on the night!
Cheers
8/10/2008
Rather Exciting News
Hello,
In my post below on my guerrilla gardening activities I mentioned my involvement in something rather exciting later in the month which I have no doubt had you all intrigued. Well I can now put you all out of your misery.
On either the 20th or 21st of August Richard Reynolds and the folk from Sky TV are coming up to Glasgow to film a very ambitious guerrilla gardening project a mere stones throw from my home in the city centre for a show presented by Noel Edmonds -yes the bearded TV monarch of Swap Shop fame!
The area chosen is rather overgrown and uncared for but has the potential to be a rather fine stretch of land for the whole community to enjoy. Which is why we need your help. I've agreed to take on the ongoing maintenance of the land after the cameras go but it's going to take a team effort to have something worth maintaining.
Obviously I would be delighted to accept any offers of long term help but even if you just fancy giving guerrilla gardening a go or getting your mug on telly you're welcome to come along. The dig will take place in the evening so you don't even need to take time off work -unless you work shifts. Whatever your level of interest or motive for coming along your help really will be appreciated and it should be a good and rewarding evening.
For those who have been struggling to get a troop together this will be a great opportunity to meet potential recruits and for those who prefer to work solo the area is large enough to allow you to take ownership of your own patch in the longer term.
If you'd like to come along please email me for details or keep an eye on the Guerrilla Gardening forum for further updates. Should anyone wish to take a look at the area before committing themselves it is the lane the adjoins Stirling Street and Parson Street near St Mungos R.C Church.
Should you know anyone who might be interested please direct them to this post or to the Guerrilla Gardening forum. I'd also be very grateful for any links to this post to try and attract as much help as possible.
Cheerio
8/08/2008
Guerrilla Gardening Help Required
Hello,
The snap at the bottom is of a rather overgrown planter on Wilson Street which I intend to tidy up and replant, anyone who wishes to join me will be more than welcome. I've been having a whale of time turning my own rundown patch of dirt into something attractive to look at and am looking to spread the joy.
The snap at the top shows the state of my patch before I staged my horticultural coup and the middle snap is how it looks at present only seven weeks later. Whilst I have had a few setbacks the vast majority of people have made an effort to keep the area clean and put their rubbish in the bin.
The point I'm ambling towards is that this stuff is enormously empowering. Rather than whine about what other people or the council should be doing you can make amazing changes on your own. I have contacted the council three times regarding the state of our bin area and they've done sod all. Had I not taken responsibility for it, things would still be as bad as they ever were. Maybe worse now that a nest of rats has appeared round the corner. I know it's not a fashionable opinion but I've taken something of a shine to the baby rats. Honestly they're really quite sweet from a distance.
If an area seems well cared for most though by no means all people will respect it and moderate their behaviour accordingly. It really is up to you whether or not you live in a shithole or not. Grumbling about council tax and refusing to pick up litter you didn't drop is a waste of time. There is a lot of debate about what the role of the state should be, a lot of complaining about the nanny state but maybe if we didn't persist in believing payment of tax and council tax absolved us of all responsibility they might stop sticking their beaks into matters that don't concern them. You can't very well behave like a child and complain when you're treated like one.
Since I took up guerrilla gardening I'm no longer bothered about not having a garden. Why should I be given that I now how a whole district to garden? If anything I've got too much garden for the time and resources available to me. You don't have to stick to flowers. On my patch at present I'm growing cress, beetroot, radishes, carrots, salad onions, mint and sage. Nothing like what I'd need to be self sufficient but almost enough to ensure that I need never buy one of those horrid plastic coffins of overpriced herbs from the supermarket again. Once I get the dill, chives, parsley, mace and coriander going Tesco will be another sucker down. My sage and mint plants both cost less than one coffin of herbs and provide me with more herbs than I can possibly use. I'm not opposed to the existence of supermarkets and acknowledge that they do provide some foods cheaply but they really do take the piss with herbs and spices as anyone who shops in Asian grocers will know. Sow a few herbs or something easy like radishes on a bit of land on your way home from work and you can have freshly picked veg for tea for virtually no effort.
This doesn't need to be expensive at all. B&Q do seeds from 39p a packet, Poundland to a fine set of gardening gloves for a pound, people with gardens usually have cuttings to spare and tools to borrow, gardening magazines seem to exist to give plants away for the cost of postage and do loads of special offers. Even setting yourself the budget of a fiver would make a huge difference to an abandoned strip of land somewhere. Buy a cheap set of gardening tools from a pound shop or supermarket, blow the remainder on cheap seeds and get sowing. Tell everyone what you're up to and wait for the cuttings to flood in. Join the Guerrilla Gardening forum and keep your eyes peeled for the frequent offers of freebies and seed swaps.
Should any of you in the Glasgow area fancy a go at a spot of guerilla gardening I am involved in something rather exciting later this month and would appreciate a bit of help if anyone wants to give it a go. You don't have to be an experienced or knowledgeable gardener at all and the old gardening lark is a hell of a lot easier than some folk like to make it seem. If you're busy this month I've got loads of stuff I want to get started and would be delighted with any help anyone might want to offer from coming out and getting their gloves dirty to donations of seeds, cuttings and unwanted tools. Please feel free to email me if you'd like to help.
Cheerio
7/29/2008
Losing The Battle!
Hello,
Much as it pains me to admit it I'm getting humped in this war. Today's attack involves the theft of a plant with red flowers (I don't know it's proper name). I presume the individual (s) responsible for this intend to continue until there is nothing left.
All was well when I checked on the plants at about 11:30 last night. The next time I checked them 10:30 am today the plant was gone. It's the thought of them sitting in their manky student flat giggling at old Bo Selecta videos, overusing the word like in like the wrong place and plotting against me that really gets my goat. Oh how I'd love to burst through their door and torture them all to death. At the very least I'd settle for catching them in the act. Then I'd slaughter them all without mercy. Harsh but fair.
There is something rather puritanical about their evident objection to beauty and apparent desire to see ugliness restored. A glance through the rubbish they dumped yesterday only serves to underline this impression. Layer upon layer of cardboard ready meal sleeves. In other words food to be eaten and prepared without any pleasure or creativity. Functional mush to fill a hole. Maybe it's nature with it's unpredictable sights, smells and textures that alarms them. Their diet certainly seems peculiarly free of any vegetable matter.
Still I'm being positive -through gritted teeth and will now spend the next few days deciding what to plant in the space left behind. I'm thinking of something bright, flamboyant and ostentatious like a passion flower, though the idea of something nasty with barbed thorns looks increasingly attractive.
Cheerio
Much as it pains me to admit it I'm getting humped in this war. Today's attack involves the theft of a plant with red flowers (I don't know it's proper name). I presume the individual (s) responsible for this intend to continue until there is nothing left.
All was well when I checked on the plants at about 11:30 last night. The next time I checked them 10:30 am today the plant was gone. It's the thought of them sitting in their manky student flat giggling at old Bo Selecta videos, overusing the word like in like the wrong place and plotting against me that really gets my goat. Oh how I'd love to burst through their door and torture them all to death. At the very least I'd settle for catching them in the act. Then I'd slaughter them all without mercy. Harsh but fair.
There is something rather puritanical about their evident objection to beauty and apparent desire to see ugliness restored. A glance through the rubbish they dumped yesterday only serves to underline this impression. Layer upon layer of cardboard ready meal sleeves. In other words food to be eaten and prepared without any pleasure or creativity. Functional mush to fill a hole. Maybe it's nature with it's unpredictable sights, smells and textures that alarms them. Their diet certainly seems peculiarly free of any vegetable matter.
Still I'm being positive -through gritted teeth and will now spend the next few days deciding what to plant in the space left behind. I'm thinking of something bright, flamboyant and ostentatious like a passion flower, though the idea of something nasty with barbed thorns looks increasingly attractive.
Cheerio
7/13/2008
7/01/2008
6/28/2008
My Garden
Hello,
You may recall my recent rant about the communal bin area at my flats. Well I hope you'll agree it's looking a bit better than in the pictures in my last post. The council finally got back to me on Tuesday to report that the bins were in a satisfactory state. To date they haven't responded to my reply that I was well aware of that since I'd spent the last week cleaning them up. Other than the normal rubbish collection on a Monday they've done sod all. I cannot help but feel there is a lesson on life in all that.
As you can see I've been doing a bit of planting and if we ever get a summer I hope to see lots of flowers in bloom and no rubbish dumped on the path or worse my flowers. For anyone who's interested there is a more detailed diary of my gardening here.
Cheerio
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