Years ago, as visitors to China, we noticed that food plants were growing everywhere--tucked into walls, jammed amidst jumbled blocks of broken up cement, as well as in fields, plots, pots and tin cans.
In recent years here, there and everywhere, guerrilla gardeners have been striking, planting hollyhock and sunflower seeds in iffy/ugly ground and waiting until the end of summer wild bloom to delight and amaze passersby. But these days the flowers increasingly have been augmented by or even supplanted by veggies.
This WaPo report from Britain focuses on the town of Todmorden, where edibles have been planted all over town, even in its cemetery. Resident Mary Clear started the effort which has now achieved legitimacy, and some funding, and operates under the name Incredible Edible Todmorden. (Obviously, this started as a determined lark, perpetuated by people with a sense of joy and abundant humor.)
The GG's have struck in Los Angeles, and Harrisonburg, VA, and countless other locales.
According to Web Ecoist, "In Cuba, guerrilla gardening has grown into a countrywide tradition. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, the country experienced an economic crisis that led to food shortages. As a result, Cubans began growing food wherever they could, and what developed was a culture of organic urban agriculture. Today, up to 70% of Cuba’s fresh produce is grown in these urban gardens."
BTW, FYI and NB From the WaPo piece above: " In June, Queen Elizabeth II ordered that part of her garden at Buckingham Palace be dug up for vegetables. (Royal officials emphasized at the time that the queen's patch was planned before first lady Michelle Obama launched one in the White House back yard.)" Now, now...
( Pic tks to http://www.novinow.net/2009/05/18/into-the-fray-guerilleros/)
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