Guerilla Gardening: Reconnecting With The Land

Sarah Carter (Apollo)

North American Indigenous peoples were the irst inhabitants of this land, which must be remembered irst and foremost when discussing the implications of land, food, and ecological restoration In Michigan, the Anishinaabe nation is made up of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potowatomi. These tribes have been continuously working towards food sovereignty (the ability to control production and distribution of the food one consumes) including Giitigan Gardens in Lansing and the Debweyendan Indigenous Gardens in the Upper Peninsula. Guerilla gardening must be held in the context of the liberation work and connection with the land that Indigenous people have been doing for centuries. This historical and modern context is imperative to understanding the nuances behind land and private property before we frolic around town planting flowers Ecological restoration means nothing without decolonization and giving land back to Indigenous peoples Guerilla gardening is focused on building the connection between people, land, water, plants, and animals We can trace the roots of this practice back to the 60s and 70s when gardeners and green-thumbed anarchists started planting food gardens on abandoned lots and throwing seed bombs on fenced-in private property. Guerilla gardening isn’t technically…sanctioned by the state…which means it's more fun. However, these eorts have a long history in the struggle towards food sovereignty and land liberation. All of our ancestors lived with the cycles of their environment and foraged to feed their communities, even if just to supplement the food grown in their gardens The history of modern private property in the United States can be traced back to Medieval Times in Western Europe From the 16th to 18th century, the British parliament was rapidly handing over land to the wealthy that peasants had been cultivating, stewarding, and living on for hundreds of years The General Enclosure Act of 1801 sanctioned the transfer of what used to be common, public lands, to private owners. The ability to forage, hunt, and get irewood or fresh water rapidly declined. The spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional eects of this have been passed down. As colonists settled land in the United States, they brought private property laws with them.

In the United States, the history of “No Trespassing” laws began in 1865, the same year that the government put a legal end to slavery. Even though slavery was abolished in law, strict rules called the Black Codes were put into place to keep African Americans tied to agricultural labor One law required formerly enslaved peoples to be employed or face incarceration This means that even after slavery was legally “abolished”, they were forced to work on the same plantations that had been freed from. For centuries, African Americans had supplemented their diets with food from the land around them. No-trespassing laws were implemented to deny their human right to access these ecosystems that were integral to their survival and culture Up North, the expansion of “No Trespassing” signs was also prevalent Factory owners and industrialists wanted their workers to be reliant on their company wages and spend their waking hours amassing wealth for companies If workers could ind sustenance outside of the same menial labor day in and day out, like hunting, foraging, or letting the soft animal of their body love what it loves, then companies, landowners, and CEOs would lose their power. This intentional denial of access to nature, foraging, and hunting, has had lasting impacts on communities for centuries. Today, 60% of land in the United States is privately owned. Most people know nothing about the ecosystems they live within, not because of their own fault but by design of the state. How could we as a community rebuild our deep ancestral connection to nature? What are ways we can say fuck your private property and destruction of this land, this is my human right to protect and commune with nature (Credit for information on Black Codes: William Spivey and Brian Sawers)

How to Make Paper Seed Bombs:

Ingredients

● Wildflower seeds

● Paper (mail, newspapers, colored paper, etc )

Tools

● Blender

● Cheesecloth (or towel)

● Strainer

● Ice Tray

1 Tear up the paper into small pieces and put them in the blender

2 Pour enough water into the blender to cover the papers for at least one inch and let them soak for a minute

3 Blend the mixture to a mushy paper pulp Put 2 to 3 tablespoons of flower seeds into the paper pulp and mix well with your hands

4 Put the paper pulp in a strainer lined with cheesecloth Squeeze and twist the cheesecloth (or kitchen towel) to remove water from the paper pulp.

5. Put pieces of the paper pulp into a silicon mold, cookie cutter, or ice tray to make seed bombs in shapes. You could also roll them into balls.

6. Put the paper seed bombs on a rack to dry and keep them in a cool, dry place (they will take a couple days to dry

7. Throw them in an empty lot during the rainy season!

(Recipe Credit: askgardening com)

***Now would be an amazing time to make these and throw them around town as the weather gets warmer and its still rainy*** Make sure you ind a pretty sunny place that gets at least 6 hours of sunshine, depending on the variety of plant you choose. Support smaller businesses and STAY AWAY from “native” seed mixes at Big Box stores because they are likely illed with plants that will crowd out natives.

Let’s say you ’ ve got a little more time, money, and some soil. Find an empty lot or ignored public space and look up native plants that grow well in those conditions (sunny/shady/wet/dry) and plant away. Make sure you ’ re able to go back and visit every once in a while to check on how the plants are doing. There are so many forms of guerilla gardening. Google has sooo many ideas.

Some Michigan Native Plants:

Butterfly Weed

Black-Eyed Susans

Coneflower

Blazing Star

Joe-Pye Weed

Wild Lupine

Goldenrod

Wild Bergamot

Spiderwort

Meadow Rue

Further Reading:

MSU Extension (longer list of native plants and technical info) www.giitigan.org www.wupfoodsystems.com/digs

“Decolonization Is Not A Metaphor” by Eve Tuck and K Wayne Yang

“Botanical Decolonization: Rethinking Native Plants” by Tomas Mastnak, Julia Elyachar, and Tom Boellstor

Lunatic Chicken: A Fun New Game to Play With Your Pals!

Staying up all night? Spending all your money on your new hobby that you will deinitely still care about in a few weeks? Suddenly unable to shut your mouth for longer than two seconds? Having the time of your life, except for the occasional moment of paralyzing agitation? Considering your latest self-inflicted haircut? Writing a Pine Press article at 4am? You might be tempted to turn down the crazy to appear well. We both know that’s too much work, but if you don’t, you ’ re doomed to a month of concerned looks from people too scared to ask you whether you ’ re just “high on life” or “having an episode”.

Maybe you ’ re thinking, “God almighty, I wish there was a fun new game that would allow me to truly lean into my madness”? Good news! I had a premonition that you would think that and came up with such a thing! You’ve heard of Gay Chicken (or perhaps you haven’t, my mind reading powers only came in a few days ago it’s a magical homoerotic game in which two people pretend to be gay for each other until one of them chickens out) now it’s time for Lunatic Chicken!

The rules are simple. Instead of dialing down the crazy, slowly increase your craziness around your friends. Start by throwing in a few classic-crazy phrases (examples shown below AND throughout this article) to throw them o their rhythm. Your goal is to get them to acknowledge what is happening as soon as possible. They don’t know that they’re playing, but their socially-imposed goal is avoid acknowledging the crazy. Fun for the whole family!

Potential phrases:

- “I had so much fun exploring Lansing last night at 4am!”

- “I’m having a sudden urge to commit a crime, aren’t you?”

- “I think I have a promising career as a [insert lucrative career you have no experience in].”

- “Seen any packages lately? I just spent $1000 on vintage Calico Critters!”

- “Sometimes I feel like the birds are watching me. ”

- “I am God.”

- “I haven’t slept in days! So quirky!”

- “I think Barack Obama is hitting on me over Twitter.”

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