You’d be surprised what the soil could
minds. The Greenjacker isn’t going
do if you let it be your canvas. You
to wait for politicians, big business
just couldn’t imagine how amazing a
and ‘professionals’ to get off their
sunflower is and how it affects people.
bums and finally make a difference; they’re going to grow a greener, better,
To change the community, you have to change the composition of
healthier, friendlier world – right here, right now, one plot at a time!
the soil. We are the soil. You’d be surprised how kids are affected by
The Greenjacker don’t believe in
this. Gardening is the most therapeutic
wasteland, just wasted opportunity.
and defiant act you can do...
The meaning of life is to LIVE, so to
Plus you get strawberries.”
give your life meaning, GIVE LIFE. Go forth and cultivate. With the first seed
If you’re inspired by Ron Finley and
you plant you become the Greenjacker.
the fine art of guerrilla gardening then you’re in luck. Doncaster already
Greenjackers seek and employ
has the Doncaster Urban Growers
practical, green, grassroots DIY
(DUG), who are busy planting areas
solutions to England’s social,
around Doncaster and coordinating
economic and environmental
‘urban farming’ food growing projects.
problems. We’re guerrilla gardeners
You can get a hold of them via The
committed to changing hearts
PermaFuture Project by emailling
and minds by actively changing
permafuture.project@gmail.com -
the landscape where we live. We
alternatively you can text or leave a
fill neglected patches of land with
message on 07846 439982.
edible, useful and wildlife-friendly plants. Sometimes we add edible,
And if you want something a little more adventurous, underground and unafraid of authority, there’s always Greenjacker...
useful and wildlife-friendly plants to places where they really should have been planted in the first place, like pedestrian areas or public squares where they ‘forgot’ to put such plants, which is why we tend to do things by
WHO IS THE GREENJACKER?
stealth. Another strategy greenjackers often employ is ‘pre-planting’, whereby we prepare an area with non-intrusive native fruits and other useful plants and fungi so that future generations might have access to vital resources.
The Greenjacker is everywhere. She’s the woman who sat next to you on the bus this morning and the man who smiled knowingly at you as he walked on by; she’s the green-fingered guerrilla gardener who works to the sound of the dawn chorus and the roofer who makes bee-friendly hideaways high above the town centre streets; he’s the dog walker with a pooper scooper in one hand and a spade in the other, the schoolgirl with the muddiest shoes and the brightest smile. They all have seeds in their pockets and mud on their
20
You don’t have to be a national institution, a government body or a major landowner to transform your local area. With a little imagination and know-how the vast majority of neglected sites in the UK, no matter how industrial or barren they may first appear, can be transformed into a resource for humans and wildlife alike. From roadside verges to supermarket car parks, the possibilities are endless.
End