"Guerilla Gardening"- or community volunteerism

Excitement is not always about traveling far away and going to exotic places, sometimes its just a few blocks from your house. I had a wonderful opportunity just the other day and it was only down the street from where I live. I was able to offer my services (basically my body) for some serious planting. 

Here in Grand Rapids there are a lot of vacant lots. I think most cites probably have these. They used to be play grounds or they are where buildings were leveled and sometimes they are abandoned schools or warehouses. The unused land offers us an opportunity and thankfully there are people in my community who recognize this. The particular community organization I was volunteering for is called "Amplify GR" ( Home - Amplify GR). My lovely neighbor Joan is very much into community gardening. A friend of hers called it "Guerilla Gardening" because unused lots can be wonderful places to bring community together and make something beautiful where nothing was before. It not only has the potential to provide food, but it could also be just a wonderful green space for ornamental plants to help the surrounding eco system when the right plants are placed in it. 

I was unclear what this particular lot used to be used for, but like all of Grand Rapids it's part of the Plaster Creek Watershed. The watershed is part of 58 miles where water collects and drains.  A person from Calvin College spoke about the watershed and explained that all the plants we were planting were native plants to the area and this helps the eco system.  (Plaster Creek Watershed - Plaster Creek Stewards | Calvin University) Plaster Creek is actually one of the most polluted watersheds in Michigan and this branch of Calvin College is helping to try to correct this. The plants we planted will help to filter out the air and the ground water. 

The volunteering was very organized and we had groups: perennial planters, sunflower crew (we laid down growing tarps for sunflowers), Mulching, and signage installation. I was on the perennial planting. My best friend and room mate Anna came with me and we dug holes. Lots and lots of holes. More holes that I ever thought a person could dig. The ground had been an abandoned lot so we found lots of glass and some other odd things (like the old shoe pictured above).  As Anna and I dug holes someone would go behind us and put the plants in, sometimes we'd stop and fill the holes with the perennials that were waiting for a home. One particular shrub got me in the eye, just a reminder to wear sunglasses while planting. 

When we finished our perennial planting I moved on to Sunflowers and Anna went to mulching. The area is going to have 3 giant fields of sunflowers which are a variety of different colors.  The Sunflower part is my favorite part. We laid down giant tarps (Which was very labor intensive) then holes get poked in them and seeds dropped in (Less labor intensive). 

At the end of this adventure I realized I should have taken more pictures, but I didn't realize how fascinating this entire process was and how much fun it would be to plant things and make new friends in the community. Honestly I feel really special to have been able to take part in this event and I hope there will be more to come!