Hello all!

We’ve been quiet for quite some time now. Things have been so busy! Especially at the garden at Wealthy and Fuller. Check out the pictures below to see all of the beautiful growth that has been happening there.

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After a short weekend home for the 4th of July holiday, I stopped by the garden on Wealthy/Eureka today to take a look at how things were doing.

Pulling my car up to the yellow and blue gas station, I was immediately floored by the utter lack of green.

Somebody STOLE all of the potted plants, milk jugs, and hanging baskets we had put up.

I am seriously frustrated and discouraged by this.

How should we proceed?

Thank you to those of you who came out to help in our latest planting at Wealthy and Eureka! In under two hours we were able to transform the old abandoned gas station into a place where beautiful nature can take over. Unfortunately that won’t happen in the big grassy lot next to the gas station due to the shallow soil that is covering what used to be where the gas tanks were kept. But we got creative instead!

Take a look at the pictures to see the before and after shots.

Thanks to those of you who brought plants and flowers for us to use! Most of the plants are annuals, particularly the ones we potted. But we were able to plant some perennials around a tree. And thank you to Martha Arbogast for designing the new Urban Sprouting logo!

I hope to see more of you out there for our next planting. The more people we have, the greater impact we can make!

Feel free to plant your own flowers and bring your own potted plants to the gas station as well.

Until then, enjoy these summer days.

Hello everyone,

It’s time to reclaim some more abandoned land! Urban Sprouting will be having our next event THIS Thursday, June 24th, at 9:30pm.

The guerilla gardening target: an old, abandoned gas station at the corner of Wealthy and Eureka. It’s hard to miss as it is painted bright yellow and blue.

Here’s what I need from all of you:

1. Plants!

Some nice, hardy, colorful perennials preferably, but we’ll take whatever you can spare. So dig them up from your gardens, ask neighbors, or go to your local nursery and purchase some.

2. Flower pots of any kind.

This event we are going to use a lot of pots, to place the plants around the gas pumps and on and around the building. Painted pots would be even better, if you feel so inclined.

3. Garden tools.

I will bring as many as I can, like I did last time. But it’d be helpful to have more.

4. Let me know if you are coming and if you are bringing any friends (who are more than welcome), just so I can have a good head count. E-mail me at urbansprouting@gmail.com .

I’m getting excited! Last time was such a beautiful success, I can’t wait to see what we can all do to this old gas station. Check out the latest results from last time at the garden at Wealthy and Fuller here.

If you have any brilliant ideas about other things we could do to the gas station, let me know! As always, let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thanks all! See you Thursday at 9:30pm at Wealthy and Eureka!

I’ve been keeping an eye on the garden located at Wealthy and Fuller that we planted on June 3rd. It seems some kind souls have been as well, with new plants popping up and everything getting watered. And in this past week some sunflower and wildflower shoots have sprouted up! So I thought I’d share some pictures with all of you.

Stay tuned for the next event! I’ll be posting details about it shortly!

IN A COUNTRY ONCE FORESTED By Wendell Berry The young woodland remembers the old, a dreamer dreaming of an old holy book, an old set of instructions, and the soil under the grass is dreaming of a young forest, and under the pavement the soil is dreaming of grass.

Friends!

Thank you to all of you who joined with us last night to do some guerilla gardening. I was overwhelmed by the response and overjoyed with your enthusiasm, hard work, and plant donations. The new garden looks amazing, and I can’t wait for everything to start blooming!

We were already getting good feedback last night with our efforts with passersby telling us thank you for doing this. Just that, in and of itself, is enough reason to continue doing guerilla gardening.

Due to popular demand, we’ll be having another event. I already have a location in mind, but I need to scout it out a bit more to determine what is needed. And I need to save up some more money to buy plants! So the date for that will be announced a bit later.

In the meantime, check out these before and after pictures I took of the parking lot on Wealthy and Fuller. Kelley took some pictures of the actual digging and planting, which I will post up here as soon as I receive them. **Now posted in the image gallery!** Feel free to stop by the actual site and check it out in person. Possibly on Sunday even, between 1-5pm when The Really, Really Free Market will be there.

Oh and did I forget to mention this? THANK YOU for making this a reality everyone.

Until next time.

Hello Urban Sprouters!

This Thursday, June 3rd 2010 at 9pm, we will be having our first event.

At the corners of Wealthy and Fuller, in a parking lot that has been left to the weeds and trash, we’re going to dig everything up and plant flowers. We’re going to turn the concrete and gravel wasteland into an oasis of sorts, in an effort to put nature back in the city.

Urban Sprouting will be providing some plants and flowers, gardening tools, and water. We’ll also bring some light refreshments!

Here’s what I need from YOU (don’t worry, it’s not too much):

–To e-mail urbansprouting@gmail.com if you are planning on coming and if you will be bringing anyone else. I just need a rough estimate of how many people will show up.

–To bring a plant or two, whether from your own garden or from the store. THIS IS NOT NECESSARY TO COME but the more plants we have, the more of an impact we can create on the space.

So come garden. Bring your friends. And brighten up a small part of our community.

See you this Thursday at 9pm.

**Also, for those interested the Barefoot Victory Garden (on Wealthy by Giddings) will be having its first community meal at 6:30pm on Thursday. Details can be found here.**

Hi friends.

Here’s an upcoming event I thought I’d let you know about:

THIS Saturday, May 15th, from 11am-3pm there will be a community picnic with food, music, and info booths at Wilcox Park. Urban Sprouting will be there (along with friends from Barefoot Victory Garden) handing out information, spreading the word about guerilla gardening, and also asking anyone and everyone for plant donations.

I have still been busily asking around, calling greenhouses, etc. but things are slow moving. If you know of anyone who is an avid gardener and can spare a plant or two, please contact Urban Sprouting at urbansprouting@gmail.com . We need YOUR help before we can begin!

We hope you all can make it out to the Picnic in the Park for a great time with your Grand Rapids neighbors.

Here’s the blurb from the Eastown Community Association about the event:

“Eastown kicks off the 2010 special events season with our fourth annual Wilcox Picnic in the Park.  This year, we are teaming up with Friends of G.R. Parks for a morning Wilcox Park Cleanup followed by the Picnic in the Park.  Everybody who helps clean up the park gets a free hot dog, chips and a pop as a thank you.  This is a family friendly event with live acoustic music, children play activities, and informational booths.  Hot dogs, chips and pop are available to everyone else at a nominal price.  So, come on out to the park, do a little a clean up if you want, and let’s say hello to all of our neighbors and friends!”

Last night’s amazing, energy-filled benefit concert for the Barefoot Victory Garden was a wonder to behold. To see everyone gather together for this cause, passionate about changing Grand Rapids, it just felt right. Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in guerilla gardening, asked questions, took seed bombs, signed up for updates, and even offered to donate materials. I was overjoyed at the response and how this little idea of mine is beginning to take shape. Thank you, thank you!

So here’s the shape of things to come:

I need to begin collecting materials for our first outing into the city. Some people last night offered supplies, but if you have anything that would be helpful (flowers, plants, seeds, soil, tools, old paint cans), contact me at urbansprouting@gmail.com .

Once all the materials are gathered, which I hope won’t take too long, we will begin! For our first event I already have a location picked out, an area that is just crying for some good earth, bright flowers, and a little bit of an awe factor. As the time nears, I will send out e-mails, Facebook posts, blog updates, and any other form of mass communication I can think of.

My goal is that we do these outings together, but that through doing this it will also encourage you to take action in your own neighborhoods. Guerilla gardening is about the community and I want to build community through doing it, but I want this to also inspire you and those who see our work to go and do this themselves. This blog can serve as a way to document these efforts.

Here is our sign, which I hope you will begin seeing around Grand Rapids very soon. It was designed by Martha Arbogast.

Perhaps you find yourself scratching your head at what exactly guerilla gardening looks like. The possibilities are as far reaching as your imagination. So start dreaming and scheming. And be sure to scout out locations around the city.

But in the meantime, here are some vivid examples of how guerilla gardening places nature back into our city lives: