Che Guava Strikes Again: Guerilla Gardening on Nature Strip
Someone’s been guerilla gardening on my nature strip again. I think it was Che Guava, but can’t be sure.
You will see from the picture that a wonderful no-dig garden bed is now beautifying the nature strip outside my place. A no-dig bed means exactly that – no digging – which means you don’t have to worry about pipes beneath the earth. And now there is more space for local people to eat local food. That means more people out on the streets talking to each other as they garden; less dependence on supermarkets and fossil-fuel based food; and more food security.
It’s a no-brainer.
To make a no-dig bed, you begin by making the garden bed frame out of wood, which I picked up from the salvage yard for a total of $6. I then placed about 20 layers of overlapping wet newspaper within the confines of the bed, to inhibit weeds and grass. I then put a layer of lucene (about 10cm thick) on the newspaper; then a layer of sheep manure; then a layer of pea straw; then another layer of sheep manure; then a layer of compost. I then planted a few flowers in pockets of compost in the corners, to keep the neighbours happy (which is important). I’m now going to let it sit for a couple of weeks and plant it up with potatoes. The same method worked a treat in the backyard. Veges go nuts for no-dig beds. The potatoes should be ready for the street party at Christmas.
For other guerilla gardening activities, see here, and for info on the Reclaim the Curb group I’m involved with see the website here.
Also, just a reminder that the Simplicity Institute still collecting “Stories of Simplicity.” For those who wish to share their exploration of the simple life, please see here. We’d love to hear from you!
How could you not love that no-dig bed?! Bring on the spuds!
Nice work Che!
Hi, totally love Che’s bed there. Really like your simple instructions. I was thinking it might be really good to publish a “what to do when your garden needs a rest kind of thing”. If you are planting perennials no worries but if you are planting stuff that is going to die off and leave an ugly weedy looking patch in the future those cranky ocd neighbors are going to be really annoyed. If people are making beds they need to think about it’s future also. Maybe invest in some green manure seeds for later. Good work though! Going out to plant some Kale on my nature strip now. Thanks for the inspiration.
nice work che!
Right now – September – some stores are discounting their seed packages. I bought many from Dollar General at 90% off. Also, now is the time to collect and save wild seeds you can use. Lemon Balm, Feverfew, Wild Carrot are some I scatter around town. Local construction projects leave messed up soil that needs plant cover. It’s easy to gather 10,000 seeds from the countryside. Learn the plants to know what grows on your target location.