Guerilla Gardening

I'm a bit of a fan of guerilla gardening, the idea of beautifying (often with edible plants) public spaces which are in disrepair. This is often done in secret or at night and aims to get the support of the local community to maintain the area. Sometimes it is done by secreting seeds, often in seed "bombs or balls" which have seeds and compost inside a clay ball which will remain intact until a significant rain event. (These are attributed to Fukuoka, a japanese natural farmer) Path to Freedom have an instruction sheet

Well, I'm very excited, because for the first time in a while, a show has come on TV that has got me wanting to sit in front of the box (well, I'll be recording it as I'm out at muso practice for my church on wed nights. Guerilla Gardeners airs for the first time tonight on channel 10 at 8pm.

Welcome to the show where six young warriors are armed to the teeth with attitude and gardening tools, working together to make-over the most barren and concrete-filled spaces in our cities. When the sun goes down and the city workers retreat to the ‘burbs', the Guerrillas undertake covert operations that transform the biggest eye-sores into an oasis of greenery and recreation for local communities and families to enjoy.

The Targets: Bleak public spaces, concrete jungles, disused land, roadside wastelands left by councils and developers who just don’t care.

The Challenge:Turn these eyesores into beautiful spaces for people to appreciate and enjoy.

The Guerrilla Gardeners"Ally – gardening guru, Lilly – 'Jill of all trades' with a penchant for power tools, Scott – construction expert, Pete – construction expert, Dave – keeping the public and the law on side and Mickie - the mastermind behind the disguises

With youth and enthusiasm in their favour, the six Guerrillas will stop at nothing to reach a potential site – they will abseil, rope and parkour (picture the opening scene of Casino Royale) to get to the make-over site on a 20 foot high ledge, or a gated median strip between a freeway and a tunnel. They routinely defy trespass laws and development consent in their quest to beautify our cities.

The Guerrillas have just 12 hours to transform the ugliest urban eye-sores into an oasis of greenery. And when the sun comes up and workers start to creep back into the city, they sit back and watch the reaction - job done. Our Guerrillas then blend into the morning crowd and head off to their mild-mannered day jobs.

Some of their best work is also done in broad daylight. Wearing hard hats and safety vests as a disguise, they perform their unique ‘raids’ right under the nose of police, council workers and government rangers.

Against the clock.Against the law?Guerrilla Gardeners – bringing your city back to life.

Doesn't it sound great!