Guerilla Gardening

Students became interested in the concept of guerrilla gardening after doing a different unit involving guerrilla style sticker campaigning around issues that they cared about. Something about doing something that you’re technically not really supposed to do speaks to a certain part of the teenage soul. 10th grade students worked with Anna Herman and the AFNR seniors to learn how to make pollinator seed balls. The older students and Anna provided the materials and demonstrated and coached students through the process. Each student made at least one seed ball. The seed balls then dried out a little, and then each student was given their seed ball back in a ziplock bag. Students planted the seed balls in places around their own neighborhoods where they saw a need for more greenery. The only requirement was that the seeds needed to be planted somewhere where the flowers could be enjoyed by the public. No seeds were allowed to be planted in backyards or personal gardens. Most students planted theirs in empty dirt squares on sidewalks. There are many empty dirt squares where trees used to be but then died. The dirt squares just sit there and fill up with trash and dog poop. Most of the kids thought these were the best areas. Most students simply took photos of their planted seed balls, but some of them took videos, and the videos are both hilarious and sad and wonderful and stark and all of the things that teenagers planting pollinator seed balls in their neighborhoods in Philly would be. I will attach some of my favorite videos here.

Comments (1)

  1. vdonnay

    Reply

    I loved learning about guerrilla gardening and seeing your subversent students at work 🙂

Leave a Reply to vdonnay Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *