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Wild Resistance's Guide to Gardening Gardening is not the answer. It is a short term solution to our growing crises, as well as a taste of self-reliance. Gardening (horticulture) contains many elements of domestication: land is claimed, cleared, and replanted (often times with non-native species) in a utilitarian fashion. Certain plants are selected, certain plants are controlled, etc. Soil composition is changed, possibly even leached of all its life bearing qualities. A certain relationship develops between humans, and between humans and nature. One of control. However, horticulture is much different than agriculture. Horticulture is small scale, non-intense cultivation of land which can be worked communally, with little to no division of labor. Agriculture is an intensive, unsustainable form of mass cultivation which culminates with the production of a surplus. Many inherent problems agriculture arise from this production of surplus: specialization, unequal redistribution, war, etc. Horticulture is a method of food procurement which sustains only a family or group of people. A surplus is usually not created. Horticulture does not necessarily lead to agriculture and all its connected problems. There are many ways in which it can exist as a sustainable method of food procurement (permaculture, for instance), and it can serve as a bridge from civilization to a new post-civilized world. Where gardening establishes a somewhat mitigated and somewhat authoritarian relationship with the Earth, foraging allows a direct, unmediated, and reciprocal connection. It provides easier access to food, more nutrients, and a more stable food supply. However, 10,000 years of civilization has created an ecologically unstable planet and societies that have lost such a pervasive and important skill. Relearning it as a skill and as a lifeway that leads to others is an important step in the rewilding process. Remember that foraging does not have to be separate from gardening. In fact, it should be practiced and perfected in addition to gardening. If we're worrying about human impact on the Earth, we must recognize that even as foragers in the past, we have had an impact, whether that was cutting down trees to make homes or manipulating forests to provide more food. Having said this, gardening is a form of resistance because it puts the basic means of survival in the control of one's own hands, not the hands of the State and the market. It is a way of self-empowerment and one more way not to buy in to capitalism and civilization. For whatever reason, it is very satisfying to eat food that you were able to watch grow from seed to fruit, and which is a product of your own care.
please bear with us, as we write about gardening, we too are still learning about gardening. the following are just some tips, tricks, and resources that have helped us in gardening most info coming soon...for now, please enjoy To find out what, when, and how to grow things in your area, do a search for your local extension office. What
you need to garden: How To Start Seeds 1.
Make sure it is time to grow what you want and that you should
start it indoors A Recycled Garden Things you can reuse for the garden. Be creative. Email us more! Egg
Cartons - outdoor seed starters (add drain holes) What Can I Compost? One
can compost almost any organic, non-animal derived, matter such
as: Its a good idea to have a balance of green (refuse) and brown (leaves, dry grass)...and its good to layer it too. Once a month the compost pile should be turned. A Dumpster Garden Dumpster diving provides the best compost. We always get lots of good, and lots of bad food. The good food we keep, the bad food gets tossed outback and nature does the rest. Also, you can find many dumpstered items that are useful for a garden such as buckets, wood, and even plants. You can get lots of seeds from the vegetables and fruit you dumpster too. In some places, you can grown an entire garden out of liberated veggies! |
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