Spring is Happening... Apparently

Let's get out there and guerilla!

It's spring. 
I mean, it's summer. 

I mean, I have no idea what season it is out there.

But this Saturday, April 13, we'll be celebrating the sun, guerilla-style. Let's put some pretty in the city by weeding, sowing, and transplanting on a little spot of abandoned land.

Where: The corner of 14th and D Streets NE
When: Saturday, April 13, 9:00AM-11:00AM

What to bring: Gardening gloves; a few vegetable seedlings or flower starts; water for drinking; and friends.

Leave a comment if you have any questions. 
Hope to see you there!  

Written by Jenelle Eli

Doing: Seed Swappin'!

SUBTITLE: Also DOING? Kick Startin' the Season! Woo!

Hey there, guerillas! Remember me? Your illustrious-but-somewhat-discombobulated guerilla gardening maven? Tis' been awhile, my friends, tis' been a while *shaking head sadly* But lo! SPRING has landed on our fair city, which means that the daffodils and tulips have risen Nosferatu-like from the ground, and I along with them. It's time to stretch our pale, pale limbs and get back to the gettin' back. Behold! We are back in business, yo.

To start off the 2012 season, I hereby present to you an event near and dear to my heart, and not only because it's hosted by he-who-I-not-so-secretly love, but because it lets me pawn off my bonus seeds on unsuspecting gardeners. Ha HA! Ladies and gents, feast your eyes on the D.C. State Fair Seedling Swap! Get your tookuses and extraneous seeds over to the 14th and U Farmers Market on Saturday, May 5th, starting at 9am. Once there, chat with the other gardening folk, buy some farmers markety goods, and say hello to he-who-I-not-so-secretly-love, aka: The USDA's Most Wanted, aka: Guerilla #3.

In other news, let it be known that I and Guerilla #2 were not idle over the winter months. Sure sure, there was lots 'o sittin' around and playing Skyrim, but there was also THIS:

People, those right there are CROCHETED PLANTERS, oh yes indeedie. Remember October's Purl and Plant? Well, the crocheting magic didn't end after our day at Qualia, oh no it did not. The crocheting occurred throughout the winter months until my wee Baltimore apartment was full of misshapen pocket-like creations, just waiting to be planted in. P.S. That obscene one on the right? Wasn't meant to be obscene, but like all good things, it turned out obscene in the end. We welcome the obscenity and plan to grow a carrot in that mammajamma.

And BAM! Just like that we're back in in the game of greening the District, one yucky spot at a time, using one obscenely crocheted pocket-thing at a time. Get your spades and running shoes ready, mah friends, because the season has officially opened. Stay tuned for the first event of 2012, and plan to be at the Seed Swap on May 5th.

Later, gators!

Doing: Screening "A Community of Gardeners"

Attention guerillas! Mark your calendars for the free screening of a new documentary called A Community of Gardeners.

"An outdoor classroom, an oasis of peace in an inner-city neighborhood, a link to an immigrant's homeland: the roles of seven Washington, D.C. community gardens are as varied as the gardeners themselves. Meet them and visit their plots in a new documentary, A Community of Gardeners."

The screening will be held in celebration of Food Day, a national day created by the Center for Science in the Public Interest to promote healthy eating, access to fresh food, and sustainable food production.

A Community of Gardeners focuses on the people who grow fruits, vegetables and flowers at seven community gardens in Washington, D.C. and shows how these green spaces are changing their lives, their communities and their environment. You can see the trailer and learn more about the film at http://www.communityofgardeners.com.

The screening at Busboys & Poets will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Marsha Weiner of Food Muse Media with filmmaker Cintia Cabib, five D.C. community gardeners, and Alice Kamps, the curator of the National Archives exhibit, "What's Cooking, Uncle Sam?"

What: Screening of A Community of Gardeners
When:Monday, October 24th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Where:Busboys & Poets - 2021 14th Street NW, Washington D.C.

Doing: Pruning the Social Media Maze

Looking for something to jazz up your Tuesday night? Itching to blend your love of gardening with your love of Tweeting, but can't figure out how? Then I recommend attending Pruning the Social Media Maze for Gardeners and Garden Organizers being held this evening at the Walker Jones Education Campus Library. Kathy Jentz, editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Magazine, will tell you where gardeners are hanging out in the social media sphere and how best to reach them. The pros, cons, how's, and why's of Twitter, Facebook, blogging, e-newsletters, and, the newest to the party, Google+ will also be discussed.

WHAT: Pruning the Social Media Maze for Gardeners and Garden Organizers
WHO: Moderated by Kathy Jentz, editor/publisher of Washington Gardeners
WHERE: Walker Jones Education Campus Library at 1125 New Jersey
Avenue NW
WHEN: Tuesday, September 27th at 5:00pm
WHY: Because it's awesome.

Doing: Checkin' Out The Neighbors!

Interested in native plants? Want to help the environment and make your garden look great at the same time? YOU TOTALLY DO!

Join Mike Tidwell on Saturday, April 16th for a native plant tour and sale at his Takoma Park home. Learn how to ornament your home with easy-care natives that provide habitat and food for local critters and look great.

Native plant experts from Chesapeake Native Nurseries will be on hand to answer your questions, and many ornamental native plants will be for sale. You don't want to miss this!

Date: Saturday, April 16, 2011
Time: 9am - 1pm
Location: 7125 Willow Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912

For more information, email Beth Knox.

Doing: Saving the Azaleas!

Hello, you rascally guerillas!

I came across the following message in the DCUrbanGardeners Digest and, distraught, wanted to share it with you plant-lovers. It is about the death of azaleas...

Death? Of azaleas?! Now in the spirit of honesty and in the method of transparency (the buzzword du jour), I have been the killer of many an azalea, but never on purpose! And never at a national institution. One must draw the line somewhere.

So check this out and act accordingly, mon amies. SAVE THE AZALEAS! And also visit the koi pond because those koi are super frisky and fun to watch.

Should we, D.C.'s green-minded, fail to raise a million bucks and save the azaleas, do you think they'd give me a few of the bushes? My front yard is naked.

Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) recently announced a major fundraising campaign to save the Azalea and Boxwood Collections. Tens of thousands of Washingtonians flock to the U.S. National Arboretum each spring to witness one of Washington's premier springtime attractions: thousands of azaleas in a blaze of color during a six-week blooming period. However, the future of these collections is in jeopardy due to the loss of funds from a private trust. FONA's campaign seeks to raise $1 million from individuals, families and organizations who value and enjoy one of the area's most magnificent and culturally important natural displays. Supporters can make donations via FONA's website (www.fona.org), or by mailing a check to FONA (3501 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002-1958, payable to "FONA Save the Azaleas Fund"). Credit card donations can be called in to the FONA office at (202) 544-8733.

The Arboretum is free and open to the public. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Check the "Azalea Blossom Watch" on the Arboretum's home page (www.usna.usda.gov) for blooming dates and conditions. Peak azalea bloom can vary, but usually takes place around the end of April. The azaleas attract many visitors to the Arboretum, especially on weekends, so you may want to consider visiting during the week or early in the day.

Our Third Event, aka: HOTTER'N HADES

Well, we did it. We weeded Champorama and it looks tons better than it did. But people? PEOPLE. It was so hot that I swear to you, I almost keeled over and died. D-I-E-D, died. And though I am a bit of an embellisher, in this particular instance I AM NOT EMBELLISHING. Death was upon me.

Three intrepid guerillas showed up to the Sunday event, sunglasses on, sunscreen on, gardening gloves on, game faces on. These three intrepid guerillas began attacking the bindweed with enthusiasm. These three intrepid guerillas began turning the overgrown, forgotten Champorama garden into something of order and beauty.

And then one of the guerillas got sort of woozy and lost her intrepidness.

And then had to lay down in the shade.

And shortly thereafter announced that the "job was done!" and stumbled for the shelter of her air conditioned car.

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit, dear friends, that that guerilla was me, your fearless/ful leader.

I was less embarrassed by my near-brush-with-death/intense-need-to-get-into-some-air-conditioning-OMG, when I learned that we had been slaving away in the blistering heat for an hour and half. I had this nagging fear that we had been pulling weeds for a measly ten minutes before I called it quits, but an hour and a half? That's impressive, especially considering it was 4 billion degrees out.

So Champorama was a success! I don't have before and after pictures for you because the Sun ate our camera (and also we forgot to take pictures), so instead I present you with this fab-u-lous drawing I made all by myself with my beyond amazing Photoshop skills:

I want to extend a SUPER-DEE-DUPER thumbs up to the guerilla who championed the Champorama event, a girl whose name I will not give in case she fears John Q. Lawman, a girl who looks darn cute in a cowboy hat and can prune a rose bush like it's nobody's business, and the girl who gave me lemonade when I thought I was going toward the light. To you, girl-who-loves-cactus-and-cowboy-boots: YOU ARE AWESOME.

I also want to thank my Coppertone SPF 50 spray-on sunscreen, which somehow managed to keep my pale-pale-paleness from igniting.

Second-To-Lastly, I am sad to report that my urn at Meridian Hill has died a hideous death, due to heat and lack of water. I drove past the urn twice this weekend and both drive-bys showed me that only DEATH grew in that pot. Alas, we mourn your loss, sweet urn. May you find happiness in the Great Big Garden In The Sky.

And now For-Real-Lastly, what's up with the lack of interest in the Cultivate Your Cut-Out Contest? Is it because GuerillaGardening.org's name, Pimp Your Pavement, is cooler? I'll admit that they have the cooler name, but my gardening friends, do you not see the amazingness that is our contest? I mean, a $50 prize AND a ribbon?! And the ribbon says, "You kicked that cut-out's ass?" C'mon! The ribbon says "ass!" How can you not be enticed by such wonderful prizes as these? In all of DCGG contest history (of which there is none), this is our bestest contest ever. There should be scores of entrants, scores of cut-outs, scores of people declaring, "I WILL take back this wee piece of green space and I WILL turn it into something of beauty!" So get your butts in gear, folks, and take over a tree pit. Mama Earth will thank you.

Doing It - Meridian Hill Park, 05/30/2010

Hello there, guerillas! Lots has been happenin' in Guerilla Central, thus the silence here at the ol' DCGG website. But do not fear! For we are gearin' up for yet another group project and this one? This one's coming fast! Anyone up for some guerilla gardening on Sunday, June 13? That's little more than a week away! If you're in, let me know and we'll choose a location.

In other news, I got my gardening butt to Meridian Hill Park last weekend and took over one of the many empty urns scattered around the grounds. The particular urn I set my eyes on wasn't so much on the GROUND as it was UP ON A WALL AND REALLY HIGH, OMG. But don't you worry your pretty little heads, my guerillas. My balance is awful but I managed to stay on that wall for the entire 10 minutes it took to transform the urn.

Supplies - Licorice Vine (Helichrysum petiolatum), African Marigold "Sweet Cream" (Tagetes erecta), and some grassy thing that didn't have a name on it and looks like every picture of grass I can find on the Internet.

Before

After

Gandolf the Parrot

She's neither gorilla nor guerilla, but a great help if you need the wrapper taken off of your straw.I am not normally a fan of marigolds, but I have to admit that the ones used in the urn make me happy. And as an added bonus, those guys will self-seed so there should be marigolds in Meridian Hill for perpetuity!

Oh and P.S. Don't be fooled by the grass growing in the urn behind the one I planted. It looks semi-decent but that grass wasn't put there by anyone but Mother Nature. Oh, Mother Nature, the original guerilla gardener.

Doing It (With Others) - 6th Annual National Arab American Service Day

Hey guerillas!

Lookin' to get in on some more urban gardening fun? Lurking on dark street corners with seeds in hand ain't enough for you? Well, have no fear! The 6th Annual National Arab American Service Day is here to satisfy your gardening thirst, aka your thirst to garden.

This Saturday, May 15, 2010, the Arab American Institute Foundation is taking over some dilapidated tree boxes on the corner of 9th and N Street NW and you're invited! Anyone with a: love of gardening; and/or desire to beautify our city; and/or need for a free t-shirt can participate.

Yep! I said FREE T-SHIRT!

Meet up at Old City Green at 9am on Saturday with your rakes, shovels, garden gloves, and zest for dirt! And then get on with the helpin', my guerilla-y friends. Get on.

For more information on this fabulous event, check out the Arab American Institute's website. You can also contact Paul Brown, who is super nice and invited us to participate.

Doing It (Together) - New Jersey and K Street SE

DCGG Mission #2: COMPLETE. Outcome? Fan-freakin'-tastic!

Sunday turned out to be another chilly day for the D.C. Guerilla Gardeners, but ain't no wind and chill gonna keep us down! Oh no. We arrived amped and ready to roll, excited that another tidbit in our bit of the world was transitioning from drab to fab.

And oh, how drab it was. But oh, how fab it became!

The spot backs up to an abandoned lot, having once belonged to a mechanic's shop. What this meant for us guerillas was lots of buried treasure in the form of bolts, spark plugs, metal bits and doodads, the occasional chicken bone, and yards of decaying fabric.

The good news about all of that "buried treasure" was that we uncovered enough bricks to build our garden its own partition. Take THAT, you dumpin' mechanics! We turned trash into treasure. BOO-YA!

And if all of the debris wasn't enough to make the site memorable, then the rock-hard dirt was. That solid-as-a-rock site was all Ashford and Simpson (the thrill is still hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot) though we were able to bust it up with our tenacious tenacity and some serious elbow grease.

When all was said and done, the D.C. Guerilla Gardeners tilled the soil, removed the debris, mixed in some compost, planted some plants, mulched, watered, and rejoiced that another forgotten spot had gotten some much-needed love.Enjoy, residents and workers around K Street and New Jersey SE. The DCGG was looking out for your part of the District. Now it's up to you to keep it beautiful. Those plants will take root if you take an interest, so go ahead and play in the dirt. I promise you that it will be worth it.

Thanks to the dedicated guerillas who braved the wind, to the new friends who stopped by to say hello (Hey, Hannah! How was church?), and to the people we have yet to meet in the course of our mission.

Stick around for our next group event, coming soon to a spot near you!

Have a suggestion for a spot that needs some attention? Email the D.C. Guerilla Gardeners.

4th Annual International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day

This Saturday is the 4th Annual International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day! So grab yourself some sunflower seeds and get plantin'.

Details

• Date: Saturday, May 1, 2010
• Time: 10am to 10pm
• Location: ALL OVER THE WORLD! Give us your poor-quality, tired-out, empty masses of ground longing to be green!

Tips

• Look for public spots that are looked after, but not carefully maintained. You want your sunflowers to grow without the threat of getting pulled up.
• Dig a small hole using your finger, a pencil, a trowel, etc. The hole should be about an inch deep.
• Drop in your sunflower seed, and cover the hole with dirt.
• Watch in eager anticipation as your sunflowers sprout and grow!

These fan-freakin'-tastic flowers will attract butterflies and bees, and are certain to bring a smile to everyone who comes into contact with them.

If you want an accomplice, er... partner in crime, uh... I mean friend for your clandestine sunflower planting, let D.C. Guerilla Gardeners know. We're great at accomplicing.

Doing (It Yourself): Upside Down Planters

Kate Pruitt of Design*Sponge posted a lovely DIY upside-down planter* project that makes this guerilla's fingers twitchy to get crafting.

For the step-by-step instructions, check out Kate's post.

*What's the fascination with growing things upside-down? I admit to being mildly intrigued by the whole thing, but I don't quite get it. Can someone explain this anti-up phenomenon?