I just saw the coolest thing on PBS yesterday–guerrilla gardening. Guerrilla gardening is a late-night clandestine activity, where total strangers get together to beautify their city…by planting gardens! That’s right, from Los Angeles to San Francisco to Sydney to London, people that know each other only by pseudonym, getting together to illegally plant cacti, agave and vegetables in vacant lots and spaces throughout the city. Wow! I’m blown away.

This is a health blog. So what the heck does guerrilla gardening have to do with health? Everything. Guerrilla gardening is health. And community. And eco-consciousness. And planetary health. It’s exactly what’s right with people, when often there seems to be so little to encourage us about human behavior. I LOVE THIS PRACTICE!!!

The reason guerrilla gardening is against the law is because the lots are city property or privately owned. Check out this article on guerrilla gardening from the L.A. Times. They discuss how one PO’d land owner rototilled an entire farm of garlic, potatoes, radishes, carrots, lettuce, onions and more, that had been growing for over one year on his vacant lot. Some property owners don’t take kindly to others gardening on their land, and they have the law on their side; so guerrilla gardeners do most of their work at night.

Ever notice the plant life on a freeway on-ramp or off-ramp? Where do you think it comes from? I always thought it was a gift from the city. Haw, haw, haw–fat chance. Fortunately, in cities where guerrilla gardening is taking place, the cops have better things to do then bust up a crew just taking pride in where they live.

Once again let me say that guerrilla gardening is health. It’s the type of consciousness that really makes a difference on this planet. We hear so much about eco-minded groups and people, but I must say, rarely, do I get inspired by any of the groups we hear about regularly on the news. Guerrilla gardeners are today’s true green movement. If you love to garden and you’ve got some time and energy to give, I can’t think of anything more worthwhile then Guerrilla Gardening (check out their website here, and here to get involved). And some guerrilla gardening videos here.