I have been discovering and creating an alternative.
Guerilla Gardening is an actual thing, and not exactly what Ive been doing... but it surely sounds appealing so I chose to borrow the term for my title. It truth guerilla gardening is the art of growing a community food or beautification garden on abandoned inner city lots... reclaiming, and re-purposing if you will. http://www.guerrillagardening.org/
This post is not about that. It is about witchcraft.... ninja stealth witchcraft.
Frankly, when I visualize an ancient herbalist, I see multiple canvas and leather pouches slung on belts and over shoulders. I see a stroll through meadows, glades, and groves to familiar haunts. I see a pause, a stoop, a prayer and a pluck, as well as a tending, maybe by watering, pruning, training or protecting for each needed plant as it sits in its real environment, surrounded by its duller competitors.
This is exactly what Ive been doing.... without owning the land
My technique is to find, with relaxed wandering (and marking on my hand drawn map (and by gps
)) all over my city. I am noting and revisiting all sorts of plants, as well as soil types, stone sites, hives, nests, dens, rubs, etc, that exist on public or non-residential private land, and ... well... garden them. I do avoid trespassing on ALL residential and all developed commercial land, and have had exactly ZERO trouble from fellow citizens or authorities to date.I am blessed to live in a neighborhood that has a public alley that separates every house from its back fence neighbor. These alleys run parallel to the long streets and, though intended to be passed through by vehicle, they are generally untended grass and overgrown to the point of near wilderness. They have also been over taken by the various back yard plantings that have escaped the confines of the fenced areas, and spared a reprieve from the dreaded lawn mower and weed killer. While these literal MILES of free gardening spots provide most of my needs, I have also found much luck along the edges and tree lines of many public parks. There is even opportunity at the back sides of commercial parking lots, where there hasn't been any business yet to replace the native wilderness there.
Yes... this method has its risks, such as showing up to find a bulldozer has visited, or a home owner has finally mowed outside the fence. So duplicate plantings are recommended, but duplicate planting is just good conservation anyway. Plus, there is a certain thrill to the adventures and the searching, and the not knowing, and the relief at seeing old plants that have survived and even improved by my tending at my last visit. And there is also the added benefit of being outside with the God and the Goddess in dozens of 'my gardens' from river bottoms to hill tops, as opposed to rushing out the kitchen door to tend to 'garden chores' between other chores.
Frankly, this is what grounds and feeds me most on my path. This one thing. If I owned the land necessary to hold my gardens, I dont think I would be spiritually expanding at nearly the rate that Ive enjoyed so far.... its the strolls, and the purposeful explorations that feed me. So, if herbalism calls you, but land ownership eludes you.... try Guerilla Gathering to start, and keep a map. I'll wager, that soon you'll find yourself planting and praying along the way to becoming a Guerilla Gardner... pagan style.
Just food for thought.
Merry met.
Pallando the Blue
