If seed bombs are a protest against conformity, neatness and suburban monoculture, I wonder about the backlash if communities were to really roll up our collective sleeves and start transforming front lawns into wild squares of unexpected flora, or productive vegetable patches. We've been thinking of doing the latter, and in the meantime the weeds are getting out of control. I have experienced summers of neighbourhood discontent before, when weed seeds started to scatter in the wind, and the pressure to get out the lawn mower is intense. Yet something inside me says, "let's see what happens."
Guerilla gardening for a healthier and more beautiful environment is one thing, but what happens when the tables are turned and people start spreading genetically modified seeds where farmers are trying to stay GM-free? A Welsh agricultural saboteur has done just that. Will we have protest gardens in future that will compete against healthy green urban spaces? As I plant my organic seeds, will my neighbour start spraying pesticides around the neighbourhood, out of spite?
I really do wonder. Right now, we have neighbours with dogs that bark at all hours of the night. When one starts, it sets off others until there is a cacaphony of canine howling, seemingly for miles around. And just as they start to settle down, one of them blurts out a final bark and sets the whole lot off again. I have nothing against dogs, but I do have something against people who think that keeping other people awake at night is alright. We can't argue against this. We have had conversations with the neighbours about it, but there isn't a set of common community values that allows them to say "oh, I see what you mean," or us to accept sleepless nights in the name of fighting crime. They think they are doing us a favour by keeping burglars away, and they may even think that we are the ones who aren't doing our bit to protect the neighbourhood.
It's this lack of shared values that makes me think it's quite possible to have garden wars in the not-too-distant future. "You wanna grow lettuce? Heh, let's see how you like these snails." Maybe that's what I've already unleashed with my special patch of weeds. Watch this block.
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