Green Thumb Society (the story)

Detailed Functions:
Lance and I have decided to cover the following functions:
Finding a Space, Bug Testing, Surplus and Soil Testing

FINDING A SPACE (guerilla spot)
Lydia needs to find a space. She’s itching to get her guerilla gardening on. She begins in URBAN SPACES...and searches for the latest “guerilla” uploads.

[scene switch] (motion blur of something here)...Amanda just drove by 4th and Walnut on her way to the coffee shop. She’s new to the whole gardening scene, but knows a hot spot when she sees it. She takes a quick shot and uploads it to URBAN SPACES. “This location has been uploaded by Amanda” and tagged empty, hot, guerilla (or something.) (This begins to show the range of people who will contribute to the site.)

[scene switch] Lydia searches for the latest “guerilla” uploads...the corner of 4th and Walnut? Looks great, thanks Amanda. (Lydia’s status changes.)

“Lydia is IN the garden. “

[scene switch] Dustin is sitting at home (indexical image: picture of a couch or something) and bored to tears. He notices Lydia’s status. Dustin is primarily an amateur community gardener and longs to bring more guerilla gardening spontaneity into his life. Also he’s pretty shy so this gives him a great opportunity to meet a new gardening friend. The Join button blinks (as if he clicked it.) connection animation here (symbolic or indexical like plant growth.)

BUG TESTING (stinky bug)
The following week, while Lydia and Dustin (of the newly established 4th and Walnut gardening group) are weeding the squash and tulips, they happen upon a bug. [it’s really a stink bug] Lydia screams, but Dustin tries to keep it cool. It’s a beetle bug, he thinks, totally harmless...but Lydia is not so sure. She snaps a picture with her iphone and uploads it to GARDEN RX.

[scene switch] Miles, a former science teacher turned community gardener has decided his purpose in life is to answer all the gardening questions he can handle. The GARDEN RX section brings Miles daily fulfillment...he comments: ”Yike’s Lydia! That’s a stink bug. Get it out asap, or your garden will be toast. Here’s the solution...” (don’t read this but it’s the link he sends her to his blog.) ....not only do they emit an unpleasant odor as a signal and invitation to other stink bugs, they wreak havoc on plants. solution kaolin clay, weed the area or introduce some predators of the stink bug like garden spiders and the praying mantis.

time lapse

SURPLUS (squash everywhere)
Great. The stink bug is gone. The squash have been growing like crazy. The sun is shining and it’s the best day ever. I think rainbow is about to form. (colorful lens flare flash across screen)

Lydia invites the community to a potluck/squashluck this Friday (in community events) “Bring something yummy or else” she comments. (close up shot on“15 digs” and lots of comments)—this is going to be fun.

[scene switch] Miles is dying to meet up, but embarrassed to admit he can’t cook. His community garden is thriving with an outrageous amount of squash as well. He jumps on the SURPLUS section and looks up a simple recipe for butter nut squash soup, uploaded by his new friend Lydia.

Everyone loved it. Miles blushes.

Amanda shows up just in time for dessert. She tempts everyone with a lovely mulberry pie made with foraged berries from that lush tree at 55th and Main. (maybe zooms to a close up of map or the berries with sparkling light.) Lydia brings out the cool whip and they begin to slice. Miles nervously reaches for his iphone. oh no just as he suspected.

SOIL TESTING (saves lives)
55th and Main?...“DON’T eat that pie!!!” blurted miles. “Amanda, did you happen to check the site before foraging those berries? I just tested that soil the other week. (flashback images showing the soil being tested with idirt or isoil or whatever we are calling that thing.) The soil is...er uh...well...TOXIC. It contained a high percentage of petroleum run off from Main street. It sure looks pretty, but I wouldn't eat it if I were you.”

And so, THE GREEN THUMB SOCIETY not only brings gardeners together, it also saves lives.

site map

lance and tammy's green thumb society site map

in the works...

poster overhaul

On a sunny Tuesday morning last week, I spent a little time with Miles (who is actually a man named Marty Kraft.) We both sat on a bench in the community garden he began at a school for troubled youth, located on Troost.

Marty's passion for gardening is unquenchable and contagious. The following is the response I received to a loaded question concerning his primary reason for pursuing this activity:

“The interaction that takes place between humans and nature when walking into a beautiful place—it’s almost like you are walking into a conversation with all that life. I think you become part of the conversation.”

All of the sudden, I am longing to engage in this gorgeous conversation.

urban gardening ideation

can you dig it?

Garrett Fuselier appeared for our very first community poster crit and left us (Lance and me) with quite a bit to consider. The ever smiling and energetic Garrett overflowed with passion for a specific line within the individual poster under the topic of those who BELONG:

The [urban gardening] individual will be identified by the remnants of dirt on his or her knees and hands.

This line especially incapsulates the gardening personas Lance and I have been exposed to. For instance, Lydia (the amateur gardener identified within the poster) works in the garden almost every day. I happen to live with this gardening individual and am inspired by how at ease she is with dirt lingering on her hands, knees and bare feet. (There is something endearing about it all.)

Our front yard has been converted to a garden of various herbs, flowers and vegetables. The empty lot a few houses away gave her a fine opportunity to initiate a guerilla garden of watermelons, squash, various lettuce plants and other lovely vegetables. For Lydia, gardening is not an activity, but a lifestyle.

The vector text of the original poster for urban gardening (above) seemed especially lackluster. And a more texture-centered approach seems to better encapsulate the hands on approach of the activity...not to mention, the love.

beyond backyard gardening

The focus of this model is relationships
As the individual along with his or her history and life goals interact and intertwine with the structure and agency within the site, relationships emerge. The newly blossomed relationships potentially result in a more powerful impact on society, especially with community gardening as the focus.

The ability to control or make decisions within the community will be guided organically by the participants. Those who are active and post or upload often will naturally and likely carry the most influence within the community.

All are necessary contributors. Some participants may be more focused on gardening as a hobby while others consider gardening a profession. Some are proponents to voluteering within the community, others are just longing to learn. All are grounded by a common interest in gardening.