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The Bed-Stuy Meadow Project

Wouldn’t this abandoned lot look nicer if it were filled with wildflowers?

There is an exciting Bed-Stuy beautification project getting underway called the Bed-Stuy Meadow. The brainchild of Deborah Fisher of the environmental activist blog, 21st Century Plowshare, this large-scale guerrilla gardening action has the goal of planting wildflowers in every single abandoned space in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Since wildflowers grow well with little maintenance, this action can easily create beautiful, colorful streets in Bed-Stuy.

Deborah describes the project like this:

What I want to do is get every single unloved treepit and vacant lot and little patch of soil planted with native, non-invasive wildflower seed. Every single street. If the seeds grow the way I think they will, the result is going to be brilliant: colorful flowers on every single street, filling vacant lots, creating a visual unity that should play very nicely against all the available contrasts: urban nasty, tended front yards and planters, the colorful buildings, tree-lined streets, etc. etc. etc. In addition to just being beautiful, I think it will work as a visual framing device that will make everything else in the neighborhood more remarkable by creating contrasts.

So how does this get done? You simply chuck “seed bombs” into abandoned building sites and chained vacant lots, and voila! Instant meadow! If you’ve never done seed-bombing, then you’re in for a treat because it’s really fun. It’s especially rewarding when you return to the site and see that wildflowers have started to grow.

How can you get involved? Visit 21st Century Plowshare and get on the volunteer list. All volunteers will be given seed bombs and will spend an afternoon scattering wildflower seeds. You can also make a monetary donation when you visit the website. If you donate $10 or more then you will get your own mini-meadow–seed bombs to plant in your own yard. Businesses are also encouraged to get involved by becoming sponsors for the program.

One of the great things about this Bed-Stuy Meadow project is that while it is focused on beautification, it doesn’t create a divide between us and them. “Us” being the people who care about the neighborhood and “them” being those who live here and don’t give a damn. Given the myriad of tensions that already exist in gentrifying areas, it’s important that any actions (beautification, anti-trash, whatever) don’t unintentionally create an us versus them dynamic. As Deborah put it, that’s good for environmentalism and good for the neighborhood.

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