Monday, November 8, 2010
Community Blight Bomb
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 9:00 AM
On Saturday, Memphis was bombed.
Around noon, about 50 people gathered in the Washington Bottoms area to help artist Tommy Wilson do some guerrilla gardening.
Wilson, who we interviewed as part of last week's cover story on blight, filled balloons with a mixture of paint, wildflower seeds, and compost, and, with the assembled crowd’s help, both threw and launched the bombs into a vacant lot near Washington and Watkins.
After letting the crowd throw the balloons, Wilson set up the rocket launcher.
With the cold temperatures the night before, the cannon had cracked, and Wilson fixed it with duct tape. But he warned that, even with the repair, the bombs probably wouldn’t go as far as expected.
Wilson also warned the crowd that the rocket launcher might sound like an elephant screaming.
When it launched for the first time, it didn’t sound so much like an elephant screaming, but more like an elephant trumpeting in surprise, as if it had its toe stepped on … which prompted a surprised laugh from the crowd.
And did I mention there were snacks?
Comments (18)
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If the ground is hard packed, he's probably wasting his time. It would need to be at least lightly tilled so there's some kind of decent seed bed for germination.
Well, that isn't really the point, is it Packrat? If you really wanted something to grow, you'd seed bomb the lot in the spring, not November. The birds are going to eat most of it, and should anything actually grow, someone will just come along and bushog it eventually.
This is about art. And cool hats.
Both of these points have been thrown around since the project started.
1) It was impossible to get the land tilled. However, with all the plant matter on the ground already it is likely that a small amount of fertile rot had developed on top of the soil, providing a place for the seeds to start. Remember, this plot has been laying fallow for about 5 yrs.
2) Most of the seeds I launched (Yes.. my project) were tiny wildflower seeds which would not be of interest to the birds. There were some larger seeds such as Sorghum and some black oil sunflower which were intended to distract the birds from the wildflower seeds.
Also, these are TN Native seeds, if someone does bushhog it, at least some of them will survive. We threw out about 100,000 seeds on Saturday. If 1% germinates and grows.. that is 1,000 flowering plants.
And, thanks for the cool hat comment. I have a ton of these, and just had to wait for the Memphis weather to get cold enough to wear them!
It isnt just about the art, its about getting the community involved. He presented his idea at several community improvement forums and won money to fund the project. Even if the seeds do not take, at least people are learning that there is something "fun" they can do to improve blight around them.
someone cares and is trying to do something positive! that is what really matters. if this happened all over the city and more people cared, Memphis would be a different place!
What about people with allergies? Will launching seeds into the air have any effect on those people? Do you use one of those seed mixes that contain peanut hulls and can trigger a reaction to those with peanut allergies by launching it into the air?
@Kerry: I believe this project was funded through a grant by MemFeast, but Wilson is looking for additional funding to continue it in other parts of the city (also, to fix the rocket launcher). But Wilson could probably comment about that more.
E-Diddy: and, what if some of those seeds may have floated high enough to interfere with the ozone layer? This project was a total win-win for Memphis and for the people who enjoyed the experience, even if only two plants of any kind germinate. Tommy should have called the Guinness Book; I'm going to guess there wasn't another seed-bombing anywhere else on the face of the earth last Saturday. And, I agree that the fedora was pitch-perfect, but when is a fedora not.
The cannon is fixed.. thanks to the people at the event Saturday. The shells are in balloons, which are completely biodegradable. I am not using the peanut dust laden mixes. The seeds come from nurseries directly and are single breeds.
I am looking for sponsors beyond the five sites the grant money, just FYI.
Awesome! Love the project. Next time you might want to consider using seed bombs made of dirt, compost and seed so you don't have the extra waste of the balloon on the ground.
The balloons are biodegradable, made of 100% natural latex. I did test the clay and dirt bombs, they broke apart on launch.
May I recommend adding a certain medicinal hardy green leafy plant that is particularly in tune with Memphis's musical roots?
Doesn't anybody find "bomb" a bit problematic in the context of blighted areas? Why not just "Bloom the Blight"?
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