Starting garden preparations in February and what better day to kick off than Imbolc under the watchful eye of Brigid bringing the sun back heating up the soil once again.Provisions were low, wood was needed to construct a fence to keep the dog off the beds. I wasn’t liking piss and shite all over me veggies. I don’t like paying for things off multinational companies so I much prefer the auld DIY and five finger discount route.Pallets were acquired in the local industrial estate. Factories and warehouse’s often dispose of them dumping on the road. Pain staking taking multiple pallets apart I used the planks to create a fence around a section of my back garden.Next plan of action, to find plastic sheets for the green house. The seasons previously I used rolls of sheet plastic wrapped around a wooden frame of 2 × 1 and 2 x 3 wooden planks expropriated from a building site under the cover of night. The sheet plastic ripped very easily in heavyish wind. I had a pain in my hole constantly having to repeatedly make repairs so it was time for an upgrade. I scanned through multiple skips I came across on my travels finding enough solid plastic sheets to cover the greenhouse frame.

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I created a bug hotel from the left over pallets and stuffed it with sticks, pine cones, rocks and stones for our wee bug companeros

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All was set for sowing the first seeds of the season on the 3rd of March with the aid of my partner in crime we sowed early and main crop seed potatoes in the beds and sowed a bunch of seeds in trays for the windowsill and greenhouse to germinate.

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In a super market in a yuppie area, I spot seeds for sale. I can’t help but going over for a gander at what’s in. Jaysus fucksake €5 a packet of seeds! Sure that’s extortion. With a quick slip of the hand i shove a few packs in my pocket before making good my escape

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Me and my love went hiking in the mountains, taking cuttings from Hazel and Alder trees planting in pots to grow leaving the green house to germinate.Later we clear an area in the back garden to prepare to create a mini herbal garden.

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Apple seeds I gathered and sowed in pots in Autumn start to sprout in late March.

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As the seasonal wheel shifts to Bealtain the sun gets brighter seeds germinating, potatoes bursting through the soil, onions sprouting, the buds on the cuttings opening into tiny leaves. My mind returns to the vacant house on a nice piece of land situated between new apartment blocks I had my eye on over a year ago for a potential guerrilla garden. The new growth inspiring me to push on and start it.Upon entering the vacant lot of land I noticed some changes on the grounds. A a garage attached to the borderd up cottage has been reduced to asses and charcoal. I take a look around the back of the house scanning the ground watching for where the sun hits and where the shade is, to make a plan in my head. I notice a board has been removed from the cottage and there’s a bed sheet hanging on the window frame. Taking a peek in, the ceiling of the cottage had previously collapsed and looks unliveable. I climb in to take a closer look.

There’s another bed sheet covering a door, I take a peek in, it’s total darkness but I can sense this room isn’t as bad as the first. Turning the torch on on my phone I can see mattresses in the room, crack pipes on the floor, on one of the mattresses there’s blankets with what looks like the shape of a person underneath. I quietly depart not wanting to disturb the person.

Leaving the grounds iv decided not to try anything there not wanting to bring attention to the place and the people living there.Luckily I had a plan B in mind. I went over to place I first came across ten years before, all was not lost the place was still empty but nore overgrown and lots of fly tipping littering the place. Having a quick gander inside I found an area that looked perfect. While rummaging around in the grounds I got a sudden surprise walking up on two foxes laying in the sun looking at me. They were just as shocked.

One of the pair quickly disappeared into the overgrowing bushes while the other sat and stared at me while I started back. After about three or so minutes the fox stood up and disappeared into the growth. I went to where they were sitting, seeing all their little pathways into the bushes and through the surrounding long grass. Following one of the trails I enter a cave like opening under the thick bushes and see there are at least three burrows that look to be in use. It was a real honour to witness these wild creatures and their little slice of heaven among the buildings and air pollution of the urban jungle.

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I return a few days later to start taking up the grass to make beds. And pay a visit to another multinational store chain and expropriate a few more packs of seeds. I opt for broccoli, kale, cabbage, and beans.

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More Bealtaine preparations.I sow a bunch of seeds in cardboard pots and empty toilet roll tubes. When these germinate I shall use them in the guerrilla garden.

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A side note: Who needs treacherous elected representatives, manipulative organizations, bureaucratic unions, or revolutionary cosplayers? Fuck those cunts, when all’s ya really need is a loving hand, a handful of seeds and some dirt. Create the real black gold; compost. The way the world is turning a stockpile of compost will be worth much more than actual gold bars. Learning the basic gardening fundamentals and propagating seeds and cuttings is propagating your own autonomy and so growing your liberation.Let’s build food forests on the ruins of this shit show