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It feels like I have a new favorite guerilla-planting every week, and this week, it’s this amazing stenciled utility sink planter on the corner of SE 25th and Ivon in Portland. File under f’n awesome.

This one gets major points for the following reasons:

• Displays polycultural planting in a small space, with tomato, beans, lettuce, basil. (That said, it’s probably planted a little too densely, with one tomato and one bean plant too many.)
• Upcycles an old utiliy sink.
• Water that drains out of the sink flows into another planter below the sink planted with lettuces, which thrive in the shady microclimate underneath.
• Great signage (“Respect Our Local Food” & “Niche Repurposing Public Space”)
• Beautiful stenciling.
• Placement directly on the corner demands attention, but it’s still out of the way enough for pedestrians to navigate around.

Yesterday I was on a walk with my son and stumbled upon this sign (pictured right) on a lawn near our house.

The part of me that was raised in the suburbs, loathing every broadleaved ‘weed’ that popped up in my family’s manicured lawn, chuckled at what I thought was someone’s sense of humor: Who the hell wants free dandelions?!

But my flashback quickly wore off and as I returned to my senses, it occured to me: I was looking at a free salad bar, and whether the intent was sarcasm or not, someone had put a sign up so that I wouldn’t overlook it!

Try This:

It’s not only important for folks to remember where food comes from (soil/plants/animals, not grocery store shelves), but also that it is growing all around us, all the time.  So why not contribute a little informal signage to remind folks of this, and introduce them to the often unnoticed edibles that show up just about everywhere…

(If you’re here in Portland and haven’t seen Urban Edibles, check it out!)