Garden
Weed History
When AtivismoABC felt the necessity of having a space for experimentation in a more libertarian lifestyle, it thought the house with a yard and a garden would be the way to go through. There were already worries and struggles on ecology, autonomous production and mutual help issues. The house that would be Casa da Lagartixa Preta “Malagueña Salerosa” was chosen for the following reason: a place for planting in the urban area.
When the collective rented the house, the amount of trash in the yard was very big. Tons of concrete, bricks, stones and other useless objects were put out. A diversity of weeds was found too because one of the previous owners cultivated medicinal herbs in that place.
For a long time the collective alternated two attitudes towards the house’s green area. Sometimes all the land was cleaned to let the soil exposed, some seeds and tree seedlings were planted; sometimes the grass grew freely and it was judged that it would be a more ecological way of cultivation.
From the relationship with Erva Daninha collective on, AtivismoABC began to have more knowledge on spontaneous plants that grow in the city, in the neighborhood and in its land. This way, the attitude changed a little and the weeds began to be treated with more respect. Many of them can be used as food (serralha, major-gomes, caruru, orapronobilis etc.), others have medicinal use (confrei, tansagem, erva-de-santa-maria, quebra-pedra etc.).
By lacking better knowledge on agriculture, some members of the collective sought for learning about that by doing permaculture courses, living with people from the countryside, getting old knowledge back (from childhood time, parents and grandparents, etc) and also through books.
From then on, the collective received several groups of people to work on the land and encounters to exchange knowledge through free practical activities. This way, little by little, the garden and also partially the surroundings on the street and in the neighborhood was getting its current look.
The collective recognized and collected some spontaneous plants around the neighborhood and began to plant some tree seedlings in the sidewalks. At that moment, as a big real estate enterprise in the neighborhood felt pressured by those activities, they began an afforestation campaign with the city hall and ended up putting out and caging some of the seedlings that were planted.
Agroecologic Politics
The collective sees the relationship with agroecology as fundamentally political. That involves the thought of a development production logic that splits countryside and city in two and treats the land just as a natural resource and a production mean. The modernity has been some history of transformation of the agriculture into the capitalist industry that culminated in the called “green revolution”. That way, the ecological knowledge, the life diversity and other ways of land appropriation (traditional, family, reciprocity systems and partnership ones) were marginalized into the monoculture, the transgenic cultivation and, in general, the accumulator and market profit.
By seeking partnerships and forms of non-market exchange, AtivismoABC got in contact with other collectives and people that had to do with agroecology, permaculture, settlements, and rural and urban occupations. The collective keeps a good relationship with individuals from Frente Anarquia, Natureza da Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro (FARJ), Quintal Orgânico from São Caetano do Sul, and Lifecycle Project.
The collective believes that the alternatives that have already been put in practice, such as seeds banks, native seeds (the ones that haven’t been industrialized and in standardization processes, keeping its genetic diversity through handling and traditional distribution), peasant communities, communitarian organic garden, usage of green areas in the cities and experiences that connect the agriculture with other life elements (therapy, socialization, gender issues, etc) are examples of effective libertarian and transformation struggle.
Group of study and practice of Agroecology
We plan and manage the garden and the seeds bank, we have some experiments on alive pharmacy and fitotherapy. We also donate and accept donations of seedlings and seeds.
We are open to new participants and activities.
Welcome!