Davenport, Iowa -
Olenka Gadzik doesn't look threatening or like any kind of saboteur, but some say she's engaging in guerrilla tactics...guerrilla gardening to be exact.
"My tomatoes gave me the idea, they volunteered first," laughs Gadzik.
The legal assistant is a musician on the side and has a degree in economic anthropology. When her cherry tomato plants were too much for her home garden, she impulsively decided to share the wealth.
"I abdicated by duties musically and dug my tomatoes out and came downtown," says Gadzik.
She got the idea to plant them downtown from a garden area at 2nd and Brady, where corn is now growing. She picked two spots along 2nd street in Davenport to plant produce or flowers, including Bechtel Park at the base of the Arsenal Bridge.
"I just drove up and down 2nd street which is close to where I work to look for other spots that were already mulched and had some black soil underneath so I wouldn't have to start from scratch," says Gadzik.
Critters got to her first batch of plants so Tuesday, she replanted the area and put up fencing guards around her plants.
"Maybe people could see it, walk by and grab something," says Gadzik.
Gadzik admits she doesn't fit exact definition of a guerrilla gardener, which where activists take over an abandoned piece of land which they do not own to grow crops or plants, but her friends like the name. The Bechtel Park area is owned by Davenport One. The company says they would've preferred she ask permission, but will let her plants stand this year, as long as don't become an eye-sore.
"I suppose I should've found out more about who owns the properties and asked first, but it was, as far as the tomatoes that I had with me, it was an emergency! They had to go somewhere," explained Gadzik.
On 2nd street, between Scott and Western, Gadzik planted tomato plants in between some lilac bushes. The property is owned by Eastern Iowa Community College District and administrators were surprised by the addition.
"On the other hand, were good with it. They put tomato plants in there and it would be great if they grow to fruition and people can help themselves," says Pat Keir, EICCD Chancellor.
The college itself does nearly the same thing with plants like sage and onions growing on a patio outside administrative offices in downtown Davenport.
Gadzik is hoping she gets people to think more about living off the bounty of our land.
"If something should happen where we have trouble getting from the conventional food supply, it something everybody should learn," says Gadzik.
So she continues planting her message. Gadzik says she won't be spreading her plants to any other areas for now and hopefully the cherry tomatoes she planted near 2nd and Western and at Bechtel Park, will be ready to pick and eat in late July.
"My tomatoes gave me the idea, they volunteered first," laughs Gadzik.
The legal assistant is a musician on the side and has a degree in economic anthropology. When her cherry tomato plants were too much for her home garden, she impulsively decided to share the wealth.
"I abdicated by duties musically and dug my tomatoes out and came downtown," says Gadzik.
She got the idea to plant them downtown from a garden area at 2nd and Brady, where corn is now growing. She picked two spots along 2nd street in Davenport to plant produce or flowers, including Bechtel Park at the base of the Arsenal Bridge.
"I just drove up and down 2nd street which is close to where I work to look for other spots that were already mulched and had some black soil underneath so I wouldn't have to start from scratch," says Gadzik.
Critters got to her first batch of plants so Tuesday, she replanted the area and put up fencing guards around her plants.
"Maybe people could see it, walk by and grab something," says Gadzik.
Gadzik admits she doesn't fit exact definition of a guerrilla gardener, which where activists take over an abandoned piece of land which they do not own to grow crops or plants, but her friends like the name. The Bechtel Park area is owned by Davenport One. The company says they would've preferred she ask permission, but will let her plants stand this year, as long as don't become an eye-sore.
"I suppose I should've found out more about who owns the properties and asked first, but it was, as far as the tomatoes that I had with me, it was an emergency! They had to go somewhere," explained Gadzik.
On 2nd street, between Scott and Western, Gadzik planted tomato plants in between some lilac bushes. The property is owned by Eastern Iowa Community College District and administrators were surprised by the addition.
"On the other hand, were good with it. They put tomato plants in there and it would be great if they grow to fruition and people can help themselves," says Pat Keir, EICCD Chancellor.
The college itself does nearly the same thing with plants like sage and onions growing on a patio outside administrative offices in downtown Davenport.
Gadzik is hoping she gets people to think more about living off the bounty of our land.
"If something should happen where we have trouble getting from the conventional food supply, it something everybody should learn," says Gadzik.
So she continues planting her message. Gadzik says she won't be spreading her plants to any other areas for now and hopefully the cherry tomatoes she planted near 2nd and Western and at Bechtel Park, will be ready to pick and eat in late July.
