New Planter Box @ Occupy Oakland

A gardening committee had an empty planter on site on Saturday Nov 5th. People worked together to fill the box with dirt, and place the vegetable starters: fava beans, collards, lettuces and onions.

Planting food speaks to the intended longevity of the occupation, and also speaks to a rethinking and re-purposing of the plaza as a space for public gardening. Given the amount of plants that have been donated to Occupy Oakland, and the amount of space in the plaza, there are plans for more planter boxes in the plaza.

Are there thoughts the cops might take this box away? The outlook of the volunteers is optimistic that the box will stay. And if the cops smash the box, another one (a bigger one) will take it's place. Destroying a public gardening project would just further show the world what type of people Mayor Quan and the Oakland police are. Overall, there is a feeling that planting in the plaza is now a tradition which will last.