It’s traditional to plant vegetables in neat rows. This evening that was are only option, as our new guerrilla garden was one thin brown line on a side street a few minutes from my flat. The soil was compacted and sunken, a puddle sat in one part, a few shoots of grass in another. It was a blank canvas. For the first time in a while I called up troops through the Community and had a force of ten, mostly newcomers, several of them even more local than me gathering outside the nearby Chinese restaurant at 9pm wondering what patch we were going to strike. The ground didn’t look promising to the uninitiated but once the crust was broken it proved rich, wormy and speckled with lumps of dark compost, the remains of root balls from long gone plants. I left to pick up more fresh compost and while I was gone the police arrived. Meike 122 took charge and reassured them our actions were with good intentions. One of the officers knew of our activity in the area and was aware his colleagues had become unfortunate celebrities for their appearance on camera threatening us with arrest last year. Their minibus drove off just as I returned, remarkably avoiding the whole awkward incident! We continued with confidence. A student accommodation block is adjacent to this plot, and our gardening drew a small crowd of intrigued revelers. One girl joined in, another passer by stopped and gardened with us until we were finished. It was a text-book operation. The planting scheme was a mixture. As green bollards to give structure we used evergreen shrubs including Rosemary, Lavender and some unknown Australian conifers salvaged from last year’s Chelsea Flower Show and in the space between them we alternated between seed beds of parsnips and radishes and zig zags of Jerusalem artichoke tubers. And just to make it really clear this patch was now under new management we dotted clumps of cheerful yellow primroses. Then just a scattering of mulch and water and we were done.