Just over a month after the last BBC News item about allotments, they're in the news again. This latest item is about the danger to allotments from property developers. It seems prescient in the light of this story about some allotments in London which are due to be bulldozed to make way for the 2012 Olympic Village.I liked the quote from Claire Willis of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG)
"It's becoming much more of a community activity. I see my neighbouring allotment holder bringing his children, so they can watch how to cultivate vegetables and seeing the distinction between growing food and buying it from a supermarket"
I never realised I was part of a trend.
4 comments:
I saw that article yesterday too when I was catching up on the news after the festival and I nearly (but didn't) email you a link.
So, are you a trend follower or a trend setter?
On the note of the festival I think I'll try to contact some of the organisers about making it 'greener' - more re-cycling of all the cans & bottles, and I wonder if there's a better alternative to all the chemical toilets? That blue stuff they use can't be good.
I saw that article yesterday too when I was catching up on the news after the festival and I nearly (but didn't) email you a link.
So, are you a trend follower or a trend setter?
On the note of the festival I think I'll try to contact some of the organisers about making it 'greener' - more re-cycling of all the cans & bottles, and I wonder if there's a better alternative to all the chemical toilets? That blue stuff they use can't be good.
I would really hate to see the allotments go. Gardening is such a part of the human experience that I think that we are diminished when we are forced to give it up.
Allotments are rare in the U. S., but it's easier for us to get reasonable pieces of property. Still, many who live in apartments or row houses (I believe the European term is semi-detached) never get the opportunity to have anything bigger than potted tomato plants. In our own case, we had a tiny strip of ground (perhaps two by four meters) in front of the house that was sunny enough for tomatoes and peppers, plus a few other small strips that we could use for flowers. It was very cramped. Still, I spend quite a bit of time with the kids on the front porch behind a screen of hops and morning glory vines.
There's a quote but I can't find the reference - it's something like "You can't expect people to fight for their country who have never owned a square foot of it". Being in contact with the land has consequences that go far beyond raising a few carrots, and losing contact with it has far-reaching consequences, too.
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