Allotment gardening, as it is termed in the United Kingdom, or community gardening, as usually termed in the United States, means a group of people who rent or lease a section of a tract of land (an allotment) on which to plant a garden. In this garden, the gardener is usually allowed to plant a vegetable, herb or flower garden, certain fruits, or all combined. You might even find a community garden or allotment garden to allow raising poultry. An allotment garden is ideal for people who may live in apartments, condominiums or otherwise have little garden space.
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All councils in England and Wales, except Inner London, must, by law, provide allotments. Any group of adults over the age of 18 and registered on the electoral role can group together to request the council provide. Contact your local Parish, Town, Borough, City or District Council. What a wonderful law – so that anyone has access to a plot of land to grow healthy food on!
As with allotments, community gardening is when a tract of land is set apart within a community for gardeners. A person or a group of people get together, decide they want a community garden, and form an association with written rules. The rules are necessary because as time goes on, someone will inevitably want to do something that the others will disagree on.
Usually there is a fee associated, but you may find allotment gardens or community gardens that are free in exchange for your volunteer labor. For example, there are churches that have community gardens. There are also nonprofit organizations that sponsor a community garden. In the typical community garden, a person applies to be a member to receive a plot within the garden grounds. After the member is approved, he or she will take care of his or her particular plot for the rest of the season or year.
If you are interested in allotment gardening in the UK, National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners Ltd, O’Dell House, Hunters Road, Corby, Northants, NN17 5JE, Tel: 01536 266576, Fax: 01536 264509, Email: natsoc@nsalg.org.uk.
Scotland Allotment Garden
The Scottish Allotments and Garden Society work to raise awareness of allotments throughout Scotland. This group issues a call to seasoned gardeners to share their expertise to o preserve the skills of gardening and to conserve seeds and plant varieties. The association also urges gardeners, from beginners to advanced, to become involved in local allotment associations.
Clinton Community Garden in New York City is one example of a community garden where people work together to make the idea work. They have a web site at clintoncommunitygarden.org. Upcoming events for garden members include a 4th of July Barbecue, picnics, bug hunts for children, and a ‚”Birds and Bees Celebration” in the fall with cleanup and bulb plantings scheduled. This is a lovely garden with flowering bushes, trees, meandering brick walkways, and a beekeeping operation. I especially enjoyed the photos of video aired on PBS in 2002 of Sid, the beekeeper with a ‚”bee beard.”
For more information:
Clinton Community Garden
P.O. Box 214
New York City, NY 10108-0214
The ACGA is an organization of professionals, volunteers and supporters of community greening in urban and rural communities.
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