Allotment (gardening)
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Allotment gardens are characterized by a concentration in one place of a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individual families. In allotment gardens, the parcels are cultivated individually, contrary to other community garden types where the entire area is tended collectively by a group of people.<ref>MacNair, E., 2002. The Garden City Handbook: How to Create and Protect Community Gardens in Greater Victoria. Polis Project on Ecological Governance. University of Victoria, Victoria BC, Canada.</ref> The individual size of a parcel ranges between 200 and 400 square meters, and often the plots include a shed for tools and shelter. The individual gardeners are organized in an allotment association which leases the land from the owner who may be a public, private or ecclesiastical entity, provided that it is only used for gardening (i.e. growing vegetables, fruits and flowers), but not for residential purposes. The gardeners have to pay a small membership fee to the association, and have to abide with the corresponding constitution and by-laws. On the other hand, the membership entitles them to certain democratic rights.<ref>Drescher, A.W., 2001. The German Allotment Gardens — a Model for Poverty Alleviation and Food Security in Southern African Cities? Proceedings of the Sub-Regional Expert Meeting on Urban Horticulture, Stellenbosch, South Africa, January 15–19, 2001, FAO/University of Stellenbosch, 2001.</ref>, <ref>Drescher, A.W., Holmer, R.J. and D.L. Iaquinta 2006. Urban Homegardens and Allotment Gardens for Sustainable Livelihoods: Management Strategies and Institutional Environments. In: Kumar, B.M. and Nair, P.K. (Eds) 2006. Tropical Homegardens: A Time-Tested Example of Agroforestry. Series: Advances inAgroforestry 3, Springer, New York</ref>
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[edit] Allotments in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, an allotment is a small area of land, let out at a nominal yearly rent by local government or independent allotment associations, for individuals to grow their own food. This could be considered as an example of a community garden system for urban and to some extent rural folk.
The allotment system began in the 18th century: for example, a 1732 engraving of Birmingham, England shows the town encircled by allotments, some of which still exist to this day. Following the Inclosure Acts and the Commons Act of 1876 the land available for personal cultivation by the poor was greatly diminished. To fulfil the need for land allotment legislation was included. The law was first fully codified in the Small Holdings and Allotment Act of 1908, it was modified by the Allotments Act of 1922 and subsequent Allotments Acts up until 1950.
Under the acts a local government is required to maintain an "adequate provision" of land, usually a large allotment field which can then be subdivided into allotment gardens for individual residents at a low rent. The rent is set at what a person "may reasonably be expected to pay" (1950), in 1997 the average rent for a statutary 10 rod (250 square metres or one-sixteenth of an acre) plot was £22 a year. Each plot cannot exceed 40 rods and must be used for the production of fruit or vegetables for consumption by the plotholder and their family (1922), or of flowers for use by the plotholder and their family. The exact size and quality of the plots is not defined. The council has a duty to provide sufficient allotments to meet demand. The total income from allotments was £2.61 million and total expenditure was £8.44 million in 1997.
The total number of plots has varied greatly over time. In the 19th and early 20th century, the allotment system supplied much of the fresh vegetables eaten by the poor. In 1873 there were 244,268 plots and by 1918 there were around 1,500,000 plots. While numbers fell in the 1920s and 1930s, following an increase to 1,400,000 during World War II there were still around 1,117,000 plots in 1948. This number has been in decline since then, falling to 600,000 by the late 1960s. The Thorpe Inquiry of 1969 investigated the decline and put the causes as the decline in available land, increasing prosperity and the growth of other leisure activities.
Despite increased interest in "green" issues from the 1970s which revived interest in allotment gardening the rate of decline was only slowed, falling from 530,000 plots in 1970 to 497,000 in 1977 although there was a substantial waiting list. By 1980 the surge in interest was over, by 1997 the number of plots had fallen to around 265,000, with waiting lists of 13,000 and 44,000 vacant plots.
Allotment users have an organisation that campaigns on their behalf, the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, known as the "NSALG".
[edit] Characteristics and historical background of allotment gardens in Germany
The history of the allotment gardens in Germany is closely connected with the period of industrialization and urbanization in Europe during the 19th century when a large number of people migrated from the rural areas to the cities to find employment and a better life. Very often, these families were living under extremely poor conditions suffering from inappropriate housing, malnutrition and other forms of social neglect. To improve their overall situation and to allow them to grow their own food, the city administrations, the churches or their employers provided open spaces for garden purposes. These were initially called the “gardens of the poor” and were later termed as “allotment gardens”.
The idea of organized allotment gardening reached a first peak after 1864, when the so-called “ Schreber Movement” started in the city of Leipzig in Saxony. A public initiative decided to lease areas within the city, with the purpose to make it possible for children to play in a healthy environment, and in harmony with nature. Later on, these areas included actual gardens for children, but soon adults tended towards taking over and cultivating these gardens. This kind of gardening type rapidly gained popularity not only in Germany, but also in many other European countries.<ref>Crouch, D. 2000. Reinventing Allotments for the Twenty-First Century: The UK Experience. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 523:135–142.</ref><ref>Sidblad, S. 2000. Swedish Perspectives of Allotment and Community Gardening. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 523:151–160.</ref><ref>Haavie, S. 2001, Parsellhagedyrking i Oslo — en statusoversikt. Rapport/Osloforskning 1/2001 (ISBN 82-8053-000-2)</ref><ref>Jensen, N. 1996. Allotment Guide — Copenhagen & Surroundings /Kolonihave Guide Kobenhavn & Omegn, Copenhagen, Denmark.</ref>
The aspect of food security provided by allotment gardens became particularly evident during World Wars I and II. The socio-economic situation was very miserable, particularly as regards the nutritional status of urban residents. Many cities were isolated from their rural hinterlands and agricultural products did not reach the city markets anymore or were sold at very high prices at the black markets. Consequently, food production within the city, especially fruit and vegetable production in home gardens and allotment gardens, became essential for survival (Berliners cultivate vegetables by the ruins of the Reichstag in June 1946). The importance of allotment gardens for food security was so obvious that in 1919, one year after the end of World War I, the first legislation for allotment gardening in Germany was passed. The so-called “Small Garden and Small-Rent Land Law”, provided security in land tenure and fixed leasing fees. In 1983, this law was amended by the “Federal Allotment Gardens Act”(Bundeskleingartengesetz). Today, there are still about 1.4 million allotment gardens in Germany covering an area of 47,000 ha.<ref>Gröning, G., Wolschke-Bulmahn, J., 1995. Von Ackermann bis Ziegelhütte, Studien zur Frankfurter Geschichte, Band 36. Frankfurt am Main, Germany.</ref>
Nevertheless, the importance of allotment gardening in Germany has shifted over the years. While in times of crisis and widespread poverty (from 1850 to 1950), allotment gardening was a part time job, and its main importance was to enhance food security and improve food supply, its present functions have to be seen under a different point of view. In times of busy working days and the hectic urban atmosphere, allotment gardens have turned into recreational areas and locations for social gatherings. As green oases within oceans of asphalt and cement, they are substantially contributing to the conservation of nature within cities. What was previously a part time job is nowadays considered as a hobby where the hectic schedule of the day becomes a distant memory, while digging the flowerbeds and getting a little soil under the fingernails. However, in situations of weak economy and high unemployment rates, gardens become increasingly important for food production again.(Schrebergärten voll im Trend)
[edit] Allotment gardens in the Philippines
In 2003, the first allotment garden of the Philippines was established in Cagayan de Oro City, Northern Mindanao as part of a European Union funded project. <ref>Holmer, R.J., Clavejo, M.T., Dongus, S., and Drescher, A., 2003. Allotment Gardens for Philippine Cities. Urban Agriculture Magazine, 11, 29-31. [1]</ref> Meanwhile, with the assistance of the German Embassy in Manila and several private donors from Germany, this number has grown to five self-sustaining gardens located in different urban areas of the city, enabling a total of 55 urban poor families the legal access to land for food production. Further four allotment gardens, two of them within the premises of public elementary schools are presently being set up for additional 36 families using the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approach. (Health Promoting Schools, Ecological Sanitation and School Gardens in Mindanao) Some of the gardeners belong to the socially most disadvantaged group in the city, the garbage pickers of the city’s landfill site. Aside of different vegetables, the gardeners grow also herbs and tropical fruits. In some gardens, small animals are kept and fish ponds are maintained to avail the gardeners of additional protein sources for the daily dietary needs. Each allotment garden has a compost heap where biodegradable wastes from the garden as well as from the neighboring households are converted into organic fertilizer, thus contributing to the integrated solid waste management program of the city. Further, all gardens are equipped with so-called urine-diverting ecological sanitation toilets similar to practices in Danish allotment gardens described by Bregnhøj et al. <ref>Bregnhøj, H., Eilersen A.M., von Krauss, M.K., Backlund, A. 2003: Experiences with Ecosan in Danish Allotment Gardens and in Development Projects. Proceedings to 2nd International Symposium on ecological sanitation "Ecosan - closing the loop", April 7 to 11, 2003 Lübeck, Germany.[2]</ref>[edit] Translation of "allotment gardens" into other languages
- Danish: "Kolonihave"
- Dutch: "Volkstuin"
- Finnish: "Siirtolapuutarha"
- French: "Jardins familiaux", "Jardin communautaire"
- German: "Kleingärten" or "Schrebergärten", in former times also "Armengärten", "Sozialgärten", "Arbeitergärten", "Rotkreuzgärten", "Eisenbahnergärten" but nowadays rarely used
- Italian: "Orti Sociali"
- Japanese: "クラインガルテン"
- Norwegian: "Kolonihage" or "Parsellhager"
- Polish: "Ogródki działkowe"
- Portuguese: "Hortas comunitárias"
- Spanish: "Huertas comunitarias"
- Swedish: "Koloniträdgården"
- Swiss: "Familiengärten", "Jardins familiaux"
[edit] Citations
<references/>
[edit] Further reading
- The Allotment: Its Landscape and Culture, David Crouch and Colin Ward Paperback 314 pages (June 1, 1997), Publisher: Five Leaves Publications ISBN 0-907123-91-0
- The Allotment Handbook, Sophie Andrews, "A guide to promoting and protecting your allotment site." Publisher Ecologic Books, [3]
- The Art of Allotments, David Crouch, Publisher: Five Leaves Publications [4]
- Building Food Secure Neighbourhoods: the Role of Allotment Gardens, Robert J. Holmer, Axel W. Drescher: Urban Agriculture Magazine (2005), No. 15, p. 19-20 [5]
[edit] See also
- Ecological sanitation
- Food security
- Gardening
- Intercultural Garden
- Leisure
- Organic gardening
- P-Patch
- Simple living
- Victory garden
- Urban agriculture
[edit] External links
- National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners
- Allotments4All Lively allotment related website with gallery, forum and wiki
- A Permaculture Allotment? Discussion of allotments from a permaculture perspective
- Deutsches Kleingarten Museum Website of the German Allotment Garden Museum in Leipzig
- Allotment Garden Association of Japan日本クラインガルテン研究会
- Allotment Garden Association of Norway Norsk Kolonihageforbund
- Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux A European non-profit making regroupment of national allotment and leisure garden federations with more than 3.000.000 affiliated leisure gardeners and leisure garden families.
- Association of International Gardens, Göttingenda:Kolonihave
de:Schrebergarten es:Huertas comunitarias fr:Jardin communautaire it:Orti sociali nl:Volkstuin ja:クラインガルテン pl:Ogródki działkowe pt:Hortas comunitárias se:Koloniträdgården fi:Siirtolapuutarha no:Kolonihage
