71–80 of 111 posts
It should be noted that these gardens are comparatively cheap. For many there is no other feasible way to own a few 100m² of green and free sky.
Wow, are those gardens really that big? Here in the Netherlands there are huge waiting lists for your allotted 12m².
Coming from a small third world country myself, I didn’t know what the market was until I was 19 and came to the states. Everything we needed to survive we grew it or raised it. It was a way of life, at 5 or 6 years old I was able to watch over our farm animals and knew exactly what was expected of me. Now a 6 years old can’t even put their own shoes on by themselves let alone know how to do anything related to self…
Some parents are bad parents. Some people on simple 3rd world farms abuse their children. Some people in developed metropolises focus on teaching their children to learn and enjoy life. The world is changing, and it's generally a mixed bag. You want to call it sad and depressing, that's fine, do you. I don't see it so cynically.
As the saying goes: You take the good, you take the bad, and then you have...the facts of life.
I asked some coworkers and got mixed responses. Some said it was a bit like Berlin's version of a backyard (because in the city core, most people live in flats with no backyard). Some said it was a place to go for the weekend, something like a lake cabin or cottage in North America.
There's almost no information about them online, that I could find. If you're curious to explore some in Google Maps, here are some quick links:
Does anyone know where I can get an English copy of Berlin's Bundeskleingartengesetz? I manage a community garden in Montreal and love the idea of BBQ and beers in the evening, but the city, (who owns the land), is not ok with drinking at the garden, (or cooking, in general).
If you haven't tried it, Google translate does a really good job with translating german law texts.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And maybe we ought to encourage more people to stop playing video games and get out and grow more stuff. You can already do this in video games though (Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, Farming Simulator, etc.)
As a farmer in a previous life, I 10000% do not understand Farming Simulator as a game for entertainment. Farming as a career is either mind-numbingly boring, or overwhelmingly depressing. There is nothing else. How does that possibly translate to a video game?
When I moved to Berlin four years ago, I saw these big clusters of tiny lots with small houses surrounded by gardens and wondered what I was looking at. They are often visible from the train (U-Bahn and S-Bahn). I asked some coworkers and got mixed responses. Some said it was a bit like Berlin's version of a backyard (because in the city core, most people live in flats with no backyard). Some said it was a place to g…
I used to think of gardening and allotments as a rather innocuous activity, something rather green that was good for all involved. But in the last year I've come to realize that it isn't environmentally sound. (1) Plastics and pesticides. They are over-used by gardeners as opposed to commercial farmers. Even without chemicals, the plastics pots, bags and other devices all end up in landfills. Those innocuous black po…
In terms of allotments most people I know don't use pesticides, much plastic ( if used, it's used again and again each year ), and municipal water use is very limited due to the allotment system that disallows hosepipes or direct irrigation systems. Peat has been largely replaced with free compost from the local recycling centre. Clearly lots of small scale production, even if well planned, is less efficient than wel…
It's conceivable that the market could price in externalities too, possibly with government oversight.
Coming from a small third world country myself, I didn’t know what the market was until I was 19 and came to the states. Everything we needed to survive we grew it or raised it. It was a way of life, at 5 or 6 years old I was able to watch over our farm animals and knew exactly what was expected of me. Now a 6 years old can’t even put their own shoes on by themselves let alone know how to do anything related to self…
Woof. That is a flaming hot take my friend. Allow me to counter: We no longer require children to produce labor for our living. This allows for all sorts of different outcomes. Some good (more time for education in a wider variety of matters, development of different social skills, etc) some bad (less time focused on the development of "cause to effect" production education, more sedentary lives, etc). Some parents a…
However, your open perspective does not necessarily counter the original comment.
from the original comment: "Yes, we live in a sad world that we don’t know anymore what will happen if one day markets are no longer an option."
If you remove the word sad, would you refute that statement? Yes, there are good and bad things about industrialization. For example, more time for children for things like education. But there are also many terrible things.