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.
Are these plots of land actually owned by the users? I assumed they were rented, but the article doesn't seem to specify though the terms "allotment" and "waiting list" imply to me that they're not owned by the gardeners.
Not sure about Germany, but in many places, you pay a small administrative fee. In a world of sky-high urban real estate prices/rents, they're approaching free.
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.
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).
I think it's unlikely you'll be able to find a ready-made translation for free, since it's very niche. Gesetze-im-Internet has translations of the more important laws, but for the Bundeskleingartengesetz there's only the German version: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bkleingg/BJNR002100983.ht...
If you want a translation (to convince Montreal to adopt similar laws?) you'll need to find someone to translate it for you.
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…
Im a 28 year old in US
1) i dont use plastic or pesticides in my garden. I use geopots and living soil
2) never used peat
3) collect rainwater
I eat 3 to 4 meals a week that largely feature produce from my garden for 8 months of the year.
This can be replicated without exasserbating any of the valid issues you noted.
> For many there is no other feasible way to own a few 100m² of green and free sky. For many this is not a feasible way either, as there are 12 000 people in line before them.
Eh, there may be 12,000 names on the list, but that doesn't mean you have to wait for all of them to get a garden before it's your turn. Many of those people will have changed their minds in the meantime, or they don't like a particular lot that's freed up, because you usually can't just leave it as-is. The one in the article burned down, many other lots have houses that violate new regulations but were grandfathered…
even with only 10% of that list, it would still be a long wait.
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 2019, just beneath the surface of every last "rather innocuous activity" lies a whole raft of things to feel bad about and someone to let you know about it. It's gardening. It's fine. If gardening (gardening!) is now something that should be "approached with caution" then we've jumped the shark as a civilization.
While I generally agree with you, there something to be said for everyone more deeply understanding the impact of all the modern conveniences we enjoy. Everything has a cost, most people don't see those costs.
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 2019, just beneath the surface of every last "rather innocuous activity" lies a whole raft of things to feel bad about and someone to let you know about it. It's gardening. It's fine. If gardening (gardening!) is now something that should be "approached with caution" then we've jumped the shark as a civilization.
But the problem is that, yes, gardening is fine, but we've crept slowly to using mass-manufactured tools that are designed to break rather than metal+wood that's readily repairable, and plastic pots rather than locally made clay ones, and imported peat rather than locally produced compost, etc.. The march of "progress".
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).
I think it's unlikely you'll be able to find a ready-made translation for free, since it's very niche. Gesetze-im-Internet has translations of the more important laws, but for the Bundeskleingartengesetz there's only the German version: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bkleingg/BJNR002100983.ht... If you want a translation (to convince Montreal to adopt similar laws?) you'll need to find someone to translate it for…
Thanks for the link. I may be able to convince someone to translate if Google isn't good enough.
If that page is the whole set of laws then it's really not so many rules as the article makes out - our rules in Montreal are probably just as long. I'm going to see if I can cherry-pick the best parts for my little corner of Montreal.