(Food) Gardens

In Dutch (Volkstuintjes)

The place where I went is an association of people who each has his own assigned piece of land where the pay for. Control takes place by the management.

Things that they share:

• Parking lot

• Community building

• Restrooms

• Exchanging rack

• Ware house (for borrow use)

• Water system by ditches and rain water

Things they own:

• Compost tones

• Shed

• Fence

• Glass house

• Storage boxes

• Garden furniture

Conversations with owners:

Women (+/- 55 years old) I have the garden because I like it, not for saving money. You must put a lot of time, effort and money in it and it does not always pay back. You need to buy tools and pay the rent. I don’t have a shed but use a storage box.

The advantage of having your own garden is that I can have vegetables in the seasons where they are very expensive to by in the supermarket. If i have a big harvest, i put things in the freezer. Besides i know exactly what happend with my food. I am not a big partisan for using pesticides for example. I don’t grow all my vegetables. Some of them need a lot of attention otherwise they won’t survive, think of cauliflower. Because my husband and I must work we as well don’t have that attention.

Man (+/- 65 years old) I have my garden purely for fun. It's really a place for me to relax. The social aspect is also present. I have contact with many people here. For example, my old neighbor was here very often, and we drank a cup of coffee if we saw each other. We also exchange things among themselves. If someone has a lot of garlic, he or she will ask me if I would like to have some.

Occasionally I drink coffee in the central building, but with nice weather, I prefer to sit in my own garden. We can borrow many things from the association. There are several wheelbarrows, and tools such as hedge scissors, etc. In general, everyone is in possession of his own needs and tools.

Conclusion

It is a good social activity and a very good way to grow your own food. Combining gardens together will give you more space. If people share more tools, space and time it will be less expensive and more productive as well.