Hi, all, Extremely briefly since I need to finish the 160 page 25th anniversary edition double issue of ACGA's Community Greening Review here's a quick note on allotments vs. community gardens. The issue will be out in August, I'm trying to get it to the printer now. It's another benefit of ACGA membership - join now to reserve your copy.
Interesting discussion on allotments, but please heed Betsy's suggestion that we need to hear from a European perspective. Having spent a lot of time living abroad (and during the NY convention, hanging out with the folks from France), I learned there are all kinds of public access garden arrangements in France and elsewhere in Europe - les jardins communautaires are one part of the picture, and sometimes organized as allotments. History is always interesting to know, but no modern European gardens I know of overtly continue the manipulative practices behind the early allotments, anymore than most North American community gardens consciously perpetuate the 'Potato Patch' or 'Liberty Garden' ideologies. An article on English allotments by David Crouch and one on German-Austrian 'Kleingarten' by Bruce Herrick are in the upcoming Greening Review, along with quite a bit of our own more recent history. I recommend Crouch's books, including _The Allotment: Its Landscape and Culture_ by Crouch and Colin Ward (Rowe, 1997, plus more recent printings). Bottom line, I tend to agree with Jack Hale on this one. Using an allotment system is simply one way to organize a garden, and you find versions on both sides of the Atlantic (and other places - such as in the large market gardens in West Africa). They can be democratically run and build community, or they can be just the opposite. In the UK, hundreds of thousands of people enjoy participating. In the German-speaking countries, many are on railroad right-of-ways, not 'government land' in the way we understand the term in the US. I, for one, feel no need to criticize them and don't think our American practices are always superior. The best garden solutions are local - and the best way to learn is to be open to other ways of doing things. bty, on Karen's story from Winnipeg about the bureaucrat who said 'community gardens are not about gardening' - well, I've heard that one before, including from some dedicated leaders of the North American community garden movement. As a gardener, I don't agree, but I've learned that it isn't that they don't value gardens, necessarily; it's that they see gardens primarily as a means to an end. Those ends differ depending on the person and what/who they represent. When faced with this attitude, I try to begin a dialogue with them to see where they are coming from. Back to work, Don Boekelheide Charlotte NC Where we've got some allotments, some not-allotments, and some, well, who knows, but they're all community gardens. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
