Allotment Gardening
would like advice on a community project involving an allotment?
Hello there, I work for a new deal project for unemployment people who want to gain employment, literacy and numeracy skills. Because of the low amount of job opportunities they go out on work placements and its mostly garden work. To help raise their self-esteem I want to look into getting them an allotment. I have a lot of gardening experience within my family so i don’t have any doubts that the allotment would be wasted. I would just like to know if anyone has ever used an allotment as a community project before and if they have any info, tips or advice to help me.
My main questions are – How many times a week would we have to visit an allotment?
About how much will it cost to obtain and support this project?
How many workers would I need to carry out this work?
How hard is it to obtain allotments for this purpose? (this project will be based in the northeast.)
Thankyou in advance for any advice.
If you are in the inner city, (sorry, not sure which country you are in); contact the city government and see if there is an empty lot that they would be willing to allow for that use. Many times they will. You and your community would have to clean it up before using it, but the city would rather have a working garden than a junkyard. And it would bring the morale of the whole community that surrounds it up. Not to mention property values.
As for cost, you would have to find that out from the city. They may allow you to use it at no charge, just because it will help beautify the area. Once that is settled, you would have to figure out what you want to plant there. Flowers or Food? One thing that may give the city more incentive, is if you offer vegetables that will be grown there to the local food pantry.
Then you would have to do fundraising to pay for the garden implements. You would also have to figure out how to get water to the site. Would you use raised beds, or rows? I would think that the garden would have to be tended daily. Volunteers can take care of that. As for how many workers you would need, that would depend on how big the allotment is. I would think that you would have more than enough workers to take care of it.
This is a grand plan that is catching on in cities all over the world. By teaching people how to feed themselves, we are giving them the power to lift themselves out of despair.
See links.
http://www.sustainablemelbourne.com/models/cultivating-community-developing-community-gardening/
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Kinder/commun.html
http://www.laddarboretum.org/communitygardening.htm
Allotment Gardening
Shropshire Law Firm Picks up Gold Award and Trophy for Headway Shropshire Show Garden at Shrewsbury Flower Show
There were whoops of joy at Headway Shropshire on Oxon Business Park and at the offices of Shropshire law firm Lanyon Bowdler, when it was announced that the Garden, entered into the 123rd Shrewsbury Flower Show, had won the Mike Hough Memorial Trophy for the Best Outdoor Garden, together with one of the Shropshire Horticultural Society’s Gold Medals.
The garden, designed by award winning garden designer Mike Russell, was the product of months of hard work by clients and staff at Headway Shropshire and members of staff at Lanyon Bowdler. Plus it featured an array of stunning work, much of it donated by local crafts people.
Designed to be a place of well being, the garden was a vibrant, sustainable and spiritual place, a sensory allotment garden for everyone, to both grow food to eat or just relax, all within a small space.
The garden was created to support and represent the work of local charity – Headway Shropshire. Its centre at Oxon Business Park offers clients suffering from brain and head injuries the opportunity to engage in therapeutic activities, such as gardening, cooking and creative art. This project gave the clients an opportunity to be involved in the creation of the show piece and they produced fabulous artwork, vines of copper leaves and pretty butterflies.
After receiving the trophy, managing partner David Battisby said “this has been a tremendous project which has involved so many people. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of local suppliers and crafts people – many having either given or leant their products.
“This is a first for Lanyon Bowdler and we hope to be back next year to defend our trophy.”
A blog http://headwayshowgarden.wordpress.com/, was created to share the experience and to thank all those involved.
About the Author
Having worked in the legal profession for the past 11 years, Amanda joined Lanyon Bowdler as their Business Development and Marketing Manager in November 2007.
Where shall I live York or Cambridge, England? Want family friendly, greenliving, huge garden & community?
ideally we want lots of fresh air, low pollution, huge garden, allotment in a good safe area?
They are both lovely areas. Both are family friendly.
York is a walled city on the moors while Cambridge is in the fen country much flatter there. If you enjoy hiking, York will be more attractive.
Both attract a lot of tourists. Also, of course, Cambridge is a university town. During the academic year (Oct-Jun), the town is full of students. During the summer months, you get a lot of teenagers from around the world coming to study English at one of the many English-language schools.
One thing about Cambridge is that pretty much EVERYONE gets around the town proper by bicycle. Undergraduate students generally are not even allowed to bring cars to their colleges without special permission. But to get around the city centre, a bicycle makes a lot more sense than a car, because of the parking shortage, the narrow streets, and the pedestrian only areas.
On other issue that may have an impact is whether you need to be within a reasonable commuting distance of London. Cambridge is an hour away by train; York is much further. Many people commute from Cambridge to London daily.
Raised bed allotment Summer 2008