Where to garden if you don’t have one part 1

David Attenborough has described humans a “plague on the earth”. This ever-increasing ‘plague’ of humans has meant less room for what was once a necessity, a small patch of land which to grow food.

However, lack of land does not automatically mean no-where to grow. With a little imagination, there are plenty of places to grow your own food. If you are willing to share your growing space the possibilities are limitless.

Garden Share Schemes

Many towns and cities run garden share schemes, these are (unsurprisingly) schemes where people share their gardens or seek out a garden which to share (clue is in the name).  Often, but not always, elderly people who are finding their gardens are getting too much offer whole or part of their garden to grow food. It is not a scheme to get a free gardeners but an exchange where each party benefits from increased social contact, a growing space and a way to keep an unruly part of the garden productive and well kept.

Look on local noticeboards or through local organisations such as your local Transistion towns group for more details. If you find that your town doesn’t have one, then you could consider setting one up – See the Transition Town Totnes website for more details.

Community Gardens

Community gardens can be anything from a small scrap of land to quite a number of acres. Some run a little like allotments where people can just turn up and garden their own space and others have structured volunteer days. They are often teaching spaces and can have links with local charities. My experience of community gardens has always been positive, I have visited many and taught at a couple and never had anything but good experiences. In the UK many are listed on the Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens website

More on where to garden coming soon…