Comments are naturally also welcomed.
This poll is from the members’ site and can be found at:
http://find.gardenlend.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=9
Results as they come in can be viewed at:
http://find.gardenlend.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=9&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=d&view=viewpoll
Summary
“ALLOTMENT holders in Lutterworth have been given a reprieve in their fight to keep their De Verdon Road plots. Harborough District Council was due on Monday to decide whether or not to buy land in Moorbarns Lane as a replacement site for the allotments. The district council has an option to buy the Moorbarns Lane site but this is due to expire on September 20.
Cllr Alistair Swatridge, who was elected leader of Harborough District Council at Monday’s meeting, said: “My personal feeling is that council would be wrong to recommend the purchase of land without first obtaining planning permission.
Cllr Swatridge added that there could be a considerable risk to the authority if the De Verdon Road site failed to earn planning permission. Other town councillors pointed out that Lutterworth Town Council had not paid its rent for the forthcoming year and allotment holders could be ‘kicked off’ the plot at any time.
Town councillors agreed to defer any more decisions on the allotment until their October meeting.”
A meeting that will occur after the option to buy the Moorbarns Lane site has expired. Does anyone else spot a fait accompli in preparation? Is this another example of greed over sustainability or just plain old ineptitude?
With the housing market in free-fall, ripping up prized allotments for ill-advised property development does seem short sighted. What is wrong with buying up the land in Moorbarns Lane for housing, rather than forcing the allotment holders to start their horticultural efforts from scratch? Apart from the A4303, a school and a lorry park?
Your thoughts, as ever, are gratefully appreciated.
“Want to grow your own organic fruit and veg but don’t have the time? Why not find a neighbour who longs to garden but doesn’t have the space? Tanis Taylor reports on the rise of garden-sharing schemes inThe Guardian Thursday September 4 2008” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/04/ethicalliving.organics
The idea of garden-sharing began in cities, among people who wanted to grow fruit and vegetables to eat but didn’t have the time, space or confidence. Communal gardens cropped up, gardening groups emerged. Fritz Haeg created an edible estate in the front gardens of a Southwark tower block. Projects such as the Tavistock Garden Share Alliance and pilot schemes such as LandFit and Swapaplot paired up unused gardens with the green-fingered. People began to share support and tips at first, then labour, compost, watering duties and harvests. The GroFun (Growing Real Organic Food in Urban Neighbourhoods) project in Bristol encourages members to pitch in on each other’s gardens and, in exchange, can call an “action day” for help in their own garden. Rich Andersen and Valentina Cavallini, self-confessed plant killers, posted an email on the GroFun Yahoo message board for help with their garden. In London, where locals retain a cautious distrust of their neighbours and face greater space constraints, project Food Up Front concentrates on the front garden. “Some 47% of members had never grown food before,” says co-founder Sebastian Mayfield. One neighbour grows potatoes in another’s border; and every Monday and Thursday a group of Streatham volunteers work the garden of an arthritis sufferer - growing tomatoes, brassicas, salad greens such as chard and sorrel, potatoes, cabbage and runner beans, and sharing the crops.
What a relief to find that we are not lone voices in the (urbane) wilderness. GardenLend.co.uk has been running since 2006, putting forward this very idea. Now that the idea has been shown to actually work, why not join us and share the benefits? Please visit http://find.gardenlend.co.uk/ucp.php?mode=register to register.
Shun meat, says UN climate chief |
|
 Livestock production has a bigger climate impact than transport, the UN believes
People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the UN’s top climate scientist. Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will make the call at a speech in London on Monday evening. UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport. (Full story at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7600005.stm) All of which begs the question: where shall we all plant these vegetables? Somewhere close to home, further reducing carbon emissions? Answers on a postcard, or at least on a forum - http://join.gardenlend.co.uk/ immediately springs to mind.
|
|
“During Soil Association Organic Fortnight, people across Britain will be celebrating all things organic. From 6-21 September, individuals, businesses and communities will be hosting events to raise awareness of the environmental, health and social benefits of organic production. Not only that, but the campaign gives everyone a chance to enjoy organic products from delicious food and drink to beauty and textiles.
The fortnight kicks off with the Soil Association Organic Food Festival, Europe’s largest organic celebration, which takes place in Bristol on 6-7 September. The campaign closes on a high with the Soil Association Scotland’s Organic Food Festival on 20-21 September.”
A fortnight is a laudable idea as a means of kick-starting interest; where do we take it from there?
With rising food prices, garden-grabbing by the unscrupulous or short-sighted and the increasing demand for decreasing public space for allotments, what better to do than to turn over one’s garden to organic food production?
Not a garden owner? Not willing or able to tend your garden? Why not join GardenLend to find a garden or a gardener?
GardenLend links up neglected gardens and their owners with keen gardeners who have nowhere to garden. The site has undergone a revamp and we aim to have as much as possible of the services and features available online.
Registering at our members’ area all that it takes to start to solve your problems. We provide the contacts and you take it from there.
By the way, it is free: no membership fees, no joining fees, no obligation to us. All arrangements are those that you and your fellow members make privately between yourselves.
You can also find garden supplies on our pages and links to sites of interest to gardeners, as well as our shop.
What have you to lose? A whole world to gain.
http://www.soilassociation.org/organicfortnight
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1064987_residents_in_allotment_battle
http://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/3631990.Council_land_could_solve_allotment_shortage/
