Garten In Berlin Spandau

[Joakim B]

Lovely garden
Sweden has a similar system with Kolonier "colonies" with different size from small one to a bit bigger with a small 10-15 square meter house. They are now mostly for recreation and the city has given/ lend land for a low fee so that the allotment is open for the public as an extra park. That also means that there is not allowed high fences inside the Koloni so one can enjoy the plantings.
Putting up a fence and shrubs around the area and then have some gravel paths and water and maybe a common WC and then there is a great start to the garden community. The city would gain a new and interesting park for a very low fee and people would have the chance to do some gardening in the city.
A great idea I must say and we enjoyed visiting a lot. When I suggested to my parents to get one they just said I could grow for free at the summer house so I did that in stead.
Many houses are built so that people spend their summers there.

Hope more cities takes after this so that the world becomes nicer for us all.
Kind regards
Joakim

[arillady]

I agree Joakim

[Ragged Robin]

I agree too.... but it does seem that schools in the UK are beginning to consider it important for children to experience growing things - we always had our own patch when young and it is exciting and rewarding to share the produce 

Allotments are so full of character of the personalities growing their favourite plants, often in disused land by railway lines, and it's great to see vegetables from different countries grown side by side a riot of colour and shapes interplanted with flowers.  In London there are some really amazing examples of people's ingenuity in using space.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Lesley,
the Community Health Service where I work initiated a Community Garden about 5 years ago and got some government funding to help set it up. That might be an avenue you could investigate to get one started in your area.
cheers
fermi

[Lesley Cox]

Fermi, there are various sources of funding for such things, though many have dried up in this recession. However, while I'm all for the pricnciple, I've reached a "don't want to bother now" stage. Should have done something about it at least 20 years ago.