Earth Equity News

Community Gardens Sprout in U.K. By Karla Adam, WashPost, August 16, 2009. "Gardening has long been something of a national sport in Britain. But while Britons are spending as much time as ever digging and weeding, many have been choosing lately to plant food -- turnips instead of tulips -- with a gusto not seen since their country's World War II Dig for Victory campaign... Many space-starved Briton... grow food on allotments. Britain has about 300,000 such community gardens, which are protected under legislation dating to 1887. But demand far exceeds supply, with about 100,000 people on waiting lists -- a number that has jumped nearly 700 percent in the past 12 years, according to Geoff Stokes, secretary of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners... Under British law, if six people band together and demand an allotment, a local council must try to provide them with one, and for a reasonable fee, usually about $50 to $80 a year. (London is the only area exempt from this rule.) But locating suitable land takes time -- the average allotment is about 300 square yards -- and some councils worry that the renewed interest in allotments is little more than a fad, likely to wither when the economy picks up."