British town grows all of its own vegetables FREE, witnesses improved civic life and reduced crime a

A good friend of mine is a big promoter of community based currency. One of the standard arguments against community currency he often hears is that without some central issuing authority, people will game the system for their own benefit.

His standard response is that, no, these systems are in place and functioning in many communities, and it doesn't play out that way. Want to know why? Because the main incentive to try and game the system is desperation. When people have a monetary system in which they are constantly under pressure just to survive, because the vast majority of their efforts are being siphoned away... and even while working full time they can barely make ends meet... then they will do whatever they can to gain a small advantage. When the system allows the efforts of the community to benefit the whole community, the need for this evaporates, and people are quite content to share with one another, *because there is enough for everyone*.

So for everyone arguing that this would never work in impoverished areas, I would suggest that it might work best in such areas. People who are accustomed to being treated poorly, and being given no opportunities to work productively and constructively, often respond very well to being given the least amount of responsibility and autonomy. There are many cases where projects that give people real, constructive outlets have turned the roughest, toughest, hardened criminals into community organizers, and precipitated complete personality transformations.

I don't believe, personally, that greed and avarice are "human nature". I believe that selfishness largely emerges out of necessity, and that in circumstances where communities work for mutual benefit, the potential loss of reputation from being found trying to steal from your friends far outweighs any potential gains from not being found out.

reply to post by angelchemuel


Makes me proud to be british

reply to post by PocketRevolution


Your words are sweet music.

reply to post by dizTheWiz


Nip to your local bookshop and get a month by month allotment growers diary. Hubby got me one for Christmas to encourage my green fingers. Awesome book.
I was worried I'd never have enough space after his ginormous shed and the chicken coop gets put in, but I've decided to give over most of my front garden to herbs and a few well cropping pot fruit trees. The back can then solely focus on veggies.

Hi Guys,

I am sooooo sorry I have not participated over the past few days, but I have been totally incapacitated with a dreaded lurgy of some sort
I have been keeping my eye on the thread and my notes for suggested plans of action is growing! So be prepared for a ramble....of the nature kind!
Oh and BTW, I haven't contacted the local council, because as synchronisity would have it, my local MP wrote to me on Saturday with the update of her support NOT to sell off British woodlands! So think I might as well go straight to the 'Big Boyz'.

Will be posting very soon.

Rainbows with mistletoe
Jane

If people are interested you can contact your local council allotment officer. To track them down try either Leisure and Culture Services or Parks, Recreation or Environment depts.
If you know of any private sites visit and introduce yourself to the site manager or whoever is in charge. Get to know some of the plot holders, there could well be some soul there about to give up a plot or needs help.

Sometimes half and quarter plots are available before a whole allotment is free. A little one will give you time to hone your skills.

You could take on an overgrown plot quickly if you are up for clearing it yourself.

As Councils have a legal obligation to provide allotments if there is demand, they have to consider any formal request by six residents or more who pay council tax or are registered to vote.

Be persistent and pester them till you get one.

reply to post by Suspiria


Don't want to dampen the allotment idea, but this government is trying to sneakily push a 'law' through that will revoke the current one (passed just after or during the last war) about so much land having to be available via councils to the local community. I will add this to my list for my posting to give you links. I know I signed a petition about it about 6 months ago. It is quite underhand the way they are going about it.

Rainbows
with mistletoe
Jane

This approach appears...promising, and a needed step in every community...

Growing Green: An Inventory of Public Lands Suitable for Community Gardening in Seattle, Washington

Prepared by Megan Horst
University of Washington, College of Architecture and Urban Planning
July 1, 2008. 74 pages

Introduction

Planners and policy-makers in the United States and around the world are increasingly recognizing the importance of food systems planning. Effective food systems planning at the local and regional levels offers tools to address some of the major challenges faced by modern cities, including high rates of joblessness, poverty, and hunger along with growing environmental problems related to fossil fuel dependency and resource consumption. Urban agriculture, mainly in the form of community gardens, is one of the many food systems planning strategies that different cities have been using to address these kinds of problems.

Urban agriculture offers many economic, social and environmental benefits to cities, including increased food security and equitable access to food, the beautification of previously vacant or under-used sites, opportunities for training and employment of under-skilled residents and youth, and the enhancement of community life.

Seattle is one of many cities across the United States and the world that has established a public community gardening program. The existing 72 gardens, or P-Patches as they are called in Seattle, are popular with residents; many have waiting lists of up to three years. As the city’s population continues to increase and particular areas increase in population density, there will likely be a demand for more P-Patches. The city has already expressed its desire to create additional community garden spaces in some of its key policies and plans.

Securing land for garden space is not an easy feat in a city where pressure for land and the cost of purchasing are increasing. Nevertheless, as in most American cities, there is vacant, excess, and under-used public land that is suitable for urban gardening. Recognizing this, the Seattle City Council recently passed a Local Food Action Initiative Resolution. As part of the Resolution, the Department of Neighborhoods is requested to create an inventory of publicly owned land that has P-Patch potential. The following report responds to that request.

Read more

May your seeds continue to grow...Thanks again OP, et al. Following along :up

Peace

edit: bold added.

Originally posted by Flavian
reply to post by angelchemuel

 

Whilst i applaud the residents of Todmorden, i am not sure how this same scheme would fare in other places around our fair Isles. Have you ever been there? It is a very new age, hippy type of place (nothing wrong with that) and as such, people there tend to be more open to this sort of thing and also to not abuse the system. I suspect if you tried this in Burnley, Rochdale or Halifax it would be abused left, right and centre.

Well done to them though.

The way this town is.. with fresh veggies all over is the way this whole planet earth used to be and should be. Food was everywhere, and free for the taking. People respected the environment because it gave them food.

This went on for millions of years until.. about 150 years ago. It's not that these people are hippy people IMO, it's that they are wanting a return to our roots and undo the damage modern society has caused. To me that's how all humans should be. We are no longer civilized. The industrial revolution, capitalism and democracy have caused people to become too corrupt and complacent over the years. "We" have become monsters. Those hippy people may be the last vestiges of true civilization.

Great Thread, And it's nice to read something positve for a change.
I'm currently trying to initiate the same type of thing locally where I am from.
I joked with my partner the other day, that people should put passionfruit vines, grape vines, snow peas, anything that you could get to grow along your fences, to encourage community spirit and re-invigorate "real" communication.
My dad has had a "community" choko vine growing over his fence for almost 20years, and every year it brings the locals round to have a yarn and "pinch" a couple of choko's or i think also known as "The chayote".

Anyway, it was just nice to read something nice for a change and I wanted to comment.

Cheers

Wow Todmorden, well known for it's FANTASTIC UFO events and now it's vegetable gardens. Hope it spreads. There's nothing like picking your own.

There is no reason why this should not spread nationwide as IT (so-called Council Land) is PUBLIC LAND.

OUR LAND for use BY the general public and FOR the general public. Flower beds are nice but WON'T feed people!

ALL government land and property in UK/USA should be sold off and each person given a cash amount each.

reply to post by angelchemuel


Thanks for this.....its awsome to see the fact of better living through auto-efficiency proven so naturally.....

..and we add 1 to the tally...nice....

Here we go guys!
I am going through the thread as people contributed as that is the easiest. I am sincerely hoping that some of you here will join me in 'guerilla gardening' next year, and as such I would like to make the following suggestions as I don't know all the answers!

I have pondered long and hard about writting to my MP. I am thinking of legalities here. If we 'let the cat out of the bag' so to speak, we could get stopped before we're even started! There is a 7 year by-law, that says if you have taken over land and nobody complains in that 7 years you are free and clear. So what say you about getting in touch with what to appears to be my tree hugging MP?

1. First thing I think would be a good idea is if some of us could get together at the Bear Cafe in Tod as early as possible in the new year and have a look around to get some good ideas.

2. RogerT...I just love the 'chapter' idea!

3. This is not about allotments...but we could play TPTB at their own 'distraction' game and keep them so busy via our local 'chapters' demanding allotments, they will be too busy to see what is already growing under their own noses!

4. Aha! detatchedindividual...as our resident sociologist and psychologist...you will have an important role to play that might not be so evident at the moment!

5. Drala, could you please share what you have got going in your area please?

6. MaMaa gave us this link
en.wikipedia.org...
I suggest you all have a quick read. Thanks MaMaa

7.dizTheWiz...don't panic! I have a plan!

8. Benchkey..We could sell surplus produce to local grocers who in return for their FREE fruit and veg could agree to give the local 'chapter' a 50% of what he has taken to buy even more fruit trees or seeds!...simples!

9. BooBetty, thank you for the link to Incredible Edible...worth a browse around for some pretty good ideas!
www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk...

10 Spikey, Could you enlighten us on what you pick, store etc.

11. Suspira..Do you fancy helping us out with what should be planted when?

12. I don't know why so many are worried about dog's peeing on the food etc. Think raised beds in such areas. There are many ways and many planting techniques to feed the locals...we just have to be a bit shrewd in our thinking.

13. Most importantly, peoples attitudes. When things start getting even tighter next year, and people really start struggling to put food on their tables...you watch how this will catch on! There are more of us than them!

14. For those of seemingly worried about 'upset tummies'.....highly unlikely! Unless you would rather carry on consuming all the pesticides, gmo's etc that is all over the food you get in the supermarket.

15. My current idea is to do something obvious like I mentioned the shrubs on the outside of my drive way gates and planting strawberry plants. High school kids and shoppers are constantly walking past. I want to do one obvious thing to see if I get away with it when the council come round to trim the hedges next year...I have a funny feeling the 'workers' will be helping themselves to some strawberries....I might even offer them some sugar and cream! ......BUT....I want to plant stuff more sureptitiously...like carrots...those who know what carrots look like will cotton on....those that have no idea like the 'yobs' that have been mentioned will just think they are weeds and not bother trashing them!

16. I have found out that there are loads of chickens going free to good homes in the Manchester area. New EEC directive that chicken farmers are only allowed to have a certain ammount of chickens per set area! I will get more info from my friend if anyone is interested.

I would dearly love to see this thread continue next year with all the POSITIVE stuff and results people have done and got....well at least until ottobot gets something going!

I am going to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your contributions so far, and to wish you all a very happy Christmas/holiday, and hope that at least some of you will feel inspired to do something positive in 2012!

Rainbows with lots of fairy lights to you all!
Jane

Originally posted by angelchemuel
Hi Guys,

I am sooooo sorry I have not participated over the past few days, but I have been totally incapacitated with a dreaded lurgy of some sort

Get better soon!

I have been keeping my eye on the thread and my notes for suggested plans of action is growing! So be prepared for a ramble....of the nature kind!

Remember that the idea started small. See if you can get one of the local gardening societies to "buy into" the idea -- here in the US, a number of schools are doing this for their students, so that's another approach.

Oh and BTW, I haven't contacted the local council, because as synchronisity would have it, my local MP wrote to me on Saturday with the update of her support NOT to sell off British woodlands! So think I might as well go straight to the 'Big Boyz'.

I think I'd avoid the government simply because it takes awhile to get things through. But a gardening group could (for example) sponsor a garden at a home for (say) the elderly or a place sponsoring at risk kids, or even see if it could be tied in with "community service" for minor offenders.

You'll get it through faster if you go with a nature group or a gardening group.

I'm terrible at gardening (and not that much into it) but I do work with local Audubon societies, so I'll be in the background, cheering you on from here in Texas!

reply to post by Byrd



Hi Byrd,
You must have been posting that while I was writing a suggested plan of action! I am all better now thanks.
Hope some people pick up this thread again, I did let it lapse a bit while I was poorly.
Thank you for your support, and please you 'lurk' away to your hearts content, but all ideas greatly received and should not be limited to here in the UK.

Rainbows with fairy lights
Jane

I live & work from home in a small village in Cumbria, oddly the head office I work from is in Birchwood, Warrington.

I have ALL of my veg delivered by VistaVeg who run a local organic delivery service from nearby Crosby Ravensworth. I'm also trying to support my local farmers by buying local free range eggs et al.

The village I live in has a wonderful history of self sustainability for both water, electricity and allsorts & some of us are trying very hard to make this happen utilising local renewable energy resources and the farmland we have.

It makes so much sense for communities to work together to grow as much of their own food as they can etc.

Thanks for the tip Susperia. I got my first set of 26 various plant seedling waiting to sprout, and keeping a journal on it.

Thanks again to the OP, oh and heres
Another great example of community farming.

and another one

Well, haven't things moved on since I started this thread!

For myself I planted an extra load of various tomato plants last year along with my usual other 'bits and pieces'. The tomatoes were a disaster both outdoor and greenhouse. My plan was to stew loads and freeze them for winter bolognese/past dishes/soup etc...well that failed big style.

I cleared the shrubbery behind my border fence, but because the way the weather played out I never got anything planted there....it's ready to go this year though.

The problem we all have at the moment is the weather. I ended up being so cross, I bought little plugs of tomato plants, cauliflower and peppers...I have my seed trays going too with all sorts....and my kitchen now looks like a massive propogator! I thought I would try somehow and get a head start...we can expect a further 3 weeks of this useless growing weather...so at least when it does pick up I shall hopefully have stuff ready to go.

I did take a trip up to Todmorden at the end of last year. I shall be visiting more regularly now one of my friends has moved from Anglesey back up there. Maybe it was just me, and maybe I only saw one side of what they are doing up there, but it felt very clique'ish. The cafes/restaurants that supported the initiative charged, in my view, exhorbitant prices, and as myself and another friend (not the one who has since moved back) must have been giving off some 'grockle' vibes, we didn't feel very welcomed. Like I said, now my other friend has moved back up there, I might see another side yet.

13. Most importantly, peoples attitudes. When things start getting even tighter next year, and people really start struggling to put food on their tables...you watch how this will catch on! There are more of us than them!

I wrote this in one of my earlier posts when I came up with a draft action plan.......well, we are now in 'next year'. With farmers being hit hard with this weather, and goodness knows what might happen in Europe that could very well restrict the ammount of food we will be importing.....scarry stuff!

Thank you for 'bumping' this thread....I had forgotten about it!

Rainbows
Jane