Community gardens are flourishing as people seek a positive, productive space beyond the political noise. Just don’t express any strong opinions about gravel
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hat do you do when it feels as if the world has lost the plot? There are various answers to that question, but one of the more wholesome (and legal) is this: secure your own little plot of earth and cultivate your garden. But that’s sometimes easier said than done. In the UK, more than 170,000 people are reportedly sitting on council allotment waiting lists. A controversial scheme nicknamed “WeWork for allotments” has even sprouted up to rent out green space and fill the gaps.
I know nobody wants to come to the US at present, but, based on a sample size of one, the allotment situation seems rather better over here, where I live. It took me only a year or so to get a plot in a community garden (what Americans call allotments) near me in Philadelphia, which felt miraculous.
The last time I’d been on a community waiting list, it was for a parking spot in my old apartment building in New York. I can’t actually drive, but the estimated wait time was 25 years, so I thought that would give me time to learn. Alas, I had a child and left New York long before I moved up even one spot in the line.
