Garden Sharing Scheme
With the increased interest in food growing, Macclesfield had a big waiting list for allotments.
Food4Macc encouraged home-owners with under-used vegetable gardens to allow others to cultivate them.
We had14 garden shares running at one time.
People who own gardens are often too busy to cultivate them, and elderly people may no longer have the physical strength required.
On the other hand, young people often have nowhere to grow vegetables. Of course kids love planting seeds and seeing them grow. So vegetable growing becomes good family fun. Garden Share sites were generally smaller and more manageable than an allotment.
Food4Macc acted as confidential introduction agency, finding out what the owner had to offer, noting any concerns, and also talking to aspiring growers about their aims and the amount of time they wanted to put into a garden.
We tried to make sure that there was no mismatch of expectations. Ideally the two parties lived close to each other so there were no long distances to travel.
There was no legally binding commitment by either party. Instead, we proposed an informal agreement between the owner and the grower.
If the owner decided to sell up and move house, this process usually takes several months to complete, giving the grower time to harvest their crops.
There are other advantages to the Garden Share arrangement; the grower often takes over an established garden that needs less work than a green-field site, and the owner may be an experienced gardener who can offer guidance to a novice gardener – if needed.
If you would like to know more, watch our 3 minute video clip on YouTube
How to set up a Garden Share Scheme
Sample Draft Agreement for Sharing a Garden
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