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Thursday, 03 January 2008

Subculture II

By Lia of the Yum Yum Café blog

My bicycle route to and from work takes me through the strange and wonderful world of allotment gardening.

It appears as though the owners of these gardens fall into three general categories.

First, there are the aging couples that have been caring for their plots for generations.

Secondly, the “foreigners” who tend to grow more vegetables than cultivate flowers or rock garden landscapes. They also, according to a friend of mine, tend to throw a lot of barbeques parties for friends and families.

And last, but not least, there is the New Generation. These are young adults with children who live in apartments in the city and want a place for their children to run and play in. This group have a distinct disregard about adhering to the garden co-op’s rules and guidelines.

A few of my friends belong to the latter two categories. They love their garden plots. Yet, as in all subcultures, they have to bear with certain tensions, broken commitments, pet peeves, and a thorny competitiveness for the benefit of the masses. Finding a balance between personal freedom and civic compliance is their nirvana.

I believe that garden co-ops can be seen as a microcosm of what it is like to live in Germany.

Posted by Ronni Bennett at 02:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post