For a long time, allotments were considered dusty.
Now they are experiencing a renaissance.
Waiting lists of several years are not uncommon.
Rental gardens are also booming.
Frankfurt / Fulda - Working in the fresh air, your own vegetables on your plate: allotment and rental gardens in Hesse have experienced a real boom in recent years. “The demand is very high. We cannot meet the demand, ”says Klaus Beuermann, Chairman of the Hessen State Association of Allotment Gardeners. There are so many applications for the parcels that some clubs no longer accept registrations at all. "You already have waiting lists of up to three years and don't want to raise false hopes."
Demand has already risen significantly in the past three to four years. The corona pandemic did not significantly contribute to this, says Beuermann. He suspects that this development has to do with increased environmental awareness. The desire for self-sufficiency has also grown. “People want organic vegetables from their own cultivation. You want to eat healthily, ”says Beuermann. The applicants are a cross-section of society. “In recent years, however, more and more younger people have applied, including young families and students,” explains the chairman of the association, which has 34,113 members in 313 associations.
Rental gardens are also becoming increasingly popular. “The demand has definitely increased, even in the very rural locations,” says Stefanie Krecek. The qualified ecotrophologist is project manager at tegut Saisongarten, the largest provider in Hessen with 14 locations. The popularity has already increased in recent years, the corona pandemic has intensified this development again, she explains.
Started as a pilot project in Fulda in 2009, there are now 21 tegut seasonal gardens nationwide. The concept: farmers lease plots of their land. In Kassel, for example, there is a seasonal garden with 100 parcels, in Selters with 70. Krecek itself offers 80 parcels in Fulda. They are already planted and sown. In the case of the tegut seasonal gardens with around 25 different organic vegetables. Once the first rows have been harvested, they can be re-sown and planted again. "Compliance with the EU's ecological guidelines for seeds and plants is a basic requirement in the fields," explains Krecek.
Plots of 40 or 80 square meters can be leased for maintenance and harvesting for one season. A one-time fee is charged for this. For a small parcel this is 140 euros at most locations, and 250 euros for a large one. The seasonal gardens are usually taken over in May. In autumn, after the harvest, they go back to the farmer. The service includes tools, water and tips from the professionals.
The tenants are completely mixed in terms of age, gender and living situation, says Krecek.
They rented a parcel for a variety of reasons: “Some have their own garden, but it is not suitable for growing vegetables or as a play area for the children.
Others would rather garden elsewhere than at home than take time off, so to speak.
Some seek social contact, for some it is therapy.
And others just do it because they want to grow and eat their own vegetables, ”summarizes Krecek.
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The Bonn-based provider Meine Harvest has also noticed an increase in demand for rental gardens in the past two years, says press spokeswoman Ina Remmel.
"Bookings for the 2022 gardening season are already possible and we are already fully booked at very popular locations and there are waiting lists." In order to meet the increasing demand, the company wants to expand the area with its farmers.
My harvest currently operates two locations in Hesse.
"In Frankfurt, 130 vegetable gardens are planned for the next garden season and 110 vegetable gardens for Wiesbaden," explains Remmel.
On offer: mini gardens with 20 square meters for 139 euros, small vegetable gardens with 45 square meters for 229 euros and family gardens with 90 square meters for 439 euros.
The reasons for the boom?
A recent survey by the company showed that most of them booked their garden because gardening is good for them physically and mentally, because they want to eat healthily and to a certain extent care for themselves, says Remmel.
"The contribution to climate protection through short transport routes, no pesticides and plastic was often mentioned."
Spending time in nature has been shown to have a positive effect on our perception of stress and is good for health on a neurobiological, hormonal and social level, says the Berlin psychiatrist and stress researcher Mazda Adli.
“Spending time in the country leads to a measurable milder increase in the stress hormone cortisol than, for example, when we walk down a paved road,” explains the chief physician at the Fliedner Klinik Berlin.
It is obvious that this effect is evolutionary.
“Humans have always been part of the natural environment.
We intuitively feel at home in the country.
It is inherent in us and is certainly a leftover from our time in the steppes and forests, ”explains Adli.
In addition to the aspect that exercise is fundamentally good for the body and mind, gardening also means that working with the hands strengthens the experience of self-efficacy.
"We can look at our own, visible work," says the stress researcher.
dpa
