Page 8 - ALG 1 2018 html5 version

International
Allotment gardeners are part of society!
Here you can see the bene cial consequences of allotment gardeners’ engagement in community life and local politics. Mariahoeve in The Hague (NL) is an allotment site with 80
gardens, and the members are very keen on natural gardening. The association has a working group “Natural Gardening” with 14 members of which 3 are not even members of the association.
The result of the working group’s hard work over the past 6 years is that you can now nd:
• Approximately 25 bird nest boxes for sparrows, tits and starlings, a falcon box, bat boxes, duck baskets and hedgehog shelters
• Wooded banks, dead hedges, dry stone walls, and tiles for shelter
• A butter y garden, 2 wild ower meadows, and a herb garden for both members and non-members
• An island with 2 snake shelters, several insect hotels and an insect wall
• Information signs
Special activities are organised such as:
• A ower day and picnic morning for the elderly
• A natural gardening excursion for young people from the
neighbouring garden
• A Day of the Garden
• Courses for ecological gardening
• Promotion of natural gardening at local fairs
• Library/exposition of gardening related books and magazines
In 2013 the group noticed that the quality of the water in the surrounding area and on their allotment site had worsened. This
was strange as the ditches are in direct contact with the ecological connection zone De Schenk, which the city of The Hague speaks proudly of. After some research the association discovered that there was a broken connection in the ecological connection zone. A dam had been built during major roadworks and not removed once the work was completed. There was no stream ow and nothing alive in the water.
The association reported their ndings by telephone, by mail and through a web form to the authorities but there was no response
at all. The association took the initiative to write a thorough report, and presented their conclusions to the Water Authority. This time there was a response, and after the necessary discussions, the water authority took action, changing the dam into a tilting valve weir (klepstuw) that sh can pass through.
The new movable dam was nished in January 2017 and as a result, the quality of the water has improved signi cantly and the sh are back.
Thanks to the persistence of a group of citizens of The Hague, who helped the local authority to understand and solve the problem.
Because of this:
• The water quality not just in and around the garden site but in
the whole neighbourhood improved signi cantly
• After many years there are sh swimming again in the waters
surrounding the garden site
• There was co-operation between the Water Authority, city of
the Hague and the garden association Mariahoeve
• A water covenant was concluded between the garden
association and the city of The Hague
• Excellent co-operation with the city of The Hague: local
authorities for the citizens of The Hague, but also together
with them.
On October 11th 2017, the Of ce International du Coin de Terre
et des Jardins Familiaux’s certi cate for the European Week for Local Democracy was granted to the association Mariahoeve.
8
Danish Vegetable Terrine
Ingredients:
500g Chinese broccoli Salt
500g carrots
6 eggs
150ml milk
Preparation:
200g Havarti cheese
1 onion
Freshly crushed white pepper Some butter for greasing the tin
1. Wash the Chinese broccoli clean and cut into small bunches. 2. Boil some salted water and blanch the Chinese broccoli
for a few minutes. Remove, and chill it in iced water
before leaving it to drain.
3. Wash and peel the carrots, cut them in half lengthwise
and cook them in the salt water from before for 8