Waiting time for allotments doubled: “By the time it’s my turn I’ll be in the coffin”
Allotment gardens are extremely popular. According to the Bond van Volkstuinders, there are currently even a thousand people who want an allotment garden. But they can wait a long time, because there are only six thousand allotments in Amsterdam. “It’s just waiting for someone to fall.”
“If you calculate it with the five percent that approximately leave their garden behind every year, you would have to wait twenty to thirty years,” says Eric van der Putten of the Bond van Volkstuinders. How long you really have to wait, is provided in practice per park.
“First we had about a hundred registrations,” says Linda Pietersen, volunteer at Volkstuinpark de Eendracht. “But now there are two hundred on the waiting list.” According to Pietersen, it is partly due to corona, because people then realized that it is nice if you can even be in nature, instead of constantly between four walls. “There is also more attention for nature, gardening and the environment.”
Allotments closer to the center are also generally more popular. For example, it is no exception for allotments around the Westerpark if you have to wait fifteen years, says Van der Putten. Pietersen: “With us, it also depends on your own requirements. It takes at least two to three years for a house that you still have to redecorate yourself.”
labor camp
To see if all the people on the waiting list want a real garden, they are first expected to get acquainted with the Eendracht. There it is explained in an hour how they can get a garden and what is expected of them afterwards. What they need to know for sure is that your garden and the public areas of the park need to be done very well. Several allotment gardeners joke that it is fun, “but it is also often referred to as a labor camp.”
Waiting list
“I would like a garden,” says one of the newcomers. “I myself live in an apartment with no garden, so I would like to go outside this way.” When asked how long she thinks she will have to wait for a spot, she replies, “Let me stay positive. I hope I have a garden this year.” Another green lover is less optimistic: “We have to wait for someone to fall down. By the time it’s my turn, I’m in the box myself.”
“People don’t like it,” says Pietersen. “People just want a garden now. The waiting list is also long, but people often drop out later. It can’t be ten years.”