City garden, more than just a green space
Climate change, biodiversity and waste problems are becoming more and more of a concern. Two urban agriculture projects: I can change the world with my two hands and MijnStadstuin, show that it is possible to go towards a more sustainable Amsterdam.
As you walk down the Jasper Leijnsenstraat, you only see lines of buildings. Door after door after door. No one could guess that one of these doors is the entrance to a hidden gem. As you step inside and walk through the small alley, the smell of the forest reaches your nose. Then a view of nature comes into sight, a space filled with little garden plots with colorful flowers, vegetables, herbs, and fresh fruits. A tuinkafe (garden café) welcomes you as you arrive. They serve you drinks and pastries while you experience nature in the middle of the city, and watch local residents cultivating their individual gardens. Taking their mind off everyday work does not require a long journey for these local residents.
This is the community garden of “I can change the world with my two hands”, initiated by Natascha, an artist and trend researcher based in Amsterdam. She first got the idea in 2003, when shown a community garden in the middle of New York. “That’s where I got the first sort of feeling that this will become important again” she explained. The 1200 m2 garden was once an abandoned playground with a children’s swimming pool. When the municipality asked the neighborhood for ideas of what they can use the area for, the artist proposed a community garden right away. She remarks that it was quite a challenge to convince people since sustainability was not as much of a concern at the time. In 2011, the unused courtyard transformed into an oasis of green for the local residents. It becomes the first neighborhood garden and a pioneering urban farming project in Amsterdam.
“We shouldn’t wait for a change”
Behind the name “I can change the world with my two hands”, Natascha wished to remind: “We shouldn’t wait for a change to happen, we can start by ourselves, right here right now. It could be only little changes and all these little changes will be huge one day”, she explains passionately. Coming from the belief that urban farming will lead to a sustainable and ecological environment, Natascha started to make the difference, hoping that other initiatives would follow, for a bigger impact. This association (vereniging) also serves as a channel for the local residents to bring positive influence in the world: growing their own food on their individual gardens, volunteering and connecting with neighbors, bringing their kitchen scraps to be composted, and picking organic flowers.
With the focus of building a sustainable community and reaching a higher goal for the ecosystem, those interested in a plot must first volunteer and prove their commitment to care for the garden collectively. This system only started 2 years ago. “It’s not based on how long you are on the waiting list but how involved you are” says Nico van Loon, one of the gardeners who started volunteering 2 years ago and got a garden a year after. Volunteers can either participate in the helping out days/Meewerkdag, or join one of the working groups. In “I can change the world with my two hands” the work is divided into different working groups consisting of certain types of skills or knowledge. The objective: forming a healthy, functioning community. Some of the working groups are: Compostgroep - everything concerning the compost project, pluktuin groep - taking care of the picking and production gardens, tuinkafe groep - running the tuinkafe, inmaak werkgroep - producing for the tuinkafe. Gardeners must contribute in at least two of these working groups. Marion Broertjes, one of the gardeners asserts “We are all responsible for everything here, we’re all doing it together, otherwise it doesn’t work.”
Another initiative arises
In 2015, around 10 kilometers away from the city center, another urban farm emerged. MijnStadstuin aims to make the green project larger and turn it into business. The director, Sem Roefs, believes that they can teach people a lot about sustainable food production and consumption in the 4 hectares field. How? In 3 different ways. Firstly, by providing the citizens land to grow their own food in their 50m2 rented garden. Everything is available on the field, including necessary gardening tools and knowledge, as well as good quality compost that people can buy for 35 Euros per 10 wheelbarrows. Secondly, Roefs works together with 8 different entrepreneurs who propose their own solutions to broken food systems such as long travel distance and loss of biodiversity and soil quality in Amsterdam. Lastly, they build their own food projects. Other than planting food, they also have their own hop fields to produce for a local brewer, Oedipus. They make their own compost and are now planning to construct a community building for food education: fermenting, preserving, regenerative agriculture.
Gardeners in both “I can change the world with my two hands” and MijnStadstuin are nourished with new knowledge. At the beginning, Natascha, the initiator of “I can change the world with my two hands” organized workshops, inviting experts in urban farming and compost. Today, new gardeners are usually assisted instead by the existing gardeners who love to share their knowledge and tips. Marion who has been planting in this community garden for 4 years, usually lets people know the importance of rotating the crops to different spots. Each plant absorbs different types of nutrients from the soil, so putting it in the same place will deteriorate the soil structure as the same nutrients are always used up. Fabio, a gardener in MijnStadstuin knew nothing about gardening when he started in 2018. He then started learning from the internet and asked for tips from his neighboring gardeners: “We help each other a lot” he said. A Garden Butler is also available to transfer all their knowledge, helping people consult planting goals and problems, as well as offering some help in the garden.
Impact for the earth and yourself
More urban farming projects mean a more sustainable ecosystem in Amsterdam’s environment. In both projects, citizens must cultivate in an organic and biological way. No pesticides are allowed, because they pollute air, water and soil, and the use of them also opposes one of their goals, improving biodiversity. There are many different varieties of bumblebees in the community garden, and they decorate the plants beautifully. In MijnStadstuin, the 6.000 m2 food forest contains almost 100 different varieties of vegetables, fruit and nuts. It contributes both to the biodiversity and water retention in Amsterdam’s soil. Another environmental benefit that these initiatives create is reducing waste, as they both transform it into compost. 125 households hand-in their vegetable and fruit scraps for Afval naar Oogst, the composting project of “I can change the world with my two hands.” Volunteers and gardeners make the compost themselves with 5 tumblers they own. Additionally, instead of letting rainwater waste away into the earth, they also collect and contain it to irrigate the garden during dryness.
As well as improving the the environment and food system, planting also benefits the gardeners on so many levels. Sem from MijnStadstuin noticed some gardeners quit their gym membership and replacing it with gardening. Fabio takes the activity not only as a work out, but also as a way to relax his mind. He comes to the field every day before starting his work at the afternoon. “I love everything about this place, I love being in the nature, and I am very proud of my garden” he expresses. Marion from the community garden feels the same: “This place makes me really happy, it’s like a therapy, it’s my meditation.” During summer vacations, the 63 years old teacher comes here four times a week, sometimes just to sit and read a book. She also points out that the community garden strengthens the social connections in the neighborhood. It’s a place to meet people, and the mutual interest in gardening makes it easier to connect.
From individuals to entrepreneurs, more and more people work together towards food self-sufficiency. A Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), Groenhartig in Mijnstadstuin for example, aims to change agriculture towards more organic and ecological practices. The owner, Michel Kegels has been renting the land for four and a half years. There are 120 varieties of products growing on his farm, which are regularly delivered to local restaurants and the 38 members. The members subscribe for one season (32 weeks) to get a box of different vegetables and fruits every week. By doing this, Michel wants to invite people to consume locally, in order to reduce transport and support local economy. For individuals, growing their own food creates a high respect towards food and farmers. As most people only go to the supermarket or even shop online, they don’t realize how much effort and time is needed for a salad to go from the ground to their plate.