Waiting for a garden plot

Spring has arrived over at the Burnaby and Region Allotment Gardens where a new crop of gardeners are eagerly awaiting plots.

And they could be waiting a few years, according to Don Hatch, vice-president of the Burnaby and Region Allotment Gardens.

Hatch, who has been working his own plot for more than a decade, says the turnover for a plot in the gardens is less than 30 each year. This is out of the 374 garden plots that make up the 5.9 hectares of land leased from the city since the mid '70s.

Since its inception, the garden has increased in popularity and it takes about three years from the time someone applies for a plot, until they actually get a plot. One of the reasons they're so popular is because of the size of the plots they offer gardeners, Hatch said.

"We are probably the largest allotment garden in the Lower Mainland . our plots are 1,000 square feet each, which is extremely large considering that most of your community garden spaces in Vancouver and New Westminster (are) small," he said.

The waitlist for plots didn't just crop up overnight either. Hatch and his wife also waited about two years before they finally got their plot, back in 1999. Most people keep the plots for years before moving on, or retiring their horticulture inclinations, he said.

"For the last five or more years we've had a waiting list of approximately 100 people, and we turnover roughly 25 plots each year. So the waiting list goes down, but then it repopulates," he said. "There's people constantly looking for gardening space."

Most gardeners renting plots are from the surrounding apartment and condo buildings in South Burnaby, there are even a few home owners who don't have enough space in their own gardens, Hatch said.

Another draw for gardeners is the low fee for membership. When they get their plot, gardeners are asked to pay an annual membership fee of $20, and it costs another $80 each year for the plot rental.

Hatch said this is a great bargain considering the size of the plots. Almost all of the money collected goes back into the gardens for maintenance and equipment.

"We have a lot of pathways that are grass and have to be cut. We maintain a tractor and a lawn mowing machine so there's a fair bit of expense," he said. "We also have two buildings and a container on site."

As far as planting, seeding and harvesting, the plots are the responsibility of the renter and the allotment garden requires only that each plot make room for a flower bed, which is part of a beautification project.

But for those green thumbs who don't want to wait three years, or more, Burnaby has many other community gardens. These include the North East Burnaby Community Association Garden, the Second Street Community School Garden and the Heights Community Garden Association.

For more information, visit www.burnaby.ca/CityServices/Planning and follow the links to environmental planning and urban agriculture.