Note! 13 seconds black screen before video begins. Super 8 ‘experimental’ film showing Edinburgh allotments.

The history of Edinburgh’s allotment gardens is intricately interwoven with the history of the city’s development and expansion, beginning in the era when Edinburgh was little more than a large town surrounded by villages and open fields. An 1851 town plan shows ‘Patriotic Society Allotment Gardens’ in an undeveloped area west of the town centre.

The 1892 act obliged Scottish local authorities to provide allotments for the ‘labouring population’ if six or more ratepayers came forward to express an interest and a need.

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“During summer one Melbourne gardener, Marika Wagner, was struggling to look after her vegie patch under the somewhat arbitrary water restriction regime in Victoria – two watering windows a week is simply not enough to keep vegetables alive during a Melbourne summer!

“Like many others Marika rents her inner suburban home. For such people, those on a low income or for those who have a community garden plot, it is particularly difficult to grow vegies during summer.  For them systems such as water tanks are either out of reach financially or not worthwhile installing in a temporary situation.

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