87
4.6.2 Food Provisioning from Hobby Gardens
Hobby farming in allotment gardens reaps a variety of benefits, the most direct of
which is access to fresh food (Pothukuchi 2004). While quantifying food production
in allotment gardens is regarded as a valuable assessment, it remains unknown
(Gittleman et al. 2012). Therefore, we tried to identify actual yield from two selected
allotment gardens in the Tokyo region (Tahara et al. 2011). One is the Hagidai garden in Chiba city, which is a typical allotment farm without guidance of professionals (non-guided type). The other one is the Shiraishi garden in Nerima ward, which
is Japan’s first allotment garden with farmer’s guidance (guided type) (Fig. 4.35).
The types of vegetables planted in each garden are diverse (Fig. 4.36). Warm
climate and four distinct seasons enable gardeners to grow both summer vegetables (tomatoes, eggplants, edamame, okra, corn, etc.) and winter vegetables
(potatoes, daikon radish, broccoli, onions, cabbage, etc.). The allotment farmers
plant a large variety of vegetables in small amounts characteristic of hobby farming. Yields were identified from direct weight measurements by gardeners randomly selected from each garden (Fig. 4.37). For the guided type, farmers
carefully prepare soil before planting to be rich and homogeneous for all plots,
and decide the vegetable planting pattern commonly applied to all allotments.
Nerima ward, Tokyo
Shiraishi garden
Chiba city, Chiba
120 USD/yr
Guided type
Non-guided type
Years in operation
Area of the representative plot
Rental cost per plot
38
30 m
2
121
430 USD/yr
14
125
Hagidai garden
Number of plots
30 m
2
Fig. 4.35 Location and basic figures of the case study gardens (Tahara et al. 2011)
4 The Value of Grey
4.6.2 Food Provisioning from Hobby Gardens
Hobby farming in allotment gardens reaps a variety of benefits, the most direct of
which is access to fresh food (Pothukuchi 2004). While quantifying food production
in allotment gardens is regarded as a valuable assessment, it remains unknown
(Gittleman et al. 2012). Therefore, we tried to identify actual yield from two selected
allotment gardens in the Tokyo region (Tahara et al. 2011). One is the Hagidai garden in Chiba city, which is a typical allotment farm without guidance of professionals (non-guided type). The other one is the Shiraishi garden in Nerima ward, which
is Japan’s first allotment garden with farmer’s guidance (guided type) (Fig. 4.35).
The types of vegetables planted in each garden are diverse (Fig. 4.36). Warm
climate and four distinct seasons enable gardeners to grow both summer vegetables (tomatoes, eggplants, edamame, okra, corn, etc.) and winter vegetables
(potatoes, daikon radish, broccoli, onions, cabbage, etc.). The allotment farmers
plant a large variety of vegetables in small amounts characteristic of hobby farming. Yields were identified from direct weight measurements by gardeners randomly selected from each garden (Fig. 4.37). For the guided type, farmers
carefully prepare soil before planting to be rich and homogeneous for all plots,
and decide the vegetable planting pattern commonly applied to all allotments.
Nerima ward, Tokyo
Shiraishi garden
Chiba city, Chiba
120 USD/yr
Guided type
Non-guided type
Years in operation
Area of the representative plot
Rental cost per plot
38
30 m
2
121
430 USD/yr
14
125
Hagidai garden
Number of plots
30 m
2
Fig. 4.35 Location and basic figures of the case study gardens (Tahara et al. 2011)
4 The Value of Grey