Bundeskleingartengesetz

One of the delightful things about German is its fondness for sticking several small words together to create one long one. Here we have Bundes-klein-garten-gesetz: federal-small-garden-law, a word that encapsulates my love for the German language and for the German cultural sensibility that longs for private gardens enough to consider them at length in national legislation.

The Bundeskleingartengesetz was a bill regulating the small garden plots that German city-dwellers can rent at the outskirts of virtually any German city. When I lived in Mannheim, I encountered a few pockets of these gardens: they are small plots of land, ranging from the size of a small bedroom to a large livingroom -- which are usually separated usually by mesh fencing. But more than a garden, these spaces are often homes away from home -- and some have compact, elaborate sheds with amenities for spending the night, preparing a meal, or hosting a small garden party. The degree of ownership and attachment people feel for these small pieces of land was moving, and goodness, I wish we had something comparable in Somerville!

Along the bikepath, there is a Somerville community garden project, but it is, in my estimation, a failure by comparison. The gardens are poorly maintained; the owners seem to have little actual ownership over the space -- anyone can gain access to the gardens, while the German gardens are under lock and key, preventing flower and vegetable thieves; and because of their location on along a thoroughfare for walkers and bikers, I can't imagine it would be a pleasant backdrop for weeding and planting.

I'm currently trying to grow a cilantro plant in my bedroom window now -- I started it from seed about a month ago -- and it seems, more than anything, like an exercise in desperation. As a counterpoint to the pleasure of watching a plant successfully grow is the moroseness you feel in watching a fledging plant grow taller without being able to hold itself up; growing a pale, whitish green instead of the robust shade of healthy plants.

Our small backyard, here, is paved in asphalt, and indeed, it is too small to justify a lawn and therefore a lawnmower, but I can't help longing for a little bit of land to play with...