European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 1, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine Germany s Snail gardeners let Totcy be of War guide in decorating theft Hytti plots of tend. Germany s weekend gardeners by Mary Neth stall writer a poaching fran Lurl by train an american newly arrived in Wesl Germany was puzzled by rows of Huls on Liny plots of kind Boid Cring the Iracks the people must a very poor to live in shacks like Whoso he observed. Whal he was . However was not slums bul Little weekend collages next to neatly Laid out lower. Fruit and beget Tialii gardens in Spring. Luhcs Klc Garlen Small gardens 01 so Irebe Garfin. H som into enclaves Olbright greenery this kind of gardening has a Long tradition in Germany the idea stems from a certain or. Daniel Schieber 1606 1bsi. Who saw the gardens As away Lor cily poor to grow food for themselves and Lurcher health through outdoor work. Today the close to 700.000 Small gardens serve a different purpose they re simply a place Lor people to unwind on weekends to they Doc lore. Shopkeepers or Lack Oil workers. Pilicy All shrug off workday stress by Lussing Over raws of carrots and tulips and the like a Spring Shower had just ended when Wilholm Wetzstein a lira Man. Invited us into his Garden on Taulbe Railee and euchre Bertog in Darmstadt icily 15 Miles South of Frankfurt alter placing plastic seats Over the Damp picnic chairs Wel Stoin disappeared into thu Garden House and returned with drinks my Wile and 1 Lisl re need Ima plot 16 years ago when our daughter was 5 years old to said. We five in the Center of town and saw Iho Garden As an Opportunity to spend More time with her outdoors " Yoa ily Lent a 120 Marks 173 at an Exchange Rale of t .65 Marks to inc Dollar. The wet steins Pul Down 700 Marks $4241 to Lake Over he properly thai included Raymonl loins Farmer owner Lor fruit Trees. Today initial Cost probably would be in the area of 4.000 or 5,000 Marks $2.424 or $3,000. The wet steins can continue renting the plot As Long As they continue to work it. There was Only the Small tool shed in the beginning. Wot Slein said thai he built the present cottage himself with the help of friends. It has two rooms a Kitchen with running water and a Gas stove and a bedroom. On hot summer nights the Watz steins Retreat from their 1 blah floor High Rise apartment to the Garden s Cool greenery. Following the Garden Colony s membership rules the plot is divided Inlo three equal parts. The House Terrace and tiny manicured Lawn Lake up the Back third. Wetzstein s vegetable Garden is in the censer. Up front in Lull View of the path is his Wile s floor Garden full of roses and dahlias. There Are Only a couple of gardeners out on this Spring morning ecu slain said thai As a fireman he works Shilts and is one of the Lew who can Parden during the week of Tost  he said Are Only Here weekends or  wet Slom s gardening he and melted. Is More for relaxation inn fantastic Devotion to Hornli Colluro me Sticks to a. Prosaic selection Green onions carrots Beans lettuce tomatoes and celery. Everyday vegetables to Calls whom. Whal he like to late about is not gardening bul past Garden parties. In the old Days people mined More Torbay. 1 Don t know Why people tend to slay by themselves maybe ii is because people Are bettor Oil  the original gardens Oil Schre Bewig Are divided Inlo 97 parcels cacti roughly 370 Square Yards in size to prevent anyone irom sneakily gelling into real Ozlale Trio size of buildings on the properly is limited to 30 Square Yards one parcel of the Schrobo wog gardens is used As a children s playground a family Type Gasthaus Sils on another. The remaining plots plus Tho 47 new ones Down Tho Road. Add up to 142 individual fenced in Little kingdoms. Rakish statues of elves decorate the paths of some. Others bean i fancy lower boxes or elaborate Stone bordered pools. Wetzstein said to knows 90 percent of All the weekend Green Ihu Miciu. Two americans have had plots too. The  Small gardens association hosts several annual events including an Outing Lor residents of Home Lor the elderly a summer festival for children and a fall thanksgiving dinner dance this year there will be a special 65th anniversary Ceto Caralion the first seven acres for the Darmstadt plots were donated in 1923 by the Hessen Forest  Linn under a Small Garden Law which do Ignafol strips of grounds Lor Community social development according to Jakob Bartho Imos chairman of the association next the association we Lou Dud a Board of directors named and Iho land was divided Inlo parcels for Iho very  then said bail Holmes. Iho gardening began iwo were no Flowers every Inch was do Volari la vegetables. Tho Small Garden Mem bars spent their sundays digging and hoeing and watering their Diligence brought scorn and laughter Iruin the Rel us Iii populace. A lot of the produce was Stotman ii still is  Garri Olmos added. In 1983. Ine Law concerning the Small gardens was Rcw Tilten. Today they Are designated has having important ecological and social value their main purpose is to offer Largo families and families Wilh lower incomes an Opportunity Lor outdoor relaxation. Gar Holmes noted thai not every German City adheres to Nteso principles in some cities prices Lor Garden polls have skyrocketed so much thai Only the we achy can a lord them since the Small gardens Are threatened by inner City build up and outer City Industrial complexes the 1933 Law urges that they be included in ecological Green zone cily planning Bartholmes said thai the in Cral organization of Small Garden members also has become very aware of ecology using pesticide is a thing of the  he said just then a brightly coloured Reddish Brown Butterfly Sar Tholmas called a urns or to landed daintily on the table. Bartholmes was delighted. That a a variety of bulgar Fly you Don t often Seo he said. Buller lies Birds and lizards have come Back to the gardens since we slapped pumping Poison pesticides into the Earth the German Federal health department discourages the planting of some types of produce. It has warned thai City land is heavily con laminated by Industrial waste and thai Garden grown lettuce and spinach May not be Sale to eat. No matter the Small gardeners ringed by Flowers and Fellowship Are not about t become discouraged. It s a summer vacation House that s nol out of sight. Sunday May 1, 19bs the stars and stripes Page 13