“You grow the food, I give you the land”

Huertos Compartidos (Shared Gardens) is a Spanish initiative that, under the slogan: “You grow food, I give you the land”, puts into contact people who wish to grow a garden  but don’t have the land for it with land owners, who are willing to temporarily give it away, in exchange for sharing the harvest. 

It is not a commercial activity: it works through the free transfer of land and the harvest is divided equitably (50% each) between land owner and farmer. These gardens have to be organic  and the harvest has to be used for self-consumption. 

The website www.huertoscompartidos.es is not only a meeting point for those who like eco-friendly gardens, as well as healthy and natural diets, but also a social network and a community. As a matter of fact it is possible to share farming experience on the website, to publish texts, photos and videos. This way those who have more training and experience in organic farming can share it with everyone. It is possible to make friends in the Community of Huertos Compartidos, sharing interests for agroecology.

The movement was born in late 2011. Currently there are more than 2,500 registered members, 200 land owners who transfer their land and more than 600 farmers. Huertos Compartidos  is being implemented throughout Spain. 

This initiative aims to promote urban and organic farming,  food sovereignty, local food production,  social relationships and barter, which stands out as a new model of social economy.

The coordinator of the project, Santiago Cuerda, defines the project on elalmeria.es as an “option of healthy leisure”. The aim is to “give a tool that puts into contact those people, mainly city dwellers, who don’t have a piece of land, with other people who have it but don’t have time to cultivate it”. 

Huertos Compartidos is promoted by Reforesta, a State NGO for the protection of the environment, declared of public utility, which has been working in Spain for over 20 years. 

In order to find microfunding  for the project, Huertos Compartidos is on goteo.org, a crowdfunding platform.