“Tur pilnīgi cita pasaule”: vides jautājumi Lucavsalas dārzkopju stāstos

Abstract

The article focuses on experience stories of Lucavsala (an island in the river Daugava close to the Riga city centre) gardeners collected during the fieldwork in 2021. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were taken with gardeners and locals; historical transition, life and gardening in Lucavsala were fixed in observations, audio recordings and photography. As a result of the industrial development in the first half of the 19th century in Europe, allotment gardens were established for low-income urban citizens. The first colony of allotment gardens in Riga was established in 1909 near the area of Klijānu street, whereas gardens in Lucavsala appeared much later – in 1947. The total area devoted to gardening on the island has been both expanded and reduced over time. Lucavsala has also become a place for various cultural and artistic events and an object for research during the past ten years. Lucavsala informants’ experience stories cover a wide range of environmental issues reflected in a multifaceted manner. Environmental awareness is disclosed through stories about the geography of the city and the island, and gardening and stories about the quality of the environment and the landscape elements. The topic emerging in almost every interview is acquiring, settling in and managing a garden. There are rather detailed narratives covering their own garden and the close neighbourhood, while gardeners have hardly ever been to more distant places in Lucavsala and do not know them well. The garden houses are signifying objects in the overall landscape of the island, mostly self-built from recycled materials. A self-built house requires a lot of inventive skills as well as a creative approach to living in the garden. That is why the stories on the intentional burning of the houses are especially emotional. One of the reasons why urban people rent an allotment garden in Lucavsala is the desire to feel the presence of nature. However, the island is encircled by water and combines the elements of the rural environment, wildlife and urban world. While longing for nature, gardeners are also concerned with the quality of the environment. Even though waste on the island is mentioned in almost every interview, the environmental quality is judged to be relatively high. Fresh air, peace and quiet of Lucavsala seem to be important indicators of the environment’s cleanliness in the informants’ view.