Day 1, Wednesday: 28.08.2024
We arrived in Pau in the early afternoon. For today there is no commitment scheduled so we do a tour of the city to our bearings.
Day 2, Thursday: 29.08.2024
This morning we went to ASSAT, a village Pau, to CLAB (Conservatoire du Legumes Ancient du Bearn). We met Florence, Hubert and the other volunteers. CLAB, as its name suggests, is an institute for the conservation of local legume seeds. As Florence explained to us, in France industrial seeds have completely supplanted ancient local seeds, which have carved out a niche for themselves in Italy. But CLAB is not only this: most of the area is given over to the Jardin-Verger, a kitchen garden with an apple orchard of ancient plants. The garden is a very well organised mix of horticultural plants, flowers and medicinal plants. Each plant has its own tag describing it and at the entrance there is a multilingual audio guide to orientate you. I notice that the garden is looked after with a lot of love.
In the afternoon, after a visit to Henry IV’s castle, we visited the Jardin Partage Multivert located in the suburbs at the centre of a large multipurpose green area and surrounded by council houses on a public area, it is the typical urban garden composed of individual vegetable gardens full of flowers, each with its own shed, a rainwater collection system and communal area where there is a gazebo with a table for playing cards or chess and a small dome built from willow branches. It is a place where people meet, socialises, organises parties in the common area, relaxes and grows its own vegetables, It is, in fact, a place that invites to relaxation, meeting people, sharing and helping each other.
We were welcomed by two vegetable gardeners who, after a tour of the garden, told us how the garden has, over time, fostered socialisation and been a means of growth for the surrounding community. They invited us to a party tomorrow. Everyone brings something and they eat together in a mixture of smells, recipes and games from all over the world.
Day 3, Friday: 30.08.2024
Today we visited three gardens. Guynemer , Berlioz and Marsan.
The first is on communal land that the association first occupied and then applied for a concession. It consists of individual areas and a communal part where, in addition to plants, there is a children’s playhouse, compost bin and a very large wooden gazebo, designed by an architect who is a member of the garden and built together. Social ties (aperitifs and assemblies) are cultivated here. I particularly appreciated the cultivation of many herbs from their land, many of the gardeners are in fact of foreign origin. It is a green lung between the houses and, in fact, the members claim to have stopped the cementification of the neighbourhood with its presence.
The MJC Berlioz is a large green space where many different projects take place: from a youth centre, collective handicraft workshops, wellness activities, a food bank and cultural activities and a space for hosting various events and festivals, visiting artists are hosted on a large tree house. There are 3 different areas for horticulture, a vineyard. The horticultural activity is only one part of the association’s many initiatives. Unlike the other gardens, the visit was led by only one member of the association and there was not much discussion.
This space was also claimed by neighbourhood residents and then granted by the city. The neighbourhood collective was formed to collectively respond to the difficulties and build a more harmonious neighbourhood. Their slogan is: ‘passer d’un quartier vivable à un quartier vivant’.
The Marsan kitchen garden is located along the Marsan canal, also with a shared part and one designated for individual gardens. The shared area seemed to me to be left to itself and full of rabbits that evidently found a cosy habitat there. The association members, on the other hand, were particularly annoyed by it.
All the vegetable gardens visited in Pau were granted by the city at the request of the inhabitants formed in an association, as in our garden, the cultivation of social relations seems to be at the forefront.
Day 4, Saturday: 31.08.2024
Today at CLAB there were preparations for tomorrow’s party. Volunteers prepared apple juice with the fruit picked in the orchard, a long and tiring job, but the result was excellent! A Basque farmer gave a very interesting lecture on apple cultivation and one on ancient legumes, which unfortunately took place in the evening, while we had to leave earlier because of the buses. After lunch, as I had no defined tasks, I visited the garden again and exchanged impressions with the other project members.
Day 5, Sunday: 01.09.2024
At CLAB ‘Fete du Jardin-Verger 2024′ with local producers’ market, communal lunch and a very inspiring conference on local grains.
Together with the Austrians and Spaniards, we presented our projects. Very different experiences in each country, but all very interesting
Day 6, Monday: 02.09.2024
It’s the last day the Spaniards have already left and and the Austrians the morning together exchanging final impressions and reflections. On the good experience.
A special thanks to Nicolas who gave us all his time and supported us in every way.
