The garden comes alive at Les Courmettes

For the past few months, a small corner of Courmettes has been experiencing renewed activity. Team members and volunteers are busy, walkers stop by and visitors chat… It is beautiful, full of colours, movement and smells in this early autumn. A few butterflies linger on the last lavender flowers, a slow-worm hides under the dead leaves, there’s a snake in the compost, and a toad has already taken shelter under the mulch. This is a little corner that is teeming with renewed biodiversity!

It’s… the garden! Started three years ago by Frédéric as a permaculture vegetable garden-orchard, and then left somewhat abandoned for many months, it is now slowly coming back to life, thanks to the precious help of several volunteers who work there every week, and in particular Philippe, who was a gardener for several years at Les Courmettes, long before A Rocha’s presence.

And we can say that this work is beginning to bear fruit!

While squash, tomatoes, lettuce and beans have been a welcome addition to the summer menus, now it’s the turn of fennel, chard and multi-coloured apples to be served on the team’s table.

A small part of a European funding grant (Life Programme) obtained recently for the development of ARF’s work, will allow the creation of an educational garden in this space. The idea is to develop the site so that it can easily be used by schools in the area and to offer workshops and events on the garden and its biodiversity.

The Courmettes team is already working on setting up an programme adapted to schoolchildren, by proposing a whole range of outings and nature activities, which could also include workshops on the garden.

There is still a lot to be done*, but what better encouragement than this exclamation heard this summer from one of the children at the Eco-Adventure camp: “But this is the Garden of Eden right here!”

* Do you have some time, gardening and/or DIY skills (building vegetable containers, setting up a garden shed, etc.) and do you want to help with this project? We are looking for volunteers (one-off or regulars) to help us develop and maintain the garden. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested.