Gardening in France: All ages learn about ecology together in Nice
“I am able to live self-sufficiently on fruit and vegetables during the summer thanks to this garden,” he said, adding that he can do that because he also eats more unconventional vegetables.
By Théophile Larcher
The Connexion
June 27, 2022
Excerpt:
Public gardens in France belong in two categories: the collective garden that comprises familial, community and shared gardens, and the pedagogical [teaching] garden, which is for educational purposes.
The total number of pedagogical, collective, shared and family gardens is unknown, but they have been steadily increasing since 2000, after having been abandoned or used for other activities after WW2.
Most French regions list several hundreds of collective and pedagogical gardens.
Nice counted 186 in December 2018, according to an estimation provided by the Métropole Nice-Côte d’Azur.
“The location helps with the values of vivre-ensemble and everything attached to democracy,” said René Fiaschi, 80, the president of Appese, adding that the space was both called a pedagogical and a shared garden.
The 100-metre-square area is situated on the hills of the museum.
The open-air space counts several clusters of land dedicated to separate gardening activities, each dedicated to different categories of people.
The very back of the area is assigned to waste like vegetable and fruit peelings, or fig-tree branches, all of which help to feed a big composting area that then creates soil for gardens.
