Gardeners Meeting
The 35 plots of the shared garden are all allocated, so it was time for all gardeners to meet and to discuss the management of the shared garden. Since that Saturday, that’s been done!
We had a nice time in the greenhouse, where each of gardeners showed up. Aaa was also present to relocate the shared garden and its actors in the wider strategy that is R-Urban . We were able to find solutions for the organization of irrigation, and the management of the keys. Thank you all for coming in great numbers!
The “Lasagna Garden” Workshop
This week, hands-on workshop was devoted to gardening in the “lasagna method”. This technique enriches poor soil through organic gardening, and involves reusing waste such as cardboard, cut branches and leftover vegetables from the market, and use them in layers on the plot to grow: from the least decomposed on the bottom to the more decomposed on the uppermost layer. This allows for a highly nutritious substrate that can reconstruct the humus soil and avoid, by smothering weeds, the bulk of the weeding. We can even install a vegetable garden where there is no land on the concrete.
On this occasion three lasagna were carried out, one in the educational garden, and the other two on the Agrolab. The stack of layers followed this order: thick cardboard, twigs, dried grasses (in our case the result of weeding the garden), green waste market, shredded paper and cardboard, compost, enriched earth and vermicompost.
We have directly planted tomato plants, squash, pumpkins and squash (you can not sow directly in the lasagna, it takes little plants which are already a little developed). We can thus see how the plants react, compared to conventional planting in the garden soil.
Ground transplanting workshop
We enjoyed the beautiful weather this Saturday to make good progress on the plantations in the Agrolab. There are now three parcels of 12x4m fully planted. The pole beans of Soissons, who had already reached a considerable height and felt quite cramped in their small pots, were transplanted in the ground. Helped by the people, we have fabricated bamboo structures to stake the beans. We took advantage of the space inside the “V” formed by the structure to plant potatoes and test a form of crop intensification. Plots 2 and 3 are mostly planted in potatoes (Ratte and vitelotte): so we can expect a good harvest in the fall. Also on the menu this Saturday plantations: marmande tomatoes, sweet peppers of the Landes, the giant Italian parsley, white chard and celeriac.
As for the shared garden, it really takes shape thanks to the people who come every Saturday gardening their plots. William was the first harvest of the garden plot on his Michelet: fine (and good) radishes!
A waiting list was opened for the allocation of plots, for all those that have been run are now occupied.
Introductory Workshop to Compost
This last Saturday, despite the rain, you came in great numbers to participate in the compost workshop. For the occasion, we received Yvon, master composter from Nature Ecology . He has given us the recipe for good compost: the secret is in the balance between green waste and brown waste. The green waste is of nitrogenous matter (vegetable peelings, grass, cut flowers) while the wastes are brown on the other very rich in carbon (untreated cardboard, small wood, coffee grounds). Thus, we followed this basic rule to form the compost from the Michelet garden: we had green waste from the Marcellin Berthelot market, peelings from a Cameroonian restaurant nearby, and what each had set aside during this week in anticipation of workshop. For balance, we asked the cafe across the street to give us his coffee waste and we had gleaned cartons and branches of vines, which were the brown waste. In the afternoon we also saw a new manufacturing equipment for the garden: a composter in pallets, with three compartments, one of which already completed, so the result of this workshop was very informative.
Remember, the compost is manufactured in the long run, your various peelings are always welcome!
The “Alive Hedge” Workshop
This Saturday, we planted a hedge between the shared garden plots and the large plots of the Agrolab. It is not yet very visible, but, undoubtedly, it will grow!
A hedge is a fence made of live plants (trees, thorny shrubs, lianas). It also goes by the name of diversified hedge, ecological hedge, or country hedgerow when it consists of multiple species. Indeed, a hedge composed of different species is much more beneficial to the environment than hedgerows monospecific (single species), which are more susceptible to disease, climatic variations and are less well stocked than hedges involving various species . On the other hand, they cause an environmental depletion of the low fauna that they host. We know particularly cedar hedges are heavily used as they are very compact. For us, this is “green concrete”!
On Agrocité, the hedge is made of planted hazel, dogwood, plum, St. Lucia cherry, peach, broom, Europe charcoal, willow-wicker, all of which bring many benefits. Obviously, it separates two visually distinct spaces, but it also helps fight against soil erosion, improve water filtration and absorbs excess chemicals. The willow-wicker, because they are renewed very quickly, produce wood for use as fuel, to heat us while we will be eating this summer the first crop of fruit trees. This is both a shelter and a food source for small wildlife, and this, to support biodiversity.
The issue of Reuse
The inauguration of the Agrocité was closed this Saturday, March 31 by the Eco-Common # 3, at the CSC Fosses Jean, during which Michael Ghyoot of Rotor and Nicolas Mangione and Rosana Del Prete of Extramuros have presented their work on the reuse of materials.
Founded in 2005, Rotor is a Belgian group of people with a common interest for material flows in industry and construction. Thus, members of rotor formed during several years a database of materials and products that companies in the Brussels area looking to get rid but which have high potential for reuse. The team itself designs and builds art installations since 2006, furniture and architectural spaces from these second-hand materials. Michael introduced us to the particular project that is currently: a field study, commissioned by the Brussels Institute of Environmental Management, which is to quantify and inventorize waste streams from construction and demolition in the Brussels region capital. This inventory also includes the possible and appropriate flow channels for these second hand materials.
Meanwhile, the integration company Extramuros is interested in the reuse of these materials. Since 2008, the studio, installed near the Gennevilliers Gate, manufactures and distributes objects and furniture made from selected recycled materials, while minimizing their environmental footprint.
Thank you all for coming, and thank you to Michael and Nicolas, whose valuable insights will enrich the outlook of the R-Urban project.
Inauguration of the Agrocité
March 31 was the highlight for the Michelet garden which through the official opening becomes the Agrocité , namely the first of three R-Urban project sites in Colombes. There were present were all the actors involved in the project : aaa (the coordinator), the elected officials of the Municipality of Colombes (the partners), Ms. Dubois, representative of the European program LIFE + for environmental governance, and of course the inhabitants of Colombes. This event has allowed aaa to explain the place of the Michelet site already invested by the people since early 2012, the network R-Urban in Colombes, and to show the development of the project, including the ecological prototypes presented: test system of compost heating , and a aquaponics device. The representatives of the Colombes Municipality have meanwhile confirmed their support and investment in the project. Apart from these known partners, the inauguration was the occasion of a small exhibition of local actors, which are already invested or that could take part into the R-Urban project. Attendees were able to discover the backyard of the Farm of Happiness , from Nanterre, vermicomposting explained by Yvon of Nature-Ecology (located in La Garenne-Colombes). The Wild Gardens of Audra , geographically very close to the Agrocité, were also represented, as potential actors in the R-Urban network. Finally, Extramuros Gennevilliers, and the Belgian Rotor , explained more fully the work they are undertaking in the reuse of materials, as part of the Eco-Commun# 3 to CSC Fosses Jean.
Thank you for coming many, Doves and further, for this pleasant afternoon at the Agrocité.
Prototype for a Compost Heating System
This heating system recovers and reuses the heat energy produced by the compost during the biological process.At the heart of the volume of 1 m3 of compost, the temperature can reach 60 °. It therefore seemed worthwhile to try to recover the heat produced. The heat transfer system is based on a simple principle: that of the hot water heating. In the draft of the Agrocité , the system will serve to partially heat all the buildings during the cold period of the year.
The system comprises two parts: on the one hand the system loading, storage and movement of the compost and on the other hand the mobile system of transfer of thermal energy, which allows to recover the heat produced by compost. On the site of the Agrocité , compost can be recovered at different points of the site: at the Agrolab, shared garden, composting toilets. A compost storage vessel will be installed at each location. When these boxes are full, they can be moved and returned to the mezzanine of the building to be connected to the heating system. As the field presents difficulties in terms of transport, we chose two mechanisms: the conventional pallet transporter for flat areas and a platform with 4 wheels for more bumpy areas.
This prototype represents a first step in a long road that passes from the technical design to the implementation phase. With this experiment we can define some parameters of the system, which remains widely understudied in the world. The specifications of the prototype is in the Local Products section from our site: Compost heating .
design team: aaa and Yvon Nature Ecology
collaborated in the production of the prototype: Yassine, Michael and Basil
Gardenin and DIY Workshop
For the past week, aaa began construction of a large storage space made of pallets. This Saturday was an opportunity to put the finishing touches to this development: the roof made from a recovered tarp. For its part, the mayor of Colombes took care to install a gate.
Market gardening is no exception: a piece of Agrolab has been fully prepared and planted a few lines, protected by mulches. Another large parcel was started by people who had finished work on their personal plots, where they planted beans, lettuce, parsley and other vegetables.
