R-Urban English

RECYCLAB will be having an open door event on Friday and Saturday the 4-5 July at Colombes, boulevard d’Achères.
This Eco- Solidarity Platform introduces new strategies for the revitalisation of urban waste through ecological and socially responsible production. It is a space of co-production and work sharing between ‘makers’ of any kind (designers, architects, tinkerers, students, technologists) and a network of local actors. The space is equipped with power tools, a fablab, kitchen, offices and a large terrace under the canopy of a row of trees.

AGROCITE  will also host open door events on the 5-6 July, 4-12 Rue Jules Michelet.
Come to see the garden, participate in guided walks, ateliers, discussions and score yourself a bargain in the grand trash and treasure market where nothing is lost, all is transformed! In this marketplace the currency is ‘trash’ and one person’s trash is another’s treasure! Bring along an object, whether it be a special recipe, crafts, clothes, furniture or something you’ve baked, and exchange it for another.

Agrocité has started a café associative with coffee available every Monday to Saturday, and meals available every thursday!

COFFEE

Fairtrade coffee is available from 12h – 18h Monday-Saturday at 80 cents a cup. We are currently using Feral Trade Coffee, sourced from Mexico and  brought to Agrocité through social networks, outside of commercial systems by Kate Rich, an artist and ethical trader aiming to make transparent the transactions and costs involved in the trade process. Check out the label on the back of the packet to learn about the different hands your coffee has gone through!

(http://www.feraltrade.org/cgi-bin/courier/courier.pl)

Other beverages are also on offer for 80 cents, such as our refreshing Agrocité-made elderflower syrup which perfect to relax in the garden with on a hot summer day! Locally made cakes and treats depend on availability.

MEALS

Each Thursday from 12h-14.30h, a unique, healthy meal will be made using vegetables of the garden. One plate costs 5 euros and numbers are limited so it is important to get there early. While you eat you can read about how the meal is benefitting your body and learn some helpful food facts to improve your health and nutrition, or if reading is not what your after at a lunchtime, you can sit under the pagola in the garden and embrace the serenity of nature. We also have an option of take away for those with limited time, especially if you bring your own tupperware!

The premier lunch was a hit with great reviews from customers. We made Chard and Chickpea curry, served with rice, a cucumber, mint and yoghurt raita and the option of a fresh and flavourful salad. In the images below you can see diners enjoying their meal, the nutritional information tablet provided, and two lunches packaged to go.

From June 4 to 7, the beekeeping season officially began at Agrocité, with initiation workshops into the arts and lives of bees!  Workshops were run by Alain, a local beekeeper who has developed a small apiary, allowing interested inhabitants to learn and practice with him.

Workers, the queen, drone, swarming, queen cells, nectar, pollen, honey, propolis are all a part of what keeps bees busy and what nourishes our planet… It is in a spirit of respect for the bee and their needs that is crucial to beekeeping, as Alain has instilled in us. We thank him and invite interested parties to make themselves known because the magic of beekeeping has only just begun!

In Agrocité, our plots are surrounded by hedges and alleys home to many small plants that we do not always know. These can be edible, medicinal and beautiful plants… They also tell us the characteristics of our land … yet most commonly, we refer to them as “weeds!”

Sylvie, host Nature Center, will teach us a little more about the flora that surrounds us!

Celebrate spring by planting a mound of aromatic goodness at Agrocité!

The entrance to the garden has been prepared to accommodate a selection of aromatic and medicinal plants. The mound is a perfect spot for these kinds of plants as they need more heat and drought than other plants, and the slope will allow us to create different environments to suit our companions of a thousand smells!

Come and join us in planting ans sowing thyme, rosemary, lavender, sage, parsley, coriander, sorrel, comfrey …

Entry free and open to all!

Two presentations and discussions followed one another on Saturday night 16th of January, at Agrocité, around:

– the initiation of a cooperative housing in Colombes (aaa)

– the progress of R-Urban Project in London (Public Works)

Next Saturday, Recyclab will host a special evening dedicated to urban agriculture and cooperative housing!

Program:

• URBAN AGRICULTURE IN BERLIN / Prinzessingärten

5:00pm – presentation and debate with  MARCO CLAUSEN, co-founded of the project Prinzessingärten,

about an ecological and economic projectin Berlin.

• COOPERATIVE HOUSING IN EUROPE

5:45pm – presentation and debate with [ STEALTH ] and atelier d’architecture autogérée (AAA),

about various projects of cooperative housing across Europe.

Practical information:

Date and time: Saturday, the 19th of october, at 5:00pm

Place: Recyclab, 11 boulevard d’Achères à Colombes

Access: 5 minutes by foot from the train station “Le Stade” in Colombes; bus

Free entrance

‘Picking up the pieces‘ will bring together makers and cultural producers from the Hackney Wick area which explore issues around, recycling, reuse, and the collective production of public situations. The session alongside the academic exposition Between the A12 and Lea River, will feature projects and practitioners which draw from the physical, cultural and creative resources of Hackney Wick and its proximity to produce inventive solutions. Highlighting ways of working and thinking which encourage a hands on approach to making with results ranging from stools to temporary cultural spaces and everything in between. Speakers will give a short 5 minute introduction to their work followed by an open conversation.

Speakers include:
Bruce Ingram
Martino Gamper
Takeshi Hayatsu
Assemble
public works

The session is part of the exposition Between the A12 and Lea River organised by Colin Priest and will be hosted by the Wick Curiosity Shop

This Saturday, June 30th, the Eco-Commun # 05 was held . On this occasion, we received the association Terre de Liens. Blaise, from Terre de Liens Ile de France , came to present the work they undertake to achieve the salvation of the farmland. To stem this loss, they act to install and maintain agricultural officials. The issue is particularly crucial in our region, where land pressure on agricultural land is very high. There are currently three farms installed by Terre de Liens in Ile de France, including an incubator, which allows young farmers to learn, and test the business a year before embarking on a personal exploitation. To make this possible, at the heart of Terre de Liens actions lies  the idea to develop social finance tools for use by all persons who wish to leave the succession of property of rural land market and speculative mechanisms and facilitate access to land for the project leaders in rural areas. Reflecting on these tools, in collaboration with La Nef , it is currently partially carried out, with a land already created, the project for a foundation. Terre de Liens participates in recreating a collective and individual responsibility for the preservation of the common good that represents the earth.

This presentation was also very important for the Michelet garden, because Terre de Liens helps us in our leader research project for the Agrolab – the professional part of the garden, with its large vegetable plots. We know we can count on their experience and we refer to farms already operating in the IDF: The Sands of Lumigny , and the incubator of Toussacq, the Champ des possibles.

The collective Etc, present this whole week for a workshop, discussed about their Detour de France : since October 2011, the Collective Etc. left on the roads of France, cycling and for one year was meeting and working with the various actors involved in the citizen manufacturing of the city.
It is within this context that they came to the Michelet garden, both to take part in the Agrocité project, but also to observe the practice of aaa in the establishment of the R-Urban project.

We also took this opportunity to inaugurate the construction of facilities in the garden, the fruit of a week’s work. A very pleasant afternoon, where residents have discovered the equipment that has emerged in so little time on the garden, and we ended with a delicious bread baking in the oven loaned by the gardeners of the Wild Gardens of Audra .
Thanks to all!