How to build a garden near a city?

House, where we met with Kate, was just next to the train station. Green path connecting the house with the garden and garden were hidden from the main train road by pine trees. We discussed with Kate about gardens, but essentially it became a discussion about contemplation, creation of different ways to see in the city and in nature.

Do you want to build a garden near the city you live in?

Me:
You arrived at the house which you bought with a piece of land. The land was quite wild, there is a lot of grass, there is nothing really growing there (or the opposite, too much of wild plants). What did you do? What usually people do?

Kate:
Sometimes what you should do, and what you are able to actually do, aren’t compatible. In order to find out as much as possible about the land you are about to farm, the ideal thing is to observe it throughout a whole year. That way you can mark the progress of the sun, the areas of frost, investigate the flora and fauna already living there.

What we actually did…was to cut back all of the vegetation (brambles and horsetail as high as our heads) using a tractor. We then left all this organic matter on the ground and plotted out the areas we wanted to grow on that year. We did wait to observe the best spots for the permanent plants and trees, which were planted the following year. The rest of the land was left to grow naturally during the season and we noted which plants grew in abundance. These “indicator plants” are a great providers to understand the soil and how this differs over the land — even over a small site of 4000 m2. For the areas of plantation, we brought in as much organic matter as possible — horse manure, neighbour’s green waste, local landscapers’ wood cuttings. We covered the beds with this mulch and used carboard and plastic to prevent the local plants growing back. Then we started sowing some seeds… ready to be planted later that spring.

Me: So then did you get any advice from anywhere? Any books, advice from neighbors?

Kate:
There are so many different resources available to us today. Alongside an agricultural diploma, I studied No Dig gardening techniques and anything that falls under the vast term of Permaculture. I also think it is important to understand soil life as much as possible… the botany comes afterwards! Claude and Lydia Bourginon, Martin Crawford, Ruth Stout, Charles Dowding were all in my reading list.

The most useful thing to do before you start in practice, is to go and visit/work on as many farms (of all shapes and sizes as possible). Once you’ve installed, it’s hard to find the time!

Me: Indeed, how to find the time, so what is the everyday schedule before, when you just arrived and started your garden/potage?

Kate:
My schedule before I arrived was very different as we were living in Paris and didn’t have a baby! Now it is dependent on the season — and the baby.

Springtime there’s lots of sowing, planting, weeding, Summer is keeping everything alive… feeding, pest prevention, watering etc.. the autumn is mainly harvesting. We have started at a small scale, without the pressure of making it financially viable for the first few years as both my partner and I work alongside the project. That has allowed me to spend time on essential, but non lucrative parts of the farm such as flowers for insects or perennials such as the fruit trees. I enjoy choosing my working hours, which can help with family life too. An hour weeding in the garden just before the sun goes doesn’t always feel like work.

Me: And how did it change now?

There is always something to be done, so being efficient with a schedule is important — and not feeling submerged by the work. I think that’s what I’m trying to change now.

We are also just about to start our first proper season of “selling”, so time with the customer and preparing the produce also now has to be fitted in.

Is there something like daily routine to start the garden from scratch?

It depends on what you’ve got in front of you and what you would like to grow. For instance, it was important for me to do all parts of the plant cycle — sowing seeds to saving them at the end of the year. This, of course, takes extra time and organisation, especially with a large variety of produce and also creates a higher risk factor for things to go wrong. One of the positives of a diverse system however, is that you can usually change task before it becomes too tiresome mentally or physically. Just be prepared to put in a lot of hours!

In case if you would advice anyone who is completely new in this?

As mentioned, go and visit as many farms as possible! A piece of advice I am trying to follow is to be patient and to follow the rhythm of nature.

Me:
Imagine, you would start now to make a garden or start projects tou are doing now somewhere else, what would be important things, learnings you would need to keep in mind for this?Things you would maybe do differently? Examples, e.g.test soil with special equipment, measure or record smth,etc.

Everything I would have done differently was due to a lack of understanding of the plants that I was growing. It’s so much easier to learn about the plants in reality, so I would have spent longer learning different techniques and experimenting with the plants. Allowing enough budget to finance the equipment, irrigation and help you need, is also a vital resource. Market gardening is a team activity and setting up an agricultural system as a collaboration can liberate so many options, as well as reducing the burden of starting a business on your own. Although I haven’t had this opportunity, I have really valued the woofing scheme, and met so many wonderful people through it.

I think it is important to create small scale farms of all shapes and sizes. Just imagine if we could have at least one for every town and village? With new urban farming initiatives, a wave of people wanting to create food in a more ecological way, we have the potential to change the way we grow, eat, enjoy food.

Me: Thank you, Kate. All what you share and what you do. Your garden and flowers bring another dimension for places one can possibly create next to the city. We can also share Woofing link to it soon then here.