Anarchy Gardening in a French Squat:Nomadic Family
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What I love about being nomadic, is the places we get to see, the people we connect with and the skills we learn and share.
In my last post, I mentioned a community squat that we visited and ended up living at for a while. This squat was in Saint Girons and was called le Palmier. It was really just getting itself off the ground when we arrived and we were happy to get involved. Their only wish was that upon entering Le Palmier you enter without any sexist , racist, authoritarian, discriminatory behaviours .
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This was a space that believed in the practice of re appropriation of urban spaces,claiming the right to live free, to meet, to realize a dream of society "Free and Fair" while at the same time improving our daily lives. They believed that the logic of domination and exploitation orchestrated by the law of banks and maintained by a power that submit and isolate, can be destroyed by the Collective Reflection, the Self-Organization, the Mutual Aid and community. This was exactly what we as a family wanted to get involved in.
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So how to get involved?
I studied a permaculture design course back in 2011 and to me it felt like coming home, so much of what I learnt resonated deep within me, it became my way of life.
So I came up with the idea of creating an anarchy garden!
The idea was to grow food and at the same time reflect the views of the squat. So the dream was hatched and the design was drawn after taking measurements of the space we had to work with. The most important thing was to get the pathway down so as not to walk on the soil where we would be planting the food. I used a roll of semi permeable flooring that we upcycled from the abandoned wood/paper mill behind the squat.
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I didn't know the quality of the soil on the land and there was no funding to pay for a soil analysis, so I concentrated on feeding the soil as best I could. Their was alot of de composted wood chip on the grounds of the paper mill that we brought over to the land. We also put the shout out for horse/pony/mule manure and we were lucky to get some that was over a year old. So we mixed those together with the existing soil. I'm not a fan of digging, but that earth was so compact and dry that it was good to do it initially.
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Everything needs to be in balance, so on top of that lovely layer, which was definitely high in carbon, we wanted to add a layer of nitrogen. So off we went for a family day out to gather some nettles and dandelions. As it was March, we didn't have to go far to find them. We all had our glove on and only took some from places where they were in abundance. We let these wilt for a day in the sun and then added them to the garden beds.
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After this we put some cardboard on top, which we had soaked in water. We made sure that the cardboard we lay down overlapped so that only the plants we planted would grow. Using cardboard is a great way of helping the soil maintain a constant temperature and to also help keep moisture in the soil. We then watered the cardboard again, it's amazing how quickly it dries out. On top of this we put more woodchip.
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I added a stone path at the bottom of the A so that we could access the beds without having to walk on them. We made 7 beds in total and planted a mixture of salad, spinach, broccoli,mint, beetroot, calendula, carrots and onion. I didn't take anymore photos after this, I wish I had. We left not long after to go to a festival and make some money. When we returned the community chickens had got in to the garden, after the gate was left open and they made a feast out of the garden.
Initially I was upset, but having the opportunity to be creative and the space to actually bring that creation to life was great.
There are a few other projects that I done at this space that I will share with you all on here again.
To be continued...................
When we were travelling in our trailer, I really missed my garden, my fresh eggs & milking our goats. I respect and admire the nomadic lifestyle, but I would really struggle with my attachment to the above mentioned things in the long term. That must have been very hard to see the garden decimated like that! I speak from experience as our hens got into our garden a few times and once we had our goats escape their area and destroy TEN new fruit trees!! Anyway, I'm glad you got the opportunity to have a creative outlet for your permaculture knowledge.
Thanks @crowbarmama, we're in Spain at the moment and I have been growing some food here, but we hope to move on soon. I have always grown herbs and salad whilst moving and at other times Tomato and strawberries. One day we would like to have our own piece of paradise and plant a food forest. But we just don't have the funds yet. But being nomadic has allowed us to learn so much.
Forgive me if I missed it, since I haven't been here that long, but how did you grow while moving? Do you try to stay in one place long enough? And if so, is it public land or friends' place? I'm just so curious! When we were planning our adventure in our travel trailer, I was so worried about being able to find good eggs and milk, I was trying to figure out a way to take a goat and a couple hens with us! Could you imagine? And we were going to be staying mostly in RV parks because my husband was working as a software developer from home so we had to be close enough to town for internet service. We were thinking of building a portable chicken tractor that we could take in the bed of the truck! Crazy, right? Lol... Needless to say, we abandoned that idea almost as quickly as it came up...
I didn't talk about it, I done container planting, I used andywaterproof square containers I could find, usually ones from markets and I lined them, filled them with soil and planted, only shallow root stuff, like salad and herbs, I also had hanging pot holders, when ever we stopped I would take the plants out in the sun and give them a good watering. Whilst we were driving they would be under the table. Herbs were usually on the dashboard. I really wanted to do a roof garden but never got round to it.
I have seen people travelling with chickens, they were in a trailer behind and every time they stopped they would let them out, away from traffic of course. They had a couple of dogs that grew up with the chickens and kept other dogs away from them. It was a great set up. Anything is possible!
I was really inspired seeing this. It's great to see the intention and execution behind this artful creation. Well done! Gets my wheels spinning about building fun shaped beds.
Thanks @mountainjewel, I really enjoy designing beds, especially organic shapes, this one was really all about the community though. Thank you for your appreciation and feedback.
Love the walkway. Did you have a good yield of veggies with your soil amendments?
Lost all the veg to the chickens, C'est la vie!
Looks like a beautiful project. Shame someone let the chickens in.
Thanks Sam, was a great project, they were some very happy chickens after.
Shame about the chickens, but then everything is a learning experience - either good or bad - isn't it. I loved reading about the resources you utilised for this project.
This season I tried to put a lot of my thistles and nettles back into the gardens I was creating, especially where I was planting potatoes. I'm not sure if I'll notice any effects on the potato harvest because we've just had some fiercely hot days and tough water restrictions so much has keeled over. :( We shall see.
thanks @ravenruis, yes it was definitely a good learning experience. It was important to utilise all that was needed from the local area, to me that is a huge part of permaculture, up cycling and no waste. I love nettles they are a great sign to have in your garden especially for greens. I also love to eat them and juice them. Good luck with your potato's.
I love the creativity behind this bed. I am sorry to hear that the chickens got in and destroyed all the plants...That's really disappointing.
Thanks @cecicastor, I was really happy to be allowed to be creative, and I was able to bring permacuture to the squat. I was upset at first for sure but it was a community garden and the only solution they had at that point was to lock up the chickens. They were there longer than me and I really think all chickens such be free range, so I said no to that idea.
Like the sand mandalas the Buddhist monks make. Things are here and then they're gone. It's hard to watch, but being able to create is always worthy. And I can only imagine how delightful to be immersed in such a powerful community. Have I mentioned how excited I am to travel again?
Oh you are so right. Traveling? where are you heading? much love xxx
Well, locally in Central America sooner, rather than later. Next summer we are planning a Europe trip. It originally started as a UK trip, but now we are wanting to add Spain to that mix, maybe more?
Yeah definitely catch up if you are in Spain xx
For sure! Excited to meet you face to face!
Very inspiring post and project dear! Love you for sharing this with us!
Thanks @vegan.niinja for coming by and for your lovely comment. Hope you're having a lovely weekend.
You to darling! Enjoy your Sunday with your gorgeous family!💓
Agree. Maybe the chickens were part of bigger karmic play? I don't know much about these matters but there is always a silver lining in every cloud, so it is said.
Your optimism really shines through. That's important as it's easy to slip into negativity when given the steady drip of bad news coming from the media. Not saying exactly to ignore it. But if you are out of mainstream employment, you'll be less inclined to buy into all the fake elite justifications.
So, onward the refuseniks!
Thanks @stmoloud, it was really all about the experience, sharing skills and being creative. I feel very lucky to have been given the opportunity to do so in such an dynamic environment.
I am also lucky to have been able to choose this lifestyle for me and my family.
great, more stories from France.
Thanks @shivvi x