"I really want to pass on this culture to my children, even if we live in low-rent housing. I want them to learn how to grow. At the moment, his plot contains only upturned soil. But Saïda already imagines all these Wednesdays and weekends that she will spend with her family in the family gardens in Goussainville (Val-d'Oise). The municipality has just inaugurated this weekend a site of 5370 m2 on which were cut including 44 garden plots. A novelty that illustrates the municipal desire to green the daily life of the inhabitants who for some of them live in collective housing.
"We were constantly receiving requests for crop plots," explains Alizée Fontaine, the assistant in charge of cleanliness and the environment. "We were forced to refuse for lack of venue." The municipality has therefore launched a development project based on the regional ecological participatory budget which has provided 40% of the €600,000 needed. Family gardens have been created on a plot of land on Avenue de la Gare.
"Breathing outside our HLM"
The site was already cultivated, but only by a handful of inhabitants to whom Aéroports de Paris, at the time when it was owner, had given permission. This was the case with Mohamed's family. "I have a lot of memories here," smiles this resident of Goussainville. "My father grew everything there, carrots, potatoes, salads, fresh mint. And then he distributed to the neighbors. »
Mohamed intends to take up the torch. He was one of 80 people who applied to join the allotments and was selected. He will probably be able to advise his neighbors of plot, most of whom are novices in the field. Like Paulette, who comes from the Demoiselles district. "This will allow us to breathe a little outside our HLM," whispers this resident. "And then when you grow yourself it's much better, at least you know what you're eating."
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Mayor (SE) Addelaziz Hamida hopes to see the birth of "a supportive community" within these gardens, which he sees not only as an ecological project but also as an economic one, "in a context of double-digit inflation." Saïda plans to plant tomatoes as soon as she can. "Given the current selling price, it's definitely worth growing them! And taste has nothing to do with it. To join the Kitchen Gardens, selected beneficiaries must pay an annual fee ranging from €150 to €270.
But the entire population will be able to enjoy the site as a walking destination. "It will be open, everyone can come and picnic," says Alizée Fontaine. The place is indeed part of the program of creation of a real green lung developed by the city, including the Old Country and the banks of the Croult. Enough to make other inhabitants want to get closer to nature. In anticipation, the municipality has already planned a second phase of kitchen gardens, with the creation of 27 additional plots.