JAAL «Garden for Everybody» « Community garden »
Association Jardiner Autrement en Ariège et Lèze JAAL
- Local initiative involving citizens
- She knowledge and best practices between people from different generations
- Educate people on « green » gardening for benefit of current and future generation
JAAL acronym means : “Gardening in a different way in the area of the Ariege and Leze valleys”. This area is located approximately at 25 km south of Toulouse (FR).
This NGO is located in Venerque a village located 25 km south of Toulouse
and has set up a partnership with the Mayord of the village, the schools of the village, a local medical structure which takes care of handicapped teenagers and a local farm (La Baronnesse) which leases the ground and share gardening practices (organic farming).
Objectives and goals of JAAL
- Develop any activity relating to garden
- Raise awareness about nature ans biodiversity
- Encourage exchanges between gardeners
- Educate about the environment while respecting fauna and flora
- Bringing together social diversity and quality of life
- Acquire innovative farming techniques
The differents actions we lead
- Creation of gardens for all in 2010 which consists of :
- 10 allotment gardens of 65 or 130m2 to allow individual gardening and reserved for families with modest incomes
- Community garden of 820 m2 where new gardeners are trained in new practices and where work and harvests are shared
- A 240 m2 family educational garden later transformed into an orchard due to lack of educational projects with the village school
- Creation of 30 m2 room in each and straw
- in 2012 JAAL decided to build a shelter in order to have mean to achieve its educational objective. This shelter was built by gardeners with straw, raw earth and wood. It is dedicated for training purposes, meetings, etc
- Internship on the autonomous garden without input open to all
- Production of ground material from hedges grown in windbreak layer edges, cultivation of plants for the manufacture of extracts (nettle, comfrey, tansy, etc ), insect shelters and biodiversity, composte, etc
- Actions around SOIL in order to preserve and pass on to future generations living soils, the nourishing heritage of humanity
- Apply the basic principes to the community Garden
- Promote soil life with the addition of organic matter in the form of mulch, cardboard, spreading of green waste, basalt, green manure depending on crop rotations
- Do not diminish life. We limit ourselves to protecting the cultivated plant without harming the environment. Exclusive use of mechanical processes, nets, time to divert pasts
- Shape the soil by mound cultivation to promote drying, warning and activity of the soil oriented north-south
- Crop rotation to avoid soil exhaustion and the proliferation of pests
- No bare ground. Sow green manure, mulch, cardboard or plant a crop
- Limited, superficial tillage with the use of « grelinette » without turning the soil
- A water policy. No jet watering but drip irrigation at very low pressure. Use of temperate water stored in tanks after drawing
- Reproduction of our seeds, to promote our autonomy
- No trampled ground with the creation of footpaths
Users within our organization
We currently have 50 members.
The office is made up of 11 members : 4 women and 7 men and meets every month. The different functions of the office are :
- President and external comminications
- Logistics and management of the Garden for everybody
- Corresponding allotment gardens
- Treasurer and blog manager
- Secretary and deputy secretary
- Technical Manager
- Relationship with the municipality and events
- IT management manager
- Contact : jaaljardinspourtous@gmail.com