Hirsingue. Brother and sister and market gardeners, they support a shared garden project on rue des Prés

The 400 square meters are ready: the land is just waiting for its gardeners. Located on Rue des Prés, on the banks of the Ill, the future shared garden of Hirsingue will grow on communal land that has seen the flourishing of the integration activities of the association La Passerelle d'abord and then of the Ateliers du Sundgau . Since the Alsa association did not wish to take over this activity of solidarity market gardening, the idea germinated at the communal social action center (CCAS) of Hirsingue to install a shared garden there. A way of preserving the social vocation of the site.

As its name suggests, the principle of a shared garden is to act together for a common goal and, through this shared activity, to create links and acquire knowledge. A first information meeting, organized at the Dorfhus in Hirsingue at the end of April, brought together around ten people interested in the initiative around the "project manager" and vice-president of the CCAS Annick Groelly, also deputy in charge of the environment and social life, the mayor and president of the CCAS Christian Grienenberger; and Manon Lesquin, founder of the association Un chaudron sous le chêne, technical support for the project.

Serge came "out of curiosity, to see how it works"; Josiane, "to give advice", Mickael "because the project is interesting" and Christine, the former city dweller, because she "dreams of a garden". Roselyne, who works in the after-school program, expressed the organization's interest in the educational aspect of the garden.

Also present around the table were City Councilor Nathalie Bientz and her colleague, First Deputy Mayor Stéphanie Keller. "I could use the resources to grow a vegetable garden at home," explained the First Deputy Mayor, "but if we're going to garden, we might as well do it together!"

"The first step is to define shared expectations," explains Manon Lesquin, founder of the association Un chaudron sous le chêne and a market gardener using living soil in Hirsingue. "Vegetable gardens, ornamental gardens, choice of varieties, wild plants, herbs, installation of benches or information panels, everything is possible, everything is conceivable." The only rule imposed: practice market gardening without any chemical inputs.

With the crop plan established and the garden designed at the second meeting held on Thursday, May 15, it's time for practical work. These are scheduled to begin in the field on Thursday, May 22, with the first plantings. The gardeners, accompanied by members of the association, will then be tasked with caring for the crops until they harvest the fruits of this collective labor.

Contact: Hirsingue town hall at 03 89 40 50 13 or by email: [email protected] Association Un chaudron sous le chêne: 06 44 03 91 64 or [email protected]