Since the announcement, in mid-April, of the reopening of several garden centers in the Aube, the sun has once again shone in the eyes of amateur gardeners. The fact remains that the authorization to maintain the land on his plot of workers’ gardens is far from clear for everyone.
“We are confined, but outside”: Jean-François, a novice workers’ gardens on rue des Ponts in Troyes, displays a malicious air. Like other gardeners around him, he did not wait * for “authorization” from the City of Troyes, to come and cultivate the 200 m2 plot which he rents to the Trojan association. “I live in the towers next door. In the garden, we stay in the spirit of the law. We respect the safety distances between gardeners. “
In mid-April, he was not the only gardener in contact with the land. About twenty meters away, Marc does not accept this situation: “I am an outlaw. I am more than a kilometer from my home and it has been well over an hour since I have been there! But I have a travel certificate, insists the fellow. One for the morning, and one for the afternoon. “ End of the discussion. He grabs the sleeves of his grelinette, and returns to the earth.
Three plots further, a rant sounds
: “Why don’t they let us garden? We pay the land, we respect the distances… ” James, 77, fork in hand, is angry. “I have been maintaining this site for six years and I have followed the rules. I don’t leave a weed because it shouldn’t stain with the Parc des Moulins, opposite. And we wouldn’t be allowed to stay there for more than an hour! “
The septuagenarian admits: “Yes, I cheat a little, but it’s for eating. And if I stay confined in my HLM in Chartreux, I will go crazy! “
On the site of the Chartreux family gardens, Franck ensures compliance with safety distances. “I’m the manager here. The problem with containment is that the planting dates are fixed. You can’t always shift them.
At the moment, we are preparing the soil for zucchini, pumpkins, cabbage… ”.
Along the Viennes, a green flow on the borders of Troyes, Saint-André-les-Vergers and Sainte-Savine, most of the plots plotted with the line are cultivated by regulars of the hoe and the dibble.
Like Christine, 64, “I’ve been renting here for fourteen years. I come to clear my head in the garden. This morning, I called a municipal police officer to ask him if I could stay there. He said yes. It was like shopping for food. “
The problem for many is certification. Is this a ” brief trips within an hour … “, Or a” travel to make essential purchases… ”? Plot owners or tenants, all justify coming here for food.
Agostinho ticks “promenade”. “We try to do the best”. This retiree lives “A stone’s throw away”. “Apart from the garden and the shopping, I do not leave the house. I have a lot of health problems, I don’t want to take risks “. This peasant son “Born in the earth” keeps his distance, protects himself with a mask, and wears a hat for the sun. “I sowed salads, rows of beans and after the ice saints (a “golden rule” often repeated due to the late May frosts, note), I will transplant the feet of tomatoes. “
On the other side of the fence, Maria is folded in half. She takes the time to choose the most beautiful leaves of a kind of soy: “I’ll make them in a salad tonight with a lot of olive oil. It’s tasty “, declares the retiree.
If the City of Troyes emphasizes that “Access to these plots must be kept short”, nature, like gardening, invites us to “slow time”. Unauthorized luxury with this Covid-19 pandemic. So some gardeners no longer dare to go out, letting the weeds run free.
* All of these testimonies were collected between April 14 and 16.
Access to gardens: what does the law say?
Access to allotment gardens, citizens or workers is allowed only for harvesting vegetable crops and respecting barrier measures.
On the site www.gouvernement.fr, in the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), we can read:
Can I go to the allotment gardens during confinement? ” Yes. In the event that your garden is not adjacent to your home, you must have your special travel certificate. You can check the box “trips to make purchases of basic necessities” for the harvest of fruits and vegetables. Or the box “short trips” for a pleasure garden “.
However, specifies the government, “You need to get information from your municipality. Many home gardens have been denied access or allowed under certain conditions. “
For example at Troyes, the City authorizes since April 17 access to workers’ gardens, or plots of land “Only for harvesting fruits and vegetables, maintenance of plants and soil, and for sowing.” But “Access to these plots must remain brief and only for the supply needs of their operators. No prolonged presence would therefore be justified. “ Gardeners must have an individual certificate of movement, and «Tick the second box concerning outings for essential purchases
“
AT Sainte-Savine, it is authorized to go to personal gardens, shared or workers, for the harvest of fruits and vegetables, provided with a certificate of derogatory displacement “purchases of basic necessity” for the gardens located more than one kilometer from the home, otherwise: “brief trip”.
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