Sant Pere de Ribes ecological urban garden in Barcelona.

Good Agrohuerters!, As you have already seen in previous posts, I have recently been in Barcelona visiting urban gardens. Today we are going to see one that has just been installed, it is located in the town of Sant Pere de Ribes.

This orchard is located in a suburban area in a municipality in the province of Barcelona, about 30 minutes from the capital. It belongs to the Network of ecological urban gardens of the City Council of Sant Pere de Ribes, which has wanted to promote the use of organic farming in the gardens among its neighbors.

Actually, not all the urban orchards that belong to the Town Councils of the different localities are of an ecological type; in most cases it depends on what the owner wants during that period of time that he has the plot.

In order to access cultivation in the orchards of Sant Pere de Ribes and Roquetas, it is necessary to meet a series of requirements, they are intended for three different types of users:

Retirees or pensioners over 60 years of age who do not carry out any type of activity or paid work.
Entities and/or associations with social purposes.
Social gardens: in which people who are unemployed or with social needs can participate, which, at the discretion of the Department of Social Welfare, deems convenient to cede it.

What everyone must comply with is to be registered in the district where the orchard is located.

The City Council launched these orchards in 2010, in order to promote this activity and so that its citizens can create an environment of coexistence in which social relations are encouraged. The small plots are ceded to the users for a period of 4 years, which is very good, since it gives time to grow many different vegetables in each season. Currently, given the great demand for these orchards, the City Council has seen the need to increase the area for crops, they have gone from 31 plots between Sant Pere de Ribes and Roquetas to 74; so it has almost doubled.

During my visit I met a user named Juan, who very kindly explained to me the entire process he had to go through to get his plot. He also showed me what he is cultivating with great care, which as you can see in the photo are lettuce, peppers and tomatoes. Juan has opted for drip irrigation. But each user can install the one they think is most convenient for growing it, since they have tanks to supply the entire site.

In general they have the orchard in very good condition, it is seen that everyone takes care of it in an ecological way since it is one of the rules. Many of them use ecological commercial products, I encouraged this user to make his own naturally, I explained how to make milk-based fungicides, insect repellents, vermicompost, etc. In this way he would save money and they work very well. As you can see in the photo, a colleague of yours has placed natural insecticide in these hanging bottles, it evaporates little by little. As it is quite hot at this time, to prevent the plants from cooking we can find small tanks or bottles of water, so that it evaporates and lowers the temperature of the area..

Each person has a small warehouse within the same enclosure, in which they can store all their tools and work utensils.

They also have a relaxation area, where there is a table under the shelter of two large trees. Here, on many occasions, users rest and share opinions and advice about orchards. Sometimes they invite users to attend talks on organic farming, this helps them a lot, since most of them are older people, most of them are not familiar with organic farming or environmental sustainability.

These orchards are open to the public so they can visit them and see the work being done. I recommend that you visit one in your city because it is always enriching to see how other people cultivate their gardens and exchange experiences.

Agrohuerters, as you have already been able to see, there are many municipalities that are promoting the system of urban gardens and more and more are being added at the request of citizens. You can tell us if this type of activity is also carried out in your localities or others related to urban gardens or nature in general. Regards and until next time!