Urban gardens in the SAN BLAS – CANILLEJAS district

How about dear Agrohuerters? We have already talked about the urban gardens in Barajas and Hortaleza, so today we are going to talk about a district also in the Northeast of Madrid: SAN BLAS – CANILLEJAS.

San Blas-Canillejas (previously San Blas) is a district of Madrid capital, administratively organized in the neighborhoods named as Simancas, Hellín, Amposta, Arcos, Rosas, Rejas, Canillejas and Salvador. It limits to the north with the districts of Hortaleza and Barajas through the Avenida de América; to the east, with the municipal terms of San Fernando de Henares and Coslada, as well as with the district of Vicálvaro. To the south it also limits with this last district and to the west, it limits with the district of Ciudad Lineal. Its population is around 160,000 inhabitants and has been increasing in recent years.

Several urban gardens of all kinds have proliferated in this district, so let’s get to know them!

Orchard of the Fifth

It is an urban garden that, since 2012, some residents of Quinta de los Molinos have been working on a public and unused plot of land located at the confluence of Antioquía and López de Aranda streets. You can’t miss it, it’s close to the Quinta de los Molinos Park, a public garden known for its large expanses of trees, where you can find a large number of species (olive trees, pines, eucalyptus), although the star of the park are the almond trees, which bloom in February and March, offering a fantastic show. So if you go through the park don’t forget to visit the orchard and vice versa, it’s worth it!The orchard is very recognizable because, although it is small, it is «protected» by a friendly scarecrow, it has a few rows planted and there are various tools lying around.

Orchard of the CEIP Álvaro de Bazán

In this school they began talking to the Madrid City Council to be able to participate in the school garden project, until they finally managed to integrate the project into their center. The City Council was facilitating some resources such as terraces, a booth where to store tools and documentation.

From the blog of the garden they invite all those interested, but especially the fathers and mothers of the students, to participate in the work of the garden, such as planting, clearing, preparing the compost bin, and harvesting, involving thus to the whole family in the gardening community.

CEIP Mariano José de Larra

The creation of this school garden was possible thanks to the great collaboration of a few mothers and fathers who helped make it a reality. The students of the school carry out the planting of the seeds in pots inside the classrooms, in a kind of seedbed, and then they transplant them to the garden. They have also built a very cool hanging greenhouse made with wood and plastic, to protect the crops from the cold, which, for the most part, are pots made from recycled containers such as plastic bottles, yogurt or milk cartons.

This garden is part of the «Agenda 21» Program of the Madrid City Council, a participatory planning tool for municipal management that allows the City Council and the different social actors to work together so that the city advances towards sustainable development.

Orchard of the Ciudad Pegaso Senior Center

A space originated by the initiative of José, a resident of this neighborhood of San Blas who, at 76 years old, decided to do what the City Council did not do: clear the supposed patios of the City Senior Center of construction debris and various waste. Pegasus to create a natural space where you can invest in time, dreams and coexistence.

Little by little, those unused patios were transformed into something very different. The Center has been flanked by two orchards that harmonize with numerous flowers, shrubs and trees that are pampered with such affection by all the elders of the building.

Everything that is grown there is for this elderly community that has known how to naturally embellish the long-suffering asphalt of our city so perfectly. Some luxury caregivers, who neither age nor fatigue manage to overcome in their commitment to their project.

Orchard of the Madrid Health Center of San Blas

In these centers of the Madrid City Council for the protection of public health, many types of activities are carried out: from family planning programs and sexual advice, to workshops to quit smoking, through other health promotion activities such as groups walks, vaccinations or consultations on healthy aging, nutrition and physical exercise.

As we already know, orchards entail a large number of benefits, both for health and for the community, which is why in this Madrid Health Center they have not wanted to do without them and have created a community orchard. In addition, the greenhouse of the healthy garden of the Madrid Health Center of San Blas was inaugurated some time ago, carried out by the San Blas Labor Reintegration Center (CRL), which is managed by the Manantial Foundation.

The 60-square-meter greenhouse, in the shape of a geodesic dome, was built with a modest budget from Madrid Salud and with recycled materials (pallets, rubber from bicycle tire tubes, soda can bottoms, etc.) from donations from neighbors It was built by the students of the CRL (people with serious mental illnesses), directed by the educator of the same, and supported by the users of the garden. It has been carried out under a program of the European Social Fund. The objective is to have a space that allows the use of the orchard to be lengthened in cold periods, and specifically for plant germination and the production of cuttings and seedlings.

I hope you liked the article. Until next time!