Farmer designers, agriculture on the move

from 14 July 2021 to 8 May 2022

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2. Planters and the mole

Gilles Clément
Landscape gardener, biologist and writer, he designed and sponsored this garden.

“The question of the soil is essential. It has been scorned to the point of being reduced to a common substrate. But today, we give it the attention that it deserves by granting the soil a status of indispensable vital resource.

The soil is not only the living place of earthworms, bacteria and various mushrooms, it also welcomes mammals like the mole which turns the soil over by forming mounds of earth, the molehills, cause of its bad reputation. And yet, this little ploughing has great benefits. It allows buried and dormant seeds to get closer to the surface and stop their dormancy thanks to the light and the rainwater. It is only in the soils that have not been destroyed by chemical pollution that mulleins, corncockles, nigellas, poppies and other cornflowers shyly come out when the soil has been turned over. In the time of ploughing in living soils, it was possible to see these many plants associated with the ones that were cultivated. 

The mole is primarily responsible of the conservation of Therophytes (short-cycle, annual and biennial plants) in our landscape. 

Soon, it will be necessary to breed moles!” Gilles Clément


Planters and the mole - Maison cantonale, july 2021 © madd-bordeaux


July 2021 © madd-bordeaux

This garden is maintained by the association Les Possibilistes.
Les Possibilistes is an agency whose practice is based on the collective creation of projects aiming at building sustainable food ecosystems through the co-construction of territory projects that participate in the transition and food democracy issues. Between participative approaches, design and territorialities, Les Possibilistes supports public actors and local dynamics in the collective and operational construction of their projects. 
http://lespossibilistes.fr/

The tags of the planters were made by primary schools children of Bordeaux. 

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