“Connecting people who have a garden and who dream of having a kitchen garden but have neither the time nor the desire to take care of it, with people who have a passion for gardening but who do not have no garden or plot to cultivate: here is the concept of Do you know how to plant at home. ”
Where did you get the idea from Do you know how to plant at home?
Chantal: The idea came to me by observing my surroundings. Relatives had a garden but, for lack of time, did not cultivate it. On the other hand, I knew people who did not have the chance to have a garden but who would have liked to garden, to find a contact with the nature and to cultivate a vegetable garden.
I thought that everyone could meet and set up a win-win exchange ! That is to say that the owner of the garden lends part of it to a person who then comes to cultivate his garden and together they share the crops.
Very quickly, hundreds of ads have been submitted. It has been found that this concept meets a real demand and serves many people.
The reasons for lending your garden are many: lack of time, lack of knowledge, health problem, old people who no longer have the strength, or simply want to garden together.
Where are you today?
Chantal: Today the site has nearly 20,000 users, distributed throughout France, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg. There are currently more than 5,000 ads on the site. What is great is that there are as many owners who lend as people looking for a garden. Nearly 1000 people have already achieved an exchange and started the adventure of co-gardening.
Recently, users can also exchange seeds and plants .
How do you see your project in 3 years?
Chantal: We hope that the community co-gardeners will continue to expand and co-garden will become a reflex, like carpooling! We have requests from other countries, so why not develop the concept abroad.
We offer complementary services to co-gardening, such as a garden events calendar, a directory of atypical garden professionals such as nurserymen, horticulturists and specialized plant producers as well as an online shop with original garden products. Our goal is to develop all these services and to continue to make known to the greatest number of people this exchange of good processes friendly and full of common sense.
A nice story to tell?
Chantal: Yes, of course, there are many beautiful encounters .
Like this bee and beekeeping enthusiast who met an amateur beekeeper who lived only 10 km from his home and was just looking for a place to install a hive!
They immediately sympathized and started a partnership. The hive has been installed and since then, the owner has an introduction to beekeeping and enjoys a little honey produced.
There is also a retirement home near Paris that has lent its green spaces to a passionate garden couple. These “gardeners” cultivate a vegetable garden and exchange with the residents of the retirement home. Advice is not lacking!
Beyond gardening is a real human adventure that starts . The creation of inter-generational and intercultural social bonds is a very important dimension of co-gardening.