Le Potager de Courances
In 2013, the ten cousins who own the land between the châteaux of Fleury-en-Bière and Courances decided to question their agricultural model.
A decade later, not only have 760 hectares of fields been farmed organically, but other landscapes have also been rethought as part of a broadly agro-ecological approach: production needs must be reconciled with environmental conservation. This involves a regenerative rather than extractive approach in the forest, the restoration of a wetland near the Fleury tollbooth, the planting of 1,800 trees in the fields and the arrival of a shepherd and his flock.
Les Jardins de Courances is the brand name that was registered in 2013 to market the produce from these fields, which you can find in short circuits and at the farm during the week.
This agroecological approach means above all paying attention to the life of the soil, the quality of the water and biodiversity, as well as to the living conditions of those who work in these landscapes.
With this in mind, Saltus Campus, France's first agro-ecological high school, was created in 2022. Teaching will be divided between Sevran (93) for theory and the ‘technical platform’ between Courances and Fleury (91 and 77) for practical experience, with the ambition of creating new relationships between town and country.
For more information: www.saltuscampus.fr.
La Plaine
Organic vegetables are grown on two sites: the château's walled kitchen garden (2.8 hectares) and the Fleury plain (6 hectares). The taste and variety of the vegetables produced by the Jardins de Courances were immediately noticed by Parisian and local chefs. As a result, two models of vegetable production have been set up: a more mechanised model next to the Chalmont farm, and a more traditional model in the historic kitchen garden.
As the latter is currently in regenerative dormancy, the focus is now on setting up and consolidating a more mechanised production model next to the Chalmont farm, halfway between Courances and Fleury-en-Bière. So it's the cereal growers who are now producing these vegetables, both in the fields and in the market garden: fewer quantities and varieties, but still fresh and of high quality.
At www.nourrirparis.fr, you can watch seven mini-films explaining the first experiments in the plain...
The question of training in new practices, and the desire to encourage new vocations before our countryside becomes permanently desolate, is also being raised on a European scale. This is why the Chalmont farm is involved in the creation of EUfarms (a European network of AB-certified agro-ecological farms) to encourage farmers to travel and to reward and encourage the sharing of knowledge.
For more information: www.EUfarms.net
