An agro-social project aimed at the integration of persons with disabilities is the starting point for a project that aims to revitalise the social fabric around a garden with ideas that flourish in all shapes and colours. The Terra i Dona Association, supported by grants from COCEMFE Castellón, has been working since September 2022 in a deprived area of Castellón to highlight the fundamental role of agroecology, becoming a core part of life in this neighbourhood of Castellón. And the Fleurs Locales project participates by showing the importance of caring for ecosystems by using local seeds, in this case, from the region of the Valencian Community.

The organic farming workshops include a wide range of activities: creating vegetable hedges, planting varieties from the local Valencian catalogue, making compost, constructing growing tables using pallets, vertical gardens and even setting up their own irrigation system. About 25 people with disabilities (from COCEMFE Castellón, Ateneu, Red Cross and Afanias) come twice a week to make sure everything is in order. In addition, persons from the Fundación Secretariado Gitano group and the gardening group of Caritas of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood have also been participating here.

Terra i Dona aims to create an engaging project based upon agroecology that allows anyone from the neighbourhood or from the city of Castellón to join the project and help nurture the social fabric by means of the garden.

First visit in October

Fundación Global Nature technician Jordi Domingo is responsible for visiting with and maintaining contact with this group. During his visits, he has presented soil samples used for studying biodiversity and for understanding the life present in our soils when they are cared for with plantings of native seed. He also contrasts these with other samples taken from areas where no efforts have been made and which reveal an absence of life.

In addition, a planting of native seeds was made, which have grown well and are in good shape.

Calendula arvensis y Fumaria officinalis

Vicia sativa

Diplotaxis erucoides

Sinapsis alba