What We Need Is Here

Partager un Potager : A Community Garden in Central Paris

There is a wonderful demonstration garden right in the center of Paris in front of the l'Hotel de Ville, a 15th century municipal building.  The closest space we have like this in Gainesville is probably City Hall, a plain 1960s building surrounded by concrete and former goldfish ponds. Normally, the area in front of the l'Hotel de Ville is a large paved plaza area with benches and a fountain - not so entirely different. But in early June, raised beds were created in wooden boxes and installed throughout the plaza along with information on "bio" (organic) methods of gardening in small places.

They have fine weather for gardening here in the summer - about twenty degrees cooler than our summers and a little more dry. The garden is beautiful and, everytime I pass it, full of people enjoying it - which is the idea. The word for vegetable garden in French is potager, and the word for sharing is partager, so this potager for partager is also a nice play on words that they use in the informational brochures.

I would love to do this in Gainesville: create a real public space for a garden that would offer education, inspiration, and beauty - things public spaces are meant for.

- Kelli, still in Paris

Good old spiderwort...

John is on a work-related trip to D.C. this week, so neither of us are being local... But I was delighted today to see one of my favorite local "weeds" growing on purpose in a formal French garden: Spiderwort!

I had heard that this maligned wildflower was coddled in cottage gardens in Britain; I was happy to find it in Paris as well. It's a bit paler and pinker than our robust local version, but it was lovely interplanted ith a bed of red roses. It lined the walkway of a portion of the 4.5 km "Promenade Plantée," - the beautiful linear garden planted along an ancient viaduct that begins less than a mile from my apartment and end at the Bastille. Seeing it today was like running into an old friend! (I'm a bit lonely.)

Mayor tells Parisians to clean out their attics...

I was amazed when I arrived in Paris on Saturday by all the people on the sidewalks dragging carts of household goods behind them. As I approached Joe's street, I saw why. Apparently the mayor of this particular area of Paris declared the day a "Grand Vide Grenier" or "Empty Your Attic" - a giant garage sale. All along both sides of the street and beneath the tents used for the weekly market, neighbors were spreading out their stuff. Besides being generally interested in what it is exactly that Parisians have in their closets and attics, I really enjoyed seeing the many backgrounds represented by the things Joe's diverse neighborhood was jetisoning. Plus I had forgotten socks (it is cooler than I expected), and I was asked to bring children's books home to a new French teacher I know. Score!

Of all the ways to get rid of excess things, my least favorite is the garage sale - so much trouble for so little return. And as much as we like to buy used things, you have to wonder if all the driving to get to them negates the other resources saved.

This seemed like a wonderful solution, and do-able at home too. Parking wouldn't be a problem because you could just stroll around your own neighborhood. It would be a way to formalize and streamline what neighbors have traditionally done in the past when we knew each other better - trade children's clothes for the next size up, exchange toys, share books, tools, etc. on a larger scale.  If the enconomy continues to slide, maybe there will be more folks willing to "empty their attics"at the neighborhood level.

Summertime! And the living is... different

Our household - May 2009

What a week! I have not been posting much because my mind has been in two places: here and France, where I will be heading tomorrow to live for two months. Many of you don't know me well enough to know that this is not a typical thing for me to do, although it seems to be this year. It is an opportunity that's presented itself at a time when it's both possible and very much appreciated. My son, Joe, has been studying there but will be in Togo(!) [every time I type this word I am compelled to follow it by an exclamation point] during part of June and July. So there's this empty apartment... That, and the fact that my beloved husband is kicking me out the door telling me to carpe diem, get some solitude, spend time writing and learn French. "When will you ever get to do this again?" he asks. Sometimes I feel like I am living my life backward; Having gotten started pretty early on family life, I am now getting to experience the freedom to "study abroad."

Life changes for most people during the summer in our region - especially for those with kids or those living in academic communities. Our town is so connected to University of Florida that we all tend to think in semesters. As a community, we start to slow it down in May and June and pretty much close the house for the summer during July. This is partly because we lose a lot of student volunteers during this time and also due to the cost of keeping the house comfortably cool enough during summer's heat and humidity to run the cafe and welcome groups of people. Just last week we pared down from eleven community members to six, by the end of the month we'll be down to three for a bit before we begin to rev back up again in August when the fall semester starts. 

John will be keeping the household going here while I'm away and is planning to take over some of the blog-writing as well. What a man! Seriously, I am so grateful for all of it.