An Urban Farm at Caméléon WSL!

These days, more and more people want to grow their veggies and fruits but in a crowded city like Brussels, this can become a real challenge! Either you need a garden or a big enough balcony, use your imagination or simply join a cool project like Peas and Love!

©Peas & Love

For many years now, I have grown aromatics, veggies and fruits to some extent but I have met many issues that led me to look for another option: my balcony ended up very dirty, the sunshine wasn't optimal, when I was on holiday plants would lack water and care, if you grow too many species they can develop sicknesses....In short it isn't always a piece of cake to grow your food when you are not an expert. Yet I wanted to know where my food came from and buy as little as possible from supermarkets while being respectful of nature. And then I heard about the Peas & Love project that allows you to rent a vertical plot of 3m² to grow your veggies and fruits on the rooftop of Caméléon (Woluwé-Saint-Lambert) with a resident "Community Farmer" taking care of your precious plants. And this seemed like a really cool project to join for many reasons:

• Someone knowledgeable is there to help you;

• Your plants are taken care of even when you are on holiday;

• Plants come from local/regional nurseries and are bio;

• You respect nature and seasons;

• You know where your food comes from!

• Growing on the rooftop of Caméléon, plants enjoy a lot of sun;

• Caméléon WSP has bee hives on its site which is perfect for pollination;

• You are part of a local initiative and will meet nature lovers;

• No pesticides used;

• Many activities organised;

• Close enough from where I live :D

• The price is reasonable;

• A cool welcome gift!

Now that you understand the concept, you might see why I decided to join this project for 1 year first before taking a longer committment (you can choose between 1 year or 3). I like the idea of knowing that my plants are taken care of even when I am not around and having a Community Farmer close by in case I have questions. To join this project, you must pick your location (Caméléon or elsewhere), the number of plots you want and pay > 38€ per month per plot + 100€ of yearly fee which were offered when I joined.

© Peas and Love

The 2018 season open this May and will run until April 30th 2019, and to start in the best way, every plot owner gets a meeting with its Community Farmer to choose the spot you like most, your plants and discuss the rules and opening hours. You can register now and already book your plot and start paying the rent in May!

My only concern so far is the pollution being so close to the ring but I think this is an aspect Peas & Love thought about already.

I will obviously keep you informed about how things go on a regular basis! I will probably visit Peas and Love very soon and meet with my Community Farmer Mathias. You can already have a first look at the varieties to be collected on private parcels as well in the shared area > click here....So excited to see how this goes!