The Plain of Vertus, or even “the garden of Paris”: a few decades ago, this corner of Seine-Saint-Denis was agricultural and largely supplied the Parisian markets. This past is maintained by La Courneuve which inaugurated a conservation space where more than 2,000 objects are kept.
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At 84 years old, René has never really left his land. This retiree was born on this Dyonisian market garden. He remembers agricultural work, and above all, the machines.
“These are my first memories. When I was at school, on Thursdays, I used a machine with the plates to disinfect the earth with steam. I was happy, in the evening I was completely black because at Initially, it ran on drain oil.explains René Kersanté.
In 1920, his grandmother moved in. Three generations of the Kersanté family cultivated the soil until 2017.
Today, the urban farm is educational. The site, surrounded by cities, is a legacy of the market gardening past.
“What I loved most was plowing when the end of the season comes. You see the land as it is, where the worms and seagulls followed me”he continues.
René Kersanté, grandson of a market gardener, took over the family torch in Seine-Saint-Denis before retiring.
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© France 3 Paris Ile-de-France
From Bobigny to Stains, the Plaine des Vertus supplied Paris from the 12th to the end of the 20th century. When they left, the farmers gave thousands of agricultural tools to La Courneuve. 2,300 are preserved by the City, like bells which protected crops from the cold.
These bells were placed on crops to protect them from the cold.
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© France 3 Paris Ile-de-France
“It is said that market gardeners slept with one leg out of bed to know the outside temperature and if it was too cold, they got up to go and adjust their bells. This was part of the daily life of the entire population who were on the territory and who could, passing near the crops, see all these bells”says Julien Demi, in charge of collections at La Courneuve Heritage Reserves.
These reserves are rarely open to the public. On the other hand, objects are regularly loaned to museums. Thus, the market gardening postcard of Seine-Saint-Denis will not fade from memory.
