La Super Ferme, located in the town of Périgny, in the La Rochelle area, is not exactly the model of farming as some might imagine. Here there are no crops as far as the eye can see, no plowed fields, no large equipment stored in sheds. We are here with Robin Perry, a young 32-year-old farmer, who advocates market gardening on living soil. It is a setting of abundant nature, wild grasses everywhere, tomato and chayote plants running along stretched wires, a mini-pond, chickens laying eggs in the shed which serves as a shop for direct sales .
Five years ago, the young Savoyard settled on these two hectares of wasteland that the town of Périgny had just acquired, along the Moulinette canal. After removing some administrative obstacles, the two parties agreed to sign a rural lease for a period of nine years, renewable.
Develop fertility by seeking to understand how soils work »
A boon for the market gardener, trained at the Ferme de l'Alliance in Normandy and who was looking for agricultural land whose soil would not have been too tired. “It is neither a label nor a dogma. The idea of living soil is to maximize life in the soil, to develop fertility by seeking to understand how soils work,” explains Robin Perry. On his organic farm, the farmer of course uses no inputs, but does not work his land. So no tractor here, straw and wood chips to cover the crops and feed the earthworms, zero irrigation for the potatoes for example… Five years later, he cultivates between 30 and 40 varieties of vegetables that he sells directly every Thursday and through an Amap (association for the maintenance of peasant agriculture) on Tuesdays.
Work less
Produce, but also work less. It is also one of the major challenges of market gardening on living soil which particularly affected Robin Perry. For this new generation farmer, it is no longer a question of killing himself as some have done before him and continue to do. He doesn't want to spend his life at work, wants to take vacations, in short, to contribute to feeding families and preserving biodiversity, but not at any cost. “I work 35 hours or less. It's my way of doing things. Of course, the farm must be viable, but at my own pace,” he explains.
Since this year alone, the young man has been paying himself 1,250 euros per month. “I am satisfied with what the farm has become, however being below the minimum wage is not ideal. I still make mistakes,” he admits. He can do even better, better manage his problem of bindweed which is suffocating his crops for example. The Super Ferme is also regularly open to the general public thanks to the Canton Sème association, created from the outset and which made it possible to employ one person. Its mission is to offer training in market gardening on living soil, fun activities and participatory projects. Here, we want to believe that another agriculture is possible.
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