Urban gardens in Villaverde

Hello Farmers! Today we are going to talk about urban gardens in Villaverde. For those of you who don’t know, Villaverde is a district of Madrid, located in the extreme south of the municipality.

It limits to the west with the municipality of Leganés, to the south with Getafe, to the east with the district of Villa de Vallecas through the limit of the Manzanares river, and to the north with the district of Usera. It is divided into five neighborhoods: San Andrés, San Cristóbal, Butarque, Los Rosales and Los Ángeles. The population amounts to 142,052 inhabitants, of which 16.9% are immigrants.

Despite being one of the most humble neighborhoods in Madrid, the residents of Villaverde are very aware of the environment and sustainability and make great efforts to publicize their importance.

An example of this is the number of urban organic gardens that have been built in the district in recent years: community gardens, school gardens, therapeutic gardens… In this article we will talk a little about all of them.

Orchard “El Cruce” – Villaverde

It is an orchard that was born in December 2013, in order to take advantage of some land that the IVIMA had promised for the neighborhood, and that over the years has remained closed and abandoned by this institution and the City Council, accumulating garbage. and weed. The neighbors decided to build a community garden that they accompanied with children’s areas, even with a small library.

The main objective is to carry out environmental, cultural and organic farming activities for both children and adults, together with neighbors and neighborhood organizations. The project is sustained through neighborhood participation, all neighbors are invited to participate in order to contribute to caring for, beautifying and improving the neighborhood.

As I have mentioned, it has an orchard area, a small garden with a well, which although it does not work is very decorative and serves to explain to the little ones how it works, as well as a wooden waterwheel, all built by the neighbors. The clearest area is used for workshops, games and activities, or simply to have a good time together in summer.

«Butarque» orchard

It is an urban garden in Villaverde, created by the Independent Neighborhood Association of Butarque. A large number of neighbors showed interest in building an organic garden in the neighborhood and the AVIB quickly got under way. The inauguration of the garden took place on May 12, 2013, where the children of the neighborhood were the first to plant the crops and all the attendees began to decorate it. A community project open to the participation of all those interested in organic farmingand having a good time in the company of the rest of the neighbors. This space is located between the asphalt of the A4 motorway and the back of two schools. What used to be a vacant and unused piece of land is now a planting area and a neighborhood meeting space.

school gardens

Villaverde has an institute and several schools belonging to the network of ecological school gardens. What is intended is to contribute to making the school a learning space, in which the garden is integrated effectively into the curriculum, that students learn where the food they eat comes from and learn to value agriculture and the environment. ambient. The Villaverde schools that belong to this network are:

• CEIP Christopher Columbus (Villaverde Alto)
• CEIP Barcelona (City of Angels)
• CEIP Antonio Nebrija (Villaverde Bajo)
• CEIP Los Rosales (The Rose Bushes)
• CEIP Azorin (San Cristobal)
• IES El Espinillo (The Espinillo)

Urban gardens in Villverde: hortitherapy

In addition, in Villaverde there is also a place for therapeutic horticulture. In the Madrid Health Center, the hortitherapy component is integrated into some of its programs, both on the premises and in pots, as well as the participation of neighbors in the crops. In addition, itinerant workshops are held by Cultural and Senior Centers, such as the Miguel Delibes Center, where, for example, seeding workshops abroad are held.

And the urban gardens in Villaverde continue to grow…

Last October, the Madrid City Council published a tender for the award of 15 plots for organic gardens located in green areas, which non-profit associations for the development of urban organic farming can access. One of those plots is located in the Plata y Castañar park in Villaverde Alto, so soon the district will have a larger orchard…

I hope I have not forgotten any urban garden in Villaverde and, if so, do not hesitate to comment!