Before the summer of 2024, San Sebastian City Council encouraged two associations to design, build and maintain a community vegetable garden at the Guardaplata retirement home. Participants learned about other community experiences in the city and received training on organic farming.
Guardaplata is a home for pensioners in the Bidebieta neighbourhood of the eastern district, one of the lowest income areas in the city. The pensioners’ association has been working for two years with the ADSIS Foundation, which provides vocational workshops and training for young people who have dropped out of the formal education system.
As part of the initiative the, youngsters visited the community garden of the old municipal nurseries of Ulia and the school garden of the Mendiberri Institute to see how they are managed and to learn about self-consumption agriculture.
On the other hand, a group was formed with 8 women who participate in the municipal service for frail elderly people (Goizaldiak) and carried out 4 training and dynamisation workshops.
After several meetings to get to know each other, the intergenerational working group set up by the two associations designed a garden consisting of 4 raised beds for vegetable cultivation located in the garden at the back of the building.
The youngest were responsible for assembling and moving the raised beds. It took them a total of three days to set them up and another day to move them to their final location. They were also responsible for repairing some faulty parts during the assembly process.
Later on, each association held a work day in which they planted lettuce, onions, courgettes, chard and chives among others. The women of the centre look after the vegetable garden during the week, and the young people have added a vegetable garden workshop to the repair work they do at Guardaplata.
Author: Asier Goya Urigain
Photo Credits: City Council of San Sebastian