The soil that slips through the fingers of those who work it is not merely for growing food. Above all, it is for sowing well-being. This is the reality experienced at the Famalicão Urban Gardens, which, on this World Agriculture Day, stand out as a true example of human sustainability. Beyond the figures, these spaces are the setting where health, inclusion and active ageing are cultivated on a daily basis.
Covering an area of approximately two hectares, the gardens located on Avenida dos Descobrimentos serve around 180 residents of Famalicão who manage plots ranging in size from 25, 50 to 100 square metres. For Teresa Castro, aged 51, the garden is the necessary ‘breathing space’ she needs given her fragile health. Due to health issues that prevent her from bending down or exerting herself, she finds the raised vegetable plots the perfect solution to keep alive the passion for farming she inherited from her parents. There, amongst the spring onions and bunches of greens, she forgets her limitations and focuses on the pleasure of harvesting what she has planted.
“I was raised in the countryside and these vegetable gardens are very special to me because they allow me to grow my own vegetables without the physical strain that my health no longer permits,” she says.
Inclusion is also achieved through work. The upkeep of this space relies on the dedication of Diogo Araújo and Manuel Silva, aged 26 and 21 respectively, who work in the municipality of Famalicão under employment support schemes for people with special needs. Diogo highlights the pleasure of “working outdoors”. As for Manuel, who has been with the project for a month, he sees this opportunity as a door that “would hardly have opened elsewhere”, taking pride in looking after the space and helping those who work the land there.
This ecosystem is fuelled by a circular economy approach, where organic waste, such as grass clippings and prunings from the city’s trees, returns to the soil to nourish the plots. In one such space, 80-year-old Sameiro Amorim shows that age is just a number when you have your hands in the soil. A user for almost a decade, she walks daily from Lameiras to the allotment, dodging the loneliness of living alone. The allotment is the place where she gains “years of life” and “stress disappears” amidst conversations and planting beans or sweet potatoes, a crop that has been gaining more and more ground.
The Mayor, Mário Passos, emphasises the strategic importance of this project, noting that “urban allotments represent the council’s commitment to sustainable agriculture that puts people at the heart of the process”. The mayor adds that these spaces are a good example of “how cultivating the land in an urban environment is a powerful tool for mental health, active ageing and the integration of citizens”.
Those interested in joining this community can apply using the form available at www.famalicao.pt or at the One-Stop Service Centre; the form can be submitted in person or via email to camaramunicipal@famalicao.pt. All gardeners are required to attend a free 12-hour training course on Organic Farming provided by the municipality.
