This is the last farm in Toulouse!
This Sunday, the BordeBio farm, located in Borderouge, north of Toulouse, is participating for the first time in the “From farm to farm” edition. Florent Sassé shows us around his farm.
Wedged between the new homes in Borderouge and the road that serves the Izards district, the BordeBio farm still has 2.5 hectares, including 7,000 m2 of greenhouse, to grow its vegetables. We are here on the former market garden lands of the Pink City, eaten away over the years by rampant urbanization. This year, Florent Sassé, the manager of this EARL (civil society with an agricultural purpose) decided to participate in the 14th edition of “Ferme en Ferme”, organized by the Civam de la Haute-Garonne.
For the occasion, its huge vegetable garden will be open to visitors, Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For the occasion, its employees made a superb scarecrow which sits at the entrance of the farm, as a welcome. If Florent Sassé opens the doors of his farm, “it is to publicize my activity, which is different from that of other farmers because I am in town, because I am helped by a large team of eight permanent staff and finally because I developed a substantial commercial activity on site, ”he explains.
the salad, their know-how
Long alleys populated entirely with kale, carrots, chard, zucchini, salads, spinach… and under the greenhouses, tomatoes, eggplants, green beans… here is the panorama which will be offered to visitors this Sunday. “At the moment, we are harvesting nearly 900 kilos of salads per week, 100 kilos of zucchini and 500 kilos of tomatoes,” says Florent Sassé. Almost 90% of these vegetables are sold directly on the farm, the remaining 10% go to organic stores.
An agricultural engineer by training, Florent Sassé has been working the lands of BordeBio since 2012. In 10 years, he has seen an increase in organic consumption, but also in supply. “Today, the point of sale allows me to understand more margin but also forces me to have more diversity and therefore to lose efficiency,” he explains. He is delighted to grow his vegetables on these wonderful lands in the historic market gardening district of Toulouse. “They are absolutely perfect because they don’t hold water. Even after heavy rains, we can work straight away, so we don’t have a break in our sales chain. Here too, the water tables are not far away, so there is no shortage of water. And since we are in town, customers are nearby, ”continues Florent Sassé. Here, all the vegetables picked in the morning are put on sale during the day. And the Bordebio farm has earned a good reputation thanks to the quality of its salads. “It’s part of our know-how,” admits the boss.
It’s up to you to judge this Sunday since the store will be open!