April 15th
Stéphane Cartier was predestined to work the land. His great-grandfather grew garlic, his grandparents vegetables, and his father took over. 13 years ago, Stéphane took over the family business with his partner. Meeting in the middle of vegetables with this passionate market gardener...
Here, we work as a family
“I've always wanted to work outdoors so I did a professional agricultural baccalaureate, a horticultural BTS specializing in green spaces and then when I left I worked for 15 years in the green spaces department of the town hall. Taking over was a choice. It's more complicated, we work more hours, we have fewer vacations, but what we do is for us! Today, my parents have retired but they still give me a hand, and then my daughters also help me. They also did horticultural production BTS. »
busy days
“Monday and Tuesday we are in the fields, it is planting, hoeing, watering, possibly harvesting. From Tuesday, it's a lot of harvests to have vegetables for sale on Wednesday morning since we open from Wednesday morning to Saturday morning, in addition to the Thursday afternoon market in La Sardagne.
On Sunday we can mark the break, even if we have to come and open the greenhouses, give a shot of watering. You can take a walk in the mountains, a bike ride! »
Respect the rhythm of nature
“We only have seasonal vegetables or fruit and then local. We have greenhouses, unheated, which allow us to advance the crops. The tomato for us is not before July 14, until the end of October. Last year we tried sweet potatoes. It worked really well! This year we double the quantity, customers love it! Two or three years ago, I saw it as a vegetable from hot countries. »
A (very) loyal clientele
“I don't see myself selling elsewhere, we have our customers, we know them. I still have clients that my grandparents had. This morning I had a lady who knew me when I was little at the Scionzier market! »
It's jostling at the gate
"There was a change in the first confinement, we didn't know how to do it, the vegetable crates were immediately empty, we didn't know how to manage all these people! We have a growing number of clients, we feel like we have less and less free time, the days are busy. »
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