Les Jardins d’Altou in Sorbs: Agnès Zuccali’s award-winning water recovery tank project

Agnès Zuccali a créé les Jardins d’Altou en 2020 dans le sud du Larzac. DR

The first edition of the Farmers of Tomorrow competition, organized by France Active Occitanie, distinguished the file of the farmer who won aid of 3,000 €.

At the end of October 2023, 70 farmers from Hérault, Gard, Lozère, Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales participated in the first edition of the Peasants of Tomorrow competition, organized by the France Active Occitanie entrepreneur movement. 

Among them, Agnès Zuccali, from Sorbs, between La Couvertoirade and the Navacelles cirque, was selected among 18 pre-selected projects, obtaining aid of 3,000 € on a global envelope of  60,000 € shared between the winners. 

This videoconference competition examined files linked to the agroecological and solidarity transition, on small agricultural structures, individually or in association. "I presented a project for a rainwater recovery tank, explains Agnès Zuccali. I set up a tank of 30 m³ made of concrete blocks, with an exterior wall finished in local dry stone for aesthetics, and an EPDM synthetic rubber tarpaulin inside for waterproofing, easily recyclable, with a lifespan of 50 years. " 

The tank will allow water to be collected from the roofs, "but will also serve to cut the wind for a growing area located behind", specifies the owner who owns 5,000 m  ;sup2; of land to grow your vegetable garden, aromatic and medicinal plants.

Les Jardins d’Altou, its haven of peace

"The stone wall of the tank facing south/east will allow heat to be stored during the day which will be released at night, which will benefit the crops there will be next to each other, continues the producer. This will allow me to make a small test area for crops requiring more heat, which are less resistant to the cold in winter, and try planting some specific citrus fruits. If this technique works, I will reproduce it to create and optimize spaces in the mountain area where I cultivate at 500 meters altitude." 

Loving nature since her adolescence, the former children's entertainer in Toulouse and today a mother found her haven of peace in the south of Larzac, far from life urban, and created the Jardins d’Altou in 2020 to be in contact with  plants.

Agnès Zuccali currently offers workshops in schools around aromatic and medicinal plants, but would like to develop an educational garden at home in the future.