Creole garden
A multi-strata garden common in French Guiana, the West Indies and Reunion Island. / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Creole garden or jardin de case (hut garden) is a multi-strata, multi-use agroforestry system common in French Guiana, the West Indies and Réunion, intended for the production of fruit and vegetables and characterised by the association of a large diversity of different plant species, forming several vegetation layers, from herbaceous plants to trees.[1] It blends Amerindian civilisation with the history of European colonisation; of plots given to enslaved people to support themselves, self-sufficient Maroon settlements and of Chinese and Indian immigration to the West Indes, all of which contribute to the form and purpose of the garden.[2]
It includes field and garden areas: horticultural crops are grown inside the fence and field crops outside. Common cultivation techniques include hand-watering, composting, mulching, pruning, use of trellises and simple protection measures from livestock. It can provide fruits, vegetables and herbs for the household, but also medicinal products, fodder for animals, as well as commodities such as wooden poles or bamboo.[3]
The Creole garden is often presented as a model for designing productive and environmentally friendly agroecosystems, for example in the context of agroecology, or ecological intensification.[4][5] For example, a survey conducted in Guadeloupe, showed that 20 to 123 plant species are cultivated on areas of less than 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft). The coexistence of many species with similar utility in the garden stabilises production and spreads risk.[2]