"Le Potager Anglais"  - The English Allotment. 

Hello and welcome to the page that will help to realise my market garden project.  

My name id Joe Pickett Rugby player / market gardener. For almost 5 rugby / growing seasons  now if I’ve not been playing with the egg shaped ball, I’ve been working in organic market  gardens, from seeding the smallest of leek seed to harvest and delivery to customers.  

I found my passion for market gardening and permaculture whilst working in Portugal to create a  vegetable garden from scratch in an organic vineyard. Working the land has become not only a  passion but also a lifestyle I want for my family and I.  

In my opinion, small scale organic farming is the way we should be producing all our food. I can't  change or challenge the ignorance of most people (including myself until not too long ago) about  where or how what they eat is produced. I can, however, provide my community with affordable,  high quality products that I get more than just monetary value from.  

I am looking to start my small permaculture organic market garden with a diverse selection of  vegetables and sell directly from the farm via an online ordering service and delivery service. 

Then in the future a retail outlet, greengrocer type shop, in the town centre less then 10km from  the farm . Only one competitor (retailer) presently in the hyper center.  

I am on a test growing area provided by the city council on a site of 1 hectares, for four years. To  be able to launch my project I need the starting material which is what this mimosa page has  been set up to helps towards. 

It is a project that aims to train young farmers by offering them access to land and providing them  with the necessary training. The advantage of this project is that any surplus production will be  purchased by the city council for the public institutions of Bergerac. 

This offers a great opportunity for a company to control its stocks, losses and profits. Part of the  production will be sold directly to the individual and the rest of the "unsold" will be bought by the  municipality. 

This loan will add to the money saved and invested from my own pocket for the start-up of the  business. 

The start-up costs of the business range from the design of the online ordering platform creation  of the website to the purchase of irrigation infrastructure for the site, through to the purchase of  soil amendments and purchase of seeds or transplants for the growing season. 

Machinery, estimated budget 2800€. 

Soil maintenance, estimated budget 2250€. 

Irrigation, estimated budget 1500€. 

Tools, estimated budget 1335€. 

Pest control and soil protection, estimated budget 1050€. 

Seeds/propagation, estimated budget 1050€.

Your involvement in the “Le potager anglais” through your participation will benefit everyone, not  just me, but it also means that the world is on the right track and that we are increasingly  interested in doing good, eating local, producing, and sharing. 

Thank you and see you soon.