Pedro Rocha

The avant-garde Grower who wants to change our relationship with the earth.

After more than 15 years working in large companies in Germany, Paris, and Nantes where his daily life was punctuated by double-entry spreadsheets, Yann decided to get his hands dirty by recovering a vegetable garden from a neighborhood grandfather who moved to a retirement home.

As a complete beginner, he inherited a 300m² playground!

But as he puts it so well, people who don’t have a green thumb are just those who haven’t taken the time to fully understand plants.

He considers that we are all equal before a piece of land, so don’t be shocked if he talks to you casually right off the bat. He is all the more friendly, and you’ll surely see it in the puns he makes! (“Are you radis?” will surely be the first you hear.)

Yann’s greatest pleasure is sharing his knowledge and his passion for vegetable gardens.

He offers advice on sowing, planting, mulching, composting, etc. His workshop is full to the brim with helpful tips for starting a vegetable garden without fear.

With Yann, everyone (re)learns patience, the importance of social ties and connections with nature but also with oneself.

For our grower, urban agriculture is more than a pleasure, it is a real management tool, but also a way of preparing our cities for the future.

“We’ve lost a connection with nature that our great-grandparents had and that we must rediscover.”

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Tip From The Grower

If you have a garlic plant in your vegetable garden, don't let it dry out.

Garlic is a plant that likes both cold and heat, which is why its development is long and goes through two phases. At first, the plant develops its leaves and stem, prefers low temperatures, and has vegetative growth. During the second phase, the plant needs warmth so that its bulb can grow, dry out, and thicken. Dry garlic takes a long time to mature: for the process to fully take place, you’d need to plant between December and February and pick between spring and summer. But is that really necessary?

Here’s a trick: If you have a garlic plant in your garden, don’t wait for it to dry out. Plant it in February and pick it when it’s dry, as early as June, reducing your wait time by three months. Not only is that perfect for seasoning your dishes, it is also good for the vegetable garden: instead of waiting six or seven months, you only have to wait for four or five, meaning that the gardening space is occupied for less time. Believe me, that makes it an extra special pleasure to eat.

By Pedro Rocha, Noocity grower’s network weaver