When and where was the orchard created?
This orchard was created on January 1, 2022, by Maison Perrotte and Château de Fosse-Sèche(https://chateaufosseseche.fr/).
This is a conservatory of old varieties of fruit trees, planted on a plot of land belonging to the Château de Fosse-Sèche, a wine-growing estate.
What is the purpose of this orchard?
Guillaume and Adrien Pire, owners of Château de Fosse-Sèche, made a special cuvée "Vive la vie" in tribute to their father on his death.
Their father, Baudouin, brought water to over a million people in Africa in 37 years.
To continue this work, the brothers sell a few magnums of "Vive la vie" each year to finance new wells.
The Verger de la Chapelle was created to develop this project.
Fruit from the Chapelle orchard will be used to make a range of special jams.
The sale of this range of jams will help finance other fruit trees in Niger, in the villages where the wells have been dug.
In the long term, this will enable children to eat fruit that is full of vitamins, making them less dependent on the pharmaceutical industry. It will also enable compost to be made from the fruit skins, limiting the use of chemical fertilizers.
The surplus fruit will be sold, giving the women greater financial independence. Finally, once the trees have grown, they will provide shade, which will improve working conditions, especially for market gardening.
What fruits can we find in the Chapelle orchard?
The Verger de la Chapelle consists of 72 trees of 21 different old varieties.
These include Pomme Reinettes d'Anjou, Poire Beurré d'Anjou, Montmorency cherry and Burgundy blackcurrant.
How long does it take to see the first fruits?
It takes 6 to 8 years for the first fruit to appear.
Not wishing to wait several years to be able to help, we decided to finance the planting of fruit trees (mangoes, citrus fruits...).
In 2022, 448 fruit trees were distributed to 112 women in the villages of Ouddé Seybou, Goumday and Kiota Oumarou CR Kiota.
These trees are distributed in villages where wells have been dug for planting near schools, village squares and gardens.